I had a belated birthday dinner with the gang on Saturday night at Brown Sugar. (Thanks all, and eep sorry I was uncharacteristically late). We hadn’t been back since our first and only visit when they first opened, more than a year ago, and there’s been considerable buzz about the place since then, so we were looking forward to dinner.
While there were a couple of kinks here and there, at least this didn't disappoint in the way that La Noce thoroughly did. We had a table of 12, so I think that had to be taken into account when considering the slight slowness in the arrival of the food.
I had the seared scallops with carrot mousse and asparagus appetiser. The carrot mousse had orange in it as well, and was a bit too sweet for my liking. The sauce for the scallops was good though, and generally this was quite good; I just thought the portion was a bit small for the price ($18). A’s starter was quite confusing – molten (or as he insisted, mountain) goat cheese tart with escargots. The snails were actually served separate from the tart, atop the salad, and they tasted rather ‘green’, and definitely needed the cheese to detract from the flavour.
The hand-chopped wagyu burger came very highly recommended. You can choose to have it topped with foie gras or without. I decided to go the whole hog and had it with the foie gras. I think almost half of our table had this as their main course, and reactions/ results were mixed. First off, I think their doneness is touch and go, really. My medium rare turned out pretty ok. J (of K&J) ordered medium and his looked a lot like mine. Y’s medium rare ended up looking almost like steak tartare!
I can’t fault the taste – the meat was quite tasty and flavourful, but the patty was so loosely formed that even with a fork and knife it was really hard to eat. Plus the burger buns were quite hard to cut into, which made it even harder to eat.
A’s linguine was safer but also slightly more boring. It came with a cream sauce with organic mushrooms and topped with parma ham. Not bad, but not stellar either.
Feedback from some of the others were: J (of Y&J) found his rack of lamb to be good, but again the medium rare came out more like rare. Plus, he’d ordered the duck breast special, only to be told much later that they had run out, so he had to change his order. B had the seafood linguine which was served in parchment paper. It looked interesting, but she said it was overcooked.
The dessert selection here is quite good – quite a number of them were calling to me, including the sticky date pudding which S arranged to be served to me on a plate, complete with candle. For regular orders of this, it comes in a bowl with the sauce already poured on top. A’s mille feuille with banana mousse and ice cream was quite yummy too.Thanks again all, for dinner and the pressie *muah* We had two tables so I didn't get to find out everyone’s thoughts about the food, so do post comments ;p
Will we come back? There are certainly other new places that I’d like to try before going back, but all in all while nothing really blew me away, it was quite pleasant and I wasn’t disappointed with anything.
A says:
The food here falls just short of great. I just can’t help but feel that we can find better elsewhere.
I also think that they’re understaffed. Service was bad when the place was full, but improved substantially once people started leaving.
Also, parking spaces here are limited, so come early.
Brown Sugar
277 River Valley Road
Stardus Clubhouse(enter via Institution Hill)
Tel: 6333-6612
Opening hours: Tue-Sat, lunch & dinner, All Day Sunday Brunch 10am-4pm
Closed Monday (unless Public Holiday)
Public Holidays: Fri & Sat - open as usual, other Public Holidays, even Monday - All Day Brunch 10am-4pm
5 comments:
I was disappointed with the wagyu burger, given that a no. of friends have recommended it. I sent mine back! It was pretty much raw although I ordered it medium and what's with the bits falling off your fork. They almost needed to serve the burger with a spoon! Desserts were fab though but nothing that you can't get elsewhere these days...
I didn't realise you had to send your burger back! Was the replacement one better done? Ya, have to agree that their doneness was really arbitrary, and I know burger patties shouldn't be too tightly packed but they went way too much in the other direction.
The seafood linguine was really nothing to shout about. It was overcooked, the squid was hard as a rock.
B of CH& B
Yeah our group is such a size now (esp with the kids...) that each time we eat we really need a pte room or some place where we'll be squeezed in so we can all talk to each other! Doneness (I hate this word) was fine 2nd time around but patty was still falling apart. I wonder if he meant it to fall apart???
J liked his wagyu burger. The sticky date pudding was also really good though it was a tad too sweet. Overall, it's a nice place to have dinner but be prepared for slower service if they have a full crowd. Also, parking can be a pain... so come early :)
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