Jewel

C says:

I recently discovered to my absolute horror that Jewel Coffee in Shenton Way no longer serves their chicken wings with kicap manis dip! When I asked the owner the reason for this travesty, he claimed that besides me, not many other people ordered, let alone obsessed about, the wings. He said we could try the wings at the Jewel Cafe outlet at Rangoon instead.

Alas, they're just not the same. The wings at Shenton were marinated in a gingery/Shaoshing wine marinade, and the best part, only the mid joints were used. At Rangoon, they're more typical deep fried wings - not bad, but not distinctive. Rangoon's default dip for their wings is a chicken rice chilli. I asked for kicap manis instead, but that too fell short of the one they used to serve at Shenton, which had chilli padi to liven things up.

All is not lost though. The OMG burger at Rangoon is pretty damn good - beef patty with sunny side up egg, crispy bacon and a slice of luncheon meat. Sounds a bit overkill but it's a stellar combination. The patty was more medium than we would have preferred, but apparently we can specify medium rare when ordering.

I'm still pretty distraught that my favourite wings are no more, though. The quest
continues...

A says:

Er, this post is mostly C's chicken wing rant so I have nothing to add.

Charlie & Co.

C says:

The people behind Jones the Grocer have brought in Sydney-based burger chain Charlie & Co to Singapore – the first outlet is in the basement (B4) of ION Orchard, alongside other eateries which have a storefront facing the public, and seating behind. The selling point of Charlie & Co’s burgers is that they feature 100% Australian wagyu beef.
 
I was actually slightly apprehensive, because I’ve always felt that “wagyu”, just like “kurobuta”, is a sometimes unnecessary tag-on these days – an attempt for eateries to elevate their dish above the ordinary. And of course, to charge more in the process. While you can probably taste the quality of wagyu beef in a dish where the meat is quickly seared, say, a steak or teppanyaki, it may not be the best choice for a burger, since the high fat content in wagyu beef will just render out while the burger is being cooked.
 

Anyway, my reservations in this case were misplaced. The burgers we had were really good, all things considered. A had the Classic Charlie Burger, with lettuce, tomato and choice of cheese (he picked aged cheddar), and I had a burger with bacon and double cheese (aged cheddar, by default). Mine packed a ton of flavour with the cheese and bacon, but perhaps a bit too much. I think A’s was overall more balanced.

The beef patties were juicy and flavourful, but I do have to highlight one point – the beef was minced quite coarsely, which we happen to really like because it adds texture in every bite. I can imagine some people not really liking this aspect though, on the basis that they think the coarser bits are too gristly.
 
We were surprised to read some articles/reviews mentioning a long wait for the food. When we were there at lunch time on a Saturday, only 2 tables (including ours) were occupied and our food came in very good time. Maybe they’ve since ironed out any initial teething problems.
 
A says:

IMO, this is the best burger under $20 in Singapore. I hope business isn't usually as quiet because I don't want this place to close.
 
Charlie & Co. 
2 Orchard Turn
#B4-56, ION Orchard
Tel: 6509-9511
Mon to Sun: 10 am to 10 pm

Two Blur Guys

C says:

Two Blur Guys is an unassuming little burger joint at Orchid Hotel in Tanjong Pagar. According to their website, the said guys decided to open the place when they felt that there was a lack of places in Singapore serving good burgers, pastries and beer for take-out. Apparently the burgers on the menu were conceived with the help of their friend, chef Jimmy Chok. 

A had been hankering to come here for ages, after hearing good reviews from his friends. After a few thwarted attempts when they were closed by the time we arrived, we finally succeeded on Good Friday. We ordered the Prime Beef Burger and the Duck Rillette Burger to share.
 

The Prime Beef Burger, at $12.50, was decent. The standard one comes with gruyere cheese, the Prime with Portobello mushroom is $16.50, and you can add bacon for an additional $4. The burger was quite nicely done (we asked for medium rare), though maybe a bit lacking in beefy flavour.
 

The Duck Rillette one ($10.50) was much better. It wasn’t so much a burger, as a duck rillette sandwich, with the rillette in the shape of a patty, and between burger buns. This made it a bit hard to cut/eat, since any pressure applied would just squish the rillette out the sides of the burger, but besides the mess, it was very very tasty.
 
The basic burgers aren’t huge, so it’s probably better if you don’t come starving.

