Market Grill for meat lovers
Two words: Pocket burner.
It is worth the cost, I have to say. Especially for meat-lovers.
Market Grill specialises in hearty and savoury offerings and their menu clearly states: "Our steaks are never frozen, beef burger patties are ground and formed daily in our kitchen and live Atlantic lobsters are cooked to order. Dried and cured meats have been carefully selected. Freshly baked breads and vibrant produce such as just-picked vine tomatoes are brought in to complement all the sizzling meats on our special Woodstone firewood charbroiler."
This place is a heaven for meat-lovers! 90% of their menu is meat. Starters include a Wagyu teaser (wagyu rump slow roasted for 4 hours). Premium cuts for Black Angus Prime Beef Ribs - a whopping $158 - and US Prime Ribeye are available. Steamed or chargrilled lobsters, pork chop, and rack of lamb... are you hearing this, carnivores?
I instantly fell in love when I had a taste of my first Lobster Roll ($45) here. This consists of a whole lobster - approximately 500g - stuffed with herbed mayo-pommery (I have no idea what this means - even the dictionary does not have this word) on a toasted brioche roll. The lobster flesh was soft and fresh, although I'm not a fan of mayo so I failed to appreciate the way the lobster was served. What I fell in love with was the brioche roll. I am a pastry/bread girl at heart and I love walking around bakeries. I've tried many types of bread and I'm always seeking to try more. This brioche roll was deliciously sweet, dense, and soft in the middle. It is because of this brioche roll that I started looking out for brioche buns when I'm out in pastry cafes.
A friend ordered the Whole Lobster ($45), approximately 500g, served with garlic-infused butter, mashed potatoes, and mesclun salad. I didn't get to try this. To be honest, I seldom eat seafood and I'm probably not the most discerning consumer. My friends loved the lobsters, so they have to be good.
I had the CW Portobello (150g, $25). CW stands for Colin West, the name of the chef at Market Grill. This burger had creamed Portobello, bacon, cheese, juicy beef, and romaine lettuce in between sesame seed buns. It was amazing. The bacon strips stick out and make eating a little inconvenient, but I had nothing to complain about them. They weren't too oily or fatty like most other bacon out there - please pardon the speak of a #cleanfoodeater - I'm probably the worst spokesperson for bacon but I have no complaints about this bacon. Nor the rest of the burger, for that matter. It could be a matter of memory; I had this almost a year ago so any critique has probably been lost among the depths of my food memories. I generally love the combination of beef + cheese + mushroom, which explains my consistent (and probably boring) choice of portobello burgers everywhere I go.
The cost of the main courses set us back quite a bit and so we didn't order dessert, but they have tantalizing options like Warm Walnut Brownie ($15) and Apple Crumble a la mode ($15) I would so love to try. Their wine selection is pretty decent too, apparently. I'm hardly a wine connoisseur so I'm not in a position to comment about their wines. Maybe in future, I'll get the opinion of a friend who can appreciate alcohol to comment.
Market Grill
208 Telok Ayer