Globe Trotting J's 2019 Trip Day 16: Burnt Endings
I’ve been dreading writing this post. I knew when it came to today it would be tough to start thinking about the end so instead of doing that we had a full day ahead of us in Singapore and that’s exactly what we focused on. After a late wake-up Jake and I went back to the same area as last nights late dessert to go to a coffee shop we saw along the way % Arrabica which we later found out just opened this month and is quite popular. There Jake got an Americano and I had a Latte, both of which were out of this world. It’s one of the better latte’s I’ve ever had and I’ve my fair share of coffee since moving to New York.
We stayed relatively quiet for the rest of the morning not leaving our hotel room until a little after 11 AM when we went to the nearby restaurant row and grabbed three Poke bowls and a gift for Amy (from Jake). The Poke bowls were good (although not as good as some of our favorites at home) and were a nice light pick me up before we continued on back across the street to the same marketplace that we had ice cream at last night. There we walked up and down the streets doing some light shopping and just taking in the beautiful shops and architecture. Jenn fell in love with this street and took a ton of photos.
Back across the street towards our hotel is a Metro stop. For the first time in three weeks we were back on a subway but something had changed. The ticket scanners worked, the station was clean, and the subway cars were both clean and new. We didn’t know what to do with ourselves. You would have thought Jenn and I were driving in a Rolls-Royce the way we fell in love with the Singapore transit. We took the transit a couple of stops to the Marina by the Bay Mall which is stunning. The metro connected straight into the mall (another novel concept) and the first thing we saw was an Angelina’s (our favorite sweets shop in Paris). Jenn stopped in and grabbed a couple macaroons and we continued on our way. We shopped for an hour, took in the beautiful skyline from their balcony.
We grabbed a taxi back to our hotel. Jenn rested while Jake and I went to the gym and then to the Andaz’s stunning infinity pool. We couldn’t stay for long because we had one more big meal ahead of us. Odette may have been the main attraction but Burnt Ends (my second choice) was not far behind. A very different restaurant, Burnt Ends (ranked #10 in Asia) is an Australian Barbecue restaurant with only twenty five seats. About fifteen at the counter of the kitchen, and the other ten against the back wall. It’s a very intimate experience where you watch the chefs prepare the food right in front of you.
We had a 6PM reservation and so we took the subway again and got there right on time. When we arrived we got three seats right in the heart of the action. We sat down ordered some wine Jenn had a Sauv Blanc, I had a Grenache, and Jake had a Pinot Noir. Because this is an Australian restaurant they also served Aussie wine and it was surprisingly good. From there we were handed a menu and I’ll be honest the struggle was real. Everything sounded amazing. And then when you reach the end of the menu there’s the ability to do a “chefs select.” Right as we started discussing whether we wanted to do that the waiter came by and asked us if we had any questions, and just as Jenn was going to ask he’s like you know what you guys should do the chef’s tasting, you look like you’re ready for a great meal.
A few seconds later we talked with the restaurants owner and head chef, he asked us a bit about our palettes and what we wanted to eat, and from there we had no idea what was going to come to the table, it just came fast, it came often, and it came out delicious. I’m not exaggerating we didn’t order anything nor did we have any clue what was coming next or what this even cost. We all agreed we were all-in on this place and were going to give it the college try. What transpired is what I’d consider to be one of the best meals of our lives. It was simple food, perfectly executed, with a level of sophistication that we got to witness for our over three hours at the restaurant. I can’t list everything we ate because we didn’t have a menu. I took notes during the meal but the further we got in the meal, and the more wine I drank the more loose I became with keeping good notes, so I know what we ate but the full names of what we had I’ve lost in translation.
Instead I’ll just summarize by saying that we started with an unbelievable quail egg topped with caviar, moved on to some flat bread, steak frites, Jamaican chicken, eggplant in miso, and an out of this world mushroom dish. These were all smaller dishes that we shared and with each progression we were falling deeper and deeper in love with this place.
After the appetizers we went onto the main attractions. We started off with a king crab leg topped with truffle that even looking back on pictures of keeps my mouth watering. We then moved onto a steak and pigeon that I’m not exaggerating were so good I almost teared up. With it they brought out this bone marrow buttered bread that was just ridiculous. The chef came up afterwards and asked if we were ready for dessert, Jenn said yes, but Jake and I said give us one more, and he chuckled and said alright. What came next were two shot glasses each (whiskey and a pickle alcohol) and their signature dish a pork slider. We took the two shots and then took a bite of the slider and what transpired was bliss.
We finished off the meal with a couple of different desserts, ice cream with truffles, a pastry puff, some mini chocolates, and a burnt marshmallows that was the perfect way to finish it off. It was all so great, that I can say with 100% honesty that except for a quarter of a slider that Jenn was to full to eat, the entire meal was licked clean. We devoured everything they put out and enjoyed it more then we could have imagined.
The dinner ended, the check came and we asked the waiter to take a picture of us. The chef saw this and waved us back behind the counter and to take a picture with him. We basically ran back there, took the photo, chatted a bit with the team, and called it a night. I could gush all night about this meal, but I will just dream about when I can go back and have it again.
The night ended with us starting the painful process of packing and watching the Women’s Wimbledon final that Simona Halep won over Serena Williams. We turned off the lights on our last full night in Singapore, but our bellies were running over.