A says:

Considering the hype over the burger here, the reglar beef burger was rather disappointing. The price is decent but the portion is small (by atetoomuch standards). The duck rillette burger however was awesome. Especially considering the price. I'll definitely be back for that.  

Two Blur Guys
Orchid Hotel
1 Tras Link #01-13
Tel: 6636-4183
Mondays to Saturdays: 11am to 9.30pm

Jewel Cafe & Bar

C says:

We’re always thrilled when old favourites do well enough amidst stiff competition to open up new branches, that are sometimes even better than the original outlet. Kith is one of them, and now Jewel Coffee too.
 
We’ve always been a fan of Jewel at Shenton Way – their coffee is good, and more importantly (for us), so is their food. Their chicken wings with kicap manis are to-die-for, and I love their mushroom medley linguine as well. Their second outlet, Jewel Cafe & Bar, is more of a proper eatery with a full menu, complete with a drinks/cocktail menu too.
 

Loads of things on the menu called out to us, and after a very painful process of elimination, we chose the Shio-Koji Octopoke to start with, and one item each from the pasta and burger sections. The Octopoke had diced octopus seasoned with shio koji, mixed with ginger flower and a wasabi sauce. This was a good palate awakener – bright and fresh, and tart without being too sour.
 

No mushroom medley on the menu here, but there’s a Roma Carbonara, which I assume is the traditional Roman-style carbonara which doesn’t use cream. Just egg, bacon and cheese. This was a truly awesome carbonara. Every bite was infused with smoky bacon flavour, and the sauce was really light yet tasty. I could easily polish off the entire plate on my own next time.
 

They have a selection of very tantalizing-sounding burgers. This time, we decided to try the Port and Blue Cheese one. This was also a winner – the patty was a juicy medium-rare and quite flavourful, and the port-infused onions weren’t overpoweringly sweet. I could do a bit more blue cheese though. They use buttery brioche buns for the burger, and for the first time I actually found myself eating all of the bun as well.
 

For dessert, we tried the pan-seared watermelon steaks with balsamic syrup, basil and pineapple sorbet, and apple crumble with vanilla ice cream. Both were really good. The sorbet was excellent, and while I would have liked the watermelon to have been a bit more charred, the whole flavour combination worked really well. The crumble was slightly deconstructed, and paired with a lovely burnt caramel that saved it from being too predictably sweet.
 
There are so many more things that I want to try, from more burgers and pasta to some of their sinful-sounding sides. I foresee us venturing to Rangoon pretty often in the coming weeks.

A says:

Except for the lack of parking, this place is awesome. Service is casual and relaxed while the menu is right up my alley. A definite contender for best finds of the year.

Jewel Cafe & Bar
129 Rangoon Road
Tel: 6298-9216
Opening hours: 8 am - 10 pm
Closed Mondays

Omakase Burger

C says:

Everyone seems to be raving about Omakase Burger, the burger joint that opened recently at the new Grandstand at Turf City, but I must say I wasn't completely blown away. Yes, objectively their burgers are pretty good - their signature element is a smashed beef patty, creating an irregular surface that offers optimum caramelising and formation of a charred crust. But quite a few factors stand in the way of my giving them a unanimous two thumbs up.

Firstly, at $14 and above for just a burger, I expected a sit-down service concept. I was surprised to find that it was fast food style - you stand in line, place your order and get a disc that starts buzzing when your order's done. Everything is self-service, from the condiments to the pickles to your drinks order.

They simply cannot cope with the volume of orders that they're getting, and there aren't enough seats either. You can't place your order without finding a seat first, so you have to wait twice - once to find a table, and again when you join the line to order.

The food takes a while as well - I think we waited around 10 to 15 minutes for our burgers. A had the Ultimate Cheeseburger, which had everything from bacon and cheese, to onions and mushrooms. I just went with the Deluxe Cheeseburger, which comes with mushrooms and onions. At almost $18 and $16 respectively, these were really small. The growing teenage boys who were seated next to us probably finished theirs in about 5 bites.

To be fair, the burgers were pretty tasty. The default doneness is medium, but you can ask for something else - we requested medium rare. The patties were juicy and flavourful, and I liked the crisp charred exterior. I just wish there was more meat. You can pay $5.90 to make any burger a double, but that'll make the Ultimate almost $24, which seems pretty extravagant for what essentially is fast food.

