Monday, May 19, 2008

Grill-Out!

C says:

Yet another Makansutra Raw alumnus, Grill-Out is located amongst the cluster of eateries in the not-so-recently refurbished Sunset Way area. The ground floor of a block of HDB flats has been converted to a casual dining enclave, with mostly al fresco seating. The whole area has a pretty nice vibe – it’s definitely not hip or poncey, but rather very chill-out, laidback, and you won’t feel out of place in your weekend flip-flops.

Grill-Out has only outdoor seating, on a specially-constructed patio deck. An adequate number of fans ensures that it doesn’t get uncomfortably hot, and on Monday night (apparently they’re closed on Mondays but opened because it was Vesak Day) it was actually quite pleasant, which is saying a lot for a serial indoor person like me.

We weren’t feeling particularly flush, so the Wagyu steaks were out. We went for a US Angus beef ribeye, and a US Kurobuta pork tenderloin. We also shared a starter of grilled US Kobe beef short ribs (boneless) with yakiniku sauce.


The short ribs ended up being the highlight of the evening for me. The meat had a good char to it and was tender and sweet, with just enough fat to give flavour without being too sinful.


Surprisingly, between the two mains, the Kurobuta ended up winning hands down, which is not the result that I expected. The ribeye was very ordinary, and indeed no better (but no worse) than lower end and cheaper versions at Astons or even Uno Beef House. The meat wasn’t particularly flavourful given that it was supposed to be US beef, and some parts were actually quite chewy and sinewy.


On the other hand, while the Kurobuta pork looked dry and unimpressive, it actually tasted a lot better than it looked. It was actually quite tender, all things considered, but the tenderloin being a lean cut by nature, while it was tender, there wasn’t much fat on it to give it flavour.

Still, I quite like the area in general, so if we find ourselves here again, I may actually go for a host of starters instead, because some of the other choices looked quite interesting, like potato cakes with kurobuta pork, and steamed mussels. And, if we can get over the thought of having fish at a meaty grill joint, the Wild Alaskan Salmon with Gorgonzola Sauce and the Grilled Yellowtail Cheek with Wasabi sound pretty good too.

A says:

I was very impressed by the service considering the crowd. The food was good but just didn’t meet my expectations given the hype and price. I actually think C makes better steaks when she gets good meat from The Butcher. (When are we going to get an endorsement deal from them?)

I think I’d only go back if I was too lazy to dress up or go far out. If I’m craving a good steak, I’d rather go to L’Angelus or even Angus House.

Grill-Out!
106 Clementi Street 12 (Sunset Way)
#01-38E
Tel: 6774-7001
Tues – Sun: 6 pm to 11.30 pm
Closed Mondays

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