Angus House

C says:

After our cousin C’s vehement recommendations, we finally tried the steaks at Angus House in Takashimaya on Sunday night. It’s a Japanese restaurant serving Western food, so most of the food has a slight Asian twist to it, making it rather interesting.

I had the 200g rib-eye steak, and A had the 150g ‘Tournedos’ tenderloin, which was essentially a fillet mignon wrapped with bacon. We ordered the set, which came with a starter, soup, salad and dessert. The starter was a piece of fried fish (A says it was salmon but I think it was more of a white-fleshed fish) on top of a slice of radish, and some crispy crackers, which tasted vaguely like muruku (Indian crackers). Soup was a cream of mushroom, which wasn’t particularly outstanding but still very addictive. The garden salad had a fragrant Japanese dressing with hints of lemon and sesame oil.

My rib-eye steak was served on a hot plate, and because the steak wasn’t very thick, it cooked a little more upon its arrival at the table so it turned the medium rare into a medium. Still, the meat was incredibly soft and tender, yet it had a strong beef flavour. In fact, it was a good combination of the tenderness of a fillet steak, and the taste and flavour of a rib-eye. It was served with herb butter and a very interesting Japanese sauce that had a hint of lime in it, which actually helped to liven the flavour of the meat and made it less gelak.

A’s fillet mignon was more typically ‘Western’, served with a mushroom sauce. It was also very good – very tender and sweet, with very fine texture.

Dessert was a forgettable sponge cake with hazelnut mousse. The highlight of the meal is definitely the steak, but this place is a little pricey so I think we’ll only be going back for special occasions.

A says:

Mad props to C’s cousin for recommending this place. Really damn good meat. I think this is one of the best steaks I’ve had in a while. Everything else is decent, but the steak really RAWKS! Oh, and the funny looking bun is cool too.

Even though the décor is imposing at first (very faux Lawry’s with servers in the maid-esque outfits), the atmosphere is pretty relaxed. It also seems popular with Jap families which made up like half the clientele when we were there.

Another thing I like is that you’re given 3 sizes of each steak to choose from. Perfect for people who don’t like to gorge themselves.

At around $50 to $70 for a set meal (depending on the size of steak), it’s still pretty expensive. Overall, I think it’s definitely a place to consider for a special occasion or when you want to treat yourself to a really good steak.