Their fries are decent, but their onion rings are really good. Nice and sweet, with a crisp crust that's not too thick.

They do a pretty good soft serve ice cream for dessert too, which is similar to a Hokkaido milk ice cream.

Overall, I don't deny that the burgers are pretty good, but I still think that their price point is a little too high in the context of the fast food concept.

A says:

Really good burger. Also, really tiny burger. I'd say it's midway between a slider and a regular burger. And given the size, there's really no point loading it with toppings. I'd advise sticking with the basic Omakase Burger. I also recommend the great onion rings and finishing with the soft serve ice cream. Just don't go expecting a huge meal.

Omakase Burger
200 Turf Club Road, #01-05
Tel: 6763-2698
Opening hours:
Mon - Thurs: 11.30 am - 3.30 pm; 5 pm - 9.30 pm
Fri - Sun: 11 am - 10 pm
www.omakaseburger.com

Au Chocolat

C says:

Being huge fans of the Frrrozen Hot Chocolate from Serendipity 3, we were curious to try the version (with only one “R”, since the former is probably trade mark protected) at Au Chocolat in Marina Bay Sands.
 

I wanted so much to like it, but unfortunately it was quite disappointing. The whipped cream was actually the best part – the frozen hot chocolate itself was icy, and had none of the rich, creaminess of the original.
 

However, all is not lost. Their food items were actually surprisingly very, very good. The Au Chocolat Signature Burger, which comes with cheese, bacon and a Portobello mushroom in addition to a juicy beef patty, was one of the best burgers I’ve had in a long time. I asked for it medium rare, and the patty was perfectly pink and juicy, and all the ingredients came together to make a damn good burger.
 
The fries deserve a special mention too – they were the perfect thickness (not too skinny and not fat wedges either), crisp on the outside and soft and fluffy inside. Ask for both ketchup and mayonnaise if you’re feeling decadent – the combination is heavenly.
 

We also tried one of their crepes – with parma ham, melon and gruyere. This sounded good on paper, but wasn’t quite as good as expected. I think they threw too many ingredients into the mix, and everything just ended up getting muddled together. I ended up deconstructing it and eating the ingredients separately.
 

A had their white chocolate and espresso milkshake, which was good if you like thin, drinkable milkshakes. It wasn’t too sweet, and the espresso flavour was stronger than expected.

It’s funny that for a primarily dessert place, their desserts (or at least the ones we’ve tried) didn’t impress us all that much. It’s a good thing that their burger more than made up for it.

A says:

Yeah, the food is great (especially the burgers and fries) but the desserts are very ordinary. Very strange for a dessert place. And the frozen hot chocolate is really a bad copy of the one from Serendipity 3.

Au Chocolat
#L1-03, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands
Tel: 6688-7227
Sun to Thurs:10 am - 11 pm
Fri & Sat: 10 am - midnight
www.auchocolat.com

&Made Again

C says:

Just a quick update. We tried the original B Burger today, which comes with a dry-aged beef patty, garlic aioli, caramelized onions and Comte cheese. It was excellent – juicy, flavourful and again all the components were perfectly balanced. A thinks it’s the best of the 3 burgers, but for me it’s still a hard fight between the B Burger and the 3 Little Pigs. No photo because we were too hungry…

We also tried the Red salad to drink, which is basically like a tomato gazpacho. It was good, not overly acidic and drizzled with a very fragrant olive oil. It came with some warm cheesy madeleines studded with beetroot that were extremely addictive.

The 3 Little Pigs and the B Burger are also available at Bruno Menard’s latest bistro at Asia Square, La Cantine (slightly more expensive than at &Made though). We haven’t tried it yet but it’s definitely on our impending to-go list.

A says:

Awesome burger. Awesome milkshake. Win!

Back to &Made

C says:

Second visit to &Made wasn't as mindblowing as the first, maybe due to what we ordered.

The lamb burger with coriander was still arguably a good, juicy burger but it's hard to top the 3 Little Pigs, in my opinion. When we mentioned this to the waitress, she said her favourite was a toss-up between the 3 Little Pigs and the original B Burger. Guess one more visit is on the cards...

The Farmer Toastoo, with ham, raclette cheese and caramelised onions, also fell short of the Viking one. The ham and cheese were both so delicate compared to the onion that they were all but lost in each mouthful.

The Lollipop waffle was an interesting idea - a lolly-shaped waffle served with 3 shots glasses containing dark and white chocolate dips, and caramel. It was an interesting idea, but the shot glasses were a bit too small to really facilitate proper dipping. And the dips weren't really potent enough.

Finally, the Salt Caramel Hot Lava Cake, served with a caramel ice cream coated in crumbled filo pastry. The cake actually arrives intact, and they slice into it upon arrival so you get the full impact of the oozing caramel. This was so sinful, but oh so good, with a proper salty caramel.

This is apparently the Deliciae Group's new signature dessert, and is available at all the group's outlets, including L'Entrecote and Sabio.

This visit was far from disappointing, but it really shows how important menu choice is in determining your experience of a restaurant. 

A says:

Okay, some burgers here aren’t as good, but there is so much here to like. Definitely on the shortlist for best finds of 2012…

&Made

9 Scotts Road

#01-04/05/06 Pacific Plaza

Tel: 6732-9808

Sun – Thurs: 10 am to 10 pm

Fri & Sat: 10 am to 12 mn

&Made by Bruno Menard

C says:

I love stumbling upon a new food gem when you least expect it. We had originally planned for a simple dinner at Cine Cafe after catching a movie, but decided to try &Made instead, since it was still pretty empty at about 6.45.

Bruno Menard was a 3-Michelin star chef at L’Osier in Tokyo, till the building in which his restaurant was located closed for renovations. During a guest chef stint at Jaan, he met up with Olivier Bendel of the Deliciae group (responsible for Sabio and L’Entrecote) and decided to collaborate with the group to open &Made by Bruno Menard at Pacific Plaza. The name &Made is actually meant to be a pun on how the French pronounce “handmade”, with a silent “h”.

The food served here is decidedly not fine dining, conceptually, but make no mistake – there’s still no lack of care and thought in both the menu and the execution of the dishes. The concept is casual, everyday food, but done well. The menu comprises a few salads (including some Salads to Drink, which we’ll try the next time), and either burgers or Toastoos as the main event.

The Toastoo is a bit of a cross between a toastie sandwich and a crepe – they use buckwheat crepes with a sandwich maker, with fillings ranging from ratatouille, ham and cheese, and the Viking which A ordered – smoked salmon, broccoli and curry cream cheese. Not exactly ingredients that you’d expect to see together, and could’ve gone really wrong, but somehow everything went together really well.

The 3 Little Pigs burger consists of a pork, bacon and chorizo patty, with shredded cabbage, a yuzu-kosho mayonnaise and Japanese pickles. I loved this – best burger I’ve had in a while. Incredibly, all 3 flavours were discernible in the patty, which was perfectly cooked and juicy. The condiments, again, complemented each other perfectly. I read somewhere that the ingredient pairings for each dish are the result of careful deliberation, so requests to “hold the pickle” or similar are not encouraged.

The burger came with shoestring fries and their homemade BBQ sauce, which was less a sauce and more of a onion chutney of sorts. It had a slightly Asian twist and went really well with the fries.

We passed on dessert, but after reading some reviews after dinner, we really should have ordered the Lollipop Waffle. It looks almost like a flattened churros on a stick, and comes with 3 dips - dark chocolate, white chocolate and caramel. They also have a hot caramel lava cake which, if the caramel isn't too sweet, sounds like a piece of heaven.

To me, the mark of a great place is when you're already planning your next visit before you're even done paying the bill. That happens every time we go to Esquina, and SPR MRKT too because of their elusive daily menu. Now we can add &Made to that list.

A says:

So awesome. This could be my new fav place in town.

&Made

9 Scotts Road

#01-04/05/06 Pacific Plaza

Tel: 6732-9808

Sun – Thurs: 10 am to 10 pm

Fri & Sat: 10 am to 12 mn

Fatboys at Pasir Panjang

C says:

Fatboys comes to the West! This home-grown burger chain’s other outlets are at Upper Thomson and Joo Chiat, and a few weeks ago they opened one along Pasir Panjang Road, opposite the Pasir Panjang food centre/MRT station. Finally, no more excuse for us not to try their burgers.

Fatboys offers both a large range of interesting gourmet burger flavours, as well as the option for you to build your own burger at their Burger Bar, which allows you to select the bun, patty, toppings and sauces. This being our first visit, we decided to try their flavour combinations first, and save the bespoke burgers for another time.

I ordered the Bushtucker, which comes with a beef patty, bacon, arugula, beetroot, swiss cheese and garlic aioli. I forgot to ask for the burger to be done medium rare, but it needn't have mattered because it still arrived pretty juicy and done medium. Overall, this was a very good combination, though the beetroot was a bit more like a red cabbage slaw. The bacon in particular was proper fatty bacon with a bit of rind. Old school and delicious.

A had the Wimpy, which is a single patty version of their best-selling double patty Fat Basterd burger. It comes with bacon, cheddar cheese, a fried egg and their special sauce, all on a sesame seed bun. For variety, we decided to try it with the lamb patty.

This would've outshone mine, if not for the tiny bone fragments in the patty. It was a shame because the meat itself was really flavourful, but the bone bits were really quite disconcerting. We brought this to their attention, in case it was meant to be this way (for texture, perhaps...?), but the waitress apologised and said they'd feedback to their suppliers because it was definitely not intentional.

Despite that setback, we were pleasantly surprised by the meal here. The build your own burger has enough choice to keep me busy for at least a few more visits. I want to try their grilled chicken, pork and salmon patties, and I'm looking forward to coming up with all sorts of complementing flavour combinations.

A says:

Good food. Good service. Good times. Pity about the bony chunks I found in the lamb burger patty. And the milkshake’s a bit thick for my liking. I’m one of those weirdoes who likes thin milkshakes.

But overall, a great option for a good burger if you’re in the area.

Fatboys (Pasir Panjang)

122 Pasir Panjang Road

Tel: 6471-3224

Mon to Thurs: 12 noon to 10 pm

Fri to Sun: 12 noon to 12 midnight

www.fatboys.sg

Triple O’s

C says:

We got off work earlier today, so we made it to Triple O's at Asia Square before they could close early again. To be honest we're not familiar with this Canadian chain at all, so we just ordered what appealed to us and hoped for the best.


We ordered one combo meal, and the other burger just a la carte. A had the orignal Triple O burger, which comes with lettuce, tomato and special sauce, and I had the mushroom burger.

The burgers here are around Carl's Jr's price point - about $11 for the burger and $15 for a combo meal. It's definitely better than Macs and BK, but I think Carl's Jr actually makes better, more satisfying burgers. Triple O's are good but the patty, albeit quite flavourful and tasty, is a bit thin and hence dries out a bit.


The combo comes with fries and a soft drink, but for $3 more you can switch to their poutine and signature milk shake. Poutine is Canada's version of chilli cheese fries, consisting of fries topped with cheese and meat gravy. This was good but as expected, became a bit stodgy towards the end.

A had the chocolate milkshake. He wasn't expecting much cos it looked pretty thick in the cup, but it was surprisingly drinkable.

Generally, I found the food good but not great. It certainly won't become my go-to place if I want a good cheap burger, but if we have a burger craving while we're in the vicinity, this will be a convenient place to satisfy it.

A says:

Awesome milkshake. Everything else was pretty good, but definitely not worth the $11 price tag. My advice is to go round to Jewel Coffee to eat, then come here for a milkshake for dessert.

Triple O’s
Asia Square Food Garden
2nd floor, Tower 1
Tel: 6636-0002

The revamped Relish

C says:

Relish, Chef Wilin Low’s (of Wild Rocket) burger joint has undergone a revamp of sorts. Citing a need to refresh and reinvent after the emergence of more burger players onto the dining scene, it’s toned down its decor slightly, and introduced a more well-rounded menu – retaining some much-loved burgers whilst including more pastas and main courses.

I’m extremely pleased about this, because I’ve always found myself preferring Relish’s other offerings rather than their burgers. Having said that, they now have a burger with an anchovy and garlic sauce that sounds pretty interesting. However, on Saturday we both decided to have their pastas.



I ordered the corned beef spaghettini, and A had the hae bee hiam spaghettini. Good use of spaghettini on their part, as it’s thin enough to withstand a more delicate sauce like my corned beef one. A’s hae bee hiam one was decidedly bolder in flavour, tasting like a slightly sweet XO sauce, but because the sauce was also quite dry, it held up well with the spaghettini too.


The best thing about Relish’s revamp is the inclusion of some Wild Oats favourites, most notably the Spam fries, served with kaffir lime mayonnaise. I’ve only tried it once at Wild Oats, and thereafter just made my own at home. These were better than those Wild Oats I had; the Wild Oats ones were a bit over-fried.

They have a selection of about 8 to 10 interesting beers, with suggestions on beer pairings with their menu items. We had a lychee beer, which was very light and refreshing; very easy to drink.

Most of the waitstaff were very friendly and polite, and one guy in particular was excellent, but we also got a rather sour-faced waitress who seemed like she was doing us a favour by serving us. She was the exception though. Food arrived really fast, making this a very viable option if we run out of ideas for a simple weekend dinner.

A says:

I was really impressed with the service this time. Our young waiter was attentive and eager to please. A big improvement from our last few visits when it was hard to get the wait staff’s attention.

Good food. Fun and interesting, without taking itself too seriously. Prices are very reasonable (for the area).

The specialty beers are also really interesting. They’ve even got some low-alcohol sweet gimmicky beers. Great for a girly drinker like me. I’ll definitely try the Taiwanese honeydew beer next time.

Overall, this could be our new go-to place for a quick, quiet and casual weekend dinner.

Relish
501 Bukit Timah Road
#02-01 Cluny Court
Tel: 6763-1547
Mon - Fri: Noon to 3 pm, 6 pm to 11 pm
Sat and Sun: Noon to 11 pm

DB Bistro Moderne

C says:

It was apparently Daniel Boulud’s DB Burger, available at his casual outpost DB Bistro, that started the trend for high-end gourmet burgers. We didn’t make it to DB Bistro in some of his overseas outlets, so when they opened here at the Sands, we dragged our fellow burger connoisseurs W and M to check it out.

All four of us are in agreement that the best burger (in Singapore, anyway) is the one at Morton’s Bar. The patty is beefy and juicy yet doesn’t fall apart, and for M and A, one of their criteria is the option to add blue cheese. While I love blue cheese, I personally prefer my burgers more old school, with Cheddar or Swiss and bacon.


Anyway, the famous DB burger ($35) consists of a sirloin patty, with a centre of braised shortrib and a chunk of foie gras, on a soft parmesan bun. The burger arrives considerately cut in half, with a side of French fries. We ordered it medium rare, and while the burger definitely packs a serious beefy flavour punch, it was a bit dense and therefore a tad dry. I didn’t get that oomph that I get whenever I first sink my teeth into the Morton’s burger. Still a very good burger and the flavour is undeniable, but I think I just expected a bit more kick.


The other items were pretty good. To start with, they gave us gougeres, which are choux pastry flavoured with cheese and topped with more cheese when it’s baked. These were unbelievably light and fluffy, and very addictive.



We shared the spicy salmon tartare, and the assiette lyonnaise – a platter of charcuterie. The salmon tartare was pretty good, but again I personally prefer the tuna tartare at Spruce. The assiette lyonnaise had a good selection of different cured meats and terrines, some of which I think are made in-house, and they were all quite good.


We also ordered an appetiser portion of the gnocchi to try; or rather, we all tried a piece and A had the rest. The gnocchi was nice and light, but I’ve decided that I'm really not a fan of gnocchi generally.


For variety, A ordered the Piggy burger – a sirloin patty topped with pulled pork and pickled jalapeno. The DB burger was definitely better; the Piggy one was definitely more novel in terms of flavours, but what can I say, I’m a burger purist.


W decided to order one of their main courses instead – the seared tuna, after ascertaining that their seared tuna could be done rare. There’s nothing worse than overcooked tuna. They cooked the tuna very well, just lightly seared and a lovely rosy red in the centre. This was quite a light dish, so I think in future, one DB burger and one seared tuna would be a good combination for two people.



I’d heard that their warm madeleines were a must-try, so we had an order of those, and a profiteroles to share. I must say the madeleines were really light, and subtly fragranced with orange. I would’ve appreciated them more if I hadn’t been super stuffed by then. Likewise with the profiteroles, which were filled with a coffee ice cream.

Dinner was good, and I think we’ll be back since the Sands is an easy walk from work on a Friday night after work.

A says:

Excellent, but is it worth the price? Maybe not. I say give it a try once and decide for yourself.

Oh, and the tables are a tad small if you’re thinking of sharing dishes. It was a struggle to fit all the dishes for our table of four.

Maybe that’s why the service was over-attentive. They kept trying to clear our dishes before we were even done. Not exactly ideal.

DB Bistro Moderne
B1, Marina Bay Sands
Tel: 6688-8525
Monday to Friday:
Lunch: 12pm - 2.30pm
Dinner : 5:30pm - 10.30pm
Saturday and Sunday:
Brunch : 11am - 3pm
Dinner : 5:30pm - 10.30pm

Kraze Burgers

C says:

We moseyed over to Marina Bay Sands after work on Friday, but weren’t really in the mood to try one of the fancier restaurants. We ended up in the basement, and the choice was either the Rasapura Masters food court, and a standalone burger joint called Kraze. We saw our friends D and L at Kraze and decided to join them.

Kraze is apparently a Korean burger chain, and solely based on the menu, it looked pretty enticing. Unfortunately, it turned out pretty disappointing, and I don’t think it was worth it for the prices.



At least the low-carb burger was passable. This consisted of two burger patties and a sunny side up egg, with a sweet Korean bbq sauce. The actual burger, on the other hand, was pretty bad. The bun was cold, dry and hard, and the rest of the burger was just ordinary and forgettable. There’s apparently an option of normal and wholemeal bun, but we were all given the wholemeal one without any choice.

At an average of $20 per person, this definitely doesn’t warrant a return visit. I think the food court would’ve been a better bet.

A says:

It’s not bad. But it’s not very good either. More like “Yeah, well, whatever.”

Kraze Burgers
#B2-54 Marina Bay Sands
Tel: 6688-7844

Carl’s Jr

C says:

Quick one. After hearing cousin C wax lyrical about Carl’s Jr’s Thickburgers, we decided to try it for ourselves when we were at Vivocity today. We shared the Portobello Mushroom one, which in my opinion is the best Carl’s Jr burger flavour.


Thank goodness we shared it, and now I know what their tagline “It’s gonna get messy” means. This was absolutely impossible to eat as a burger. I had to do the loser thing and asked for a knife, and ate it deconstructed.

It’s really good cos you get a full-on beefy rush, but personally I’ll stick to the regular Portobello burger in future. At least I can eat it as a proper burger. Oh, their hand cut skin-on fries rock as well. I’d much rather have the burgers here than the lacklustre one that we had at Meatworks.

A says:

It’s really expensive as fast food goes, but definitely worth it for a treat. If you’re not on a diet.

Burger Bench & Bar

C says:

Opened by the Wild Rocket group, Burger Bench & Bar (B3) is kinda like Relish’s teenage sibling. Located at Orchard Cineleisure, B3 is fast food style – you order at the single counter, then take a seat with a number to wait for them to serve you your order.

The burgers here are on average $8, so at half the price of Relish’s burgers, don’t expect gourmet-style burgers, or the ability to request for your preferred doneness. These are no-frills burgers, but at the same time are damn tasty ones, and quite good value for money given the quality.



A had the beef burger with mayo and sundried tomato relish, and I had the beef burger with cheese and sautéed mushrooms. The patties are quite juicy, flavourful and not overdone. I like the shredded cabbage that provides a good alternative to iceberg lettuce. I really enjoyed mine cos I’m a sucker for a good mushroom and cheese burger. A’s was on hindsight quite similar to the Wild Rocket burger but also good.


Naturally, we also ordered the fried chicken wings with the chef’s chilli sauce dip. I maintain that you really can’t screw up chicken wings, and this is no exception. The wings were well fried – not greasy and very juicy and tender, and the chilli dip looked nondescript but packed quite a punch.


They have a home-made soft serve dark chocolate ice cream too, which we thought would be an interesting change from the pale brown versions you get at buffets like Sizzler. This is not for the faint hearted. The chocolate was quite potent and intense – great for chocoholics but a bit too strong for me. Good texture though – very smooth and creamy.

I daresay I’d rather come here for good, simple burgers than the slightly ponced out ones at Relish. They’re half the price, but certainly not proportionately less tasty.

A says:

Good and very affordable (except for the over-priced drinks which are essentially canned drinks). And burgers are made to order so while they taste better than any other fast food burger, it’s hardly fast to be served. I’d still highly recommend it though. Definitely the best thing at Orchard Cineleisure.

Burger Bench & Bar
#01-02 Cathay Orchard Cineleisure
Tel: 6737-9947
Open daily: 12 noon to 11 pm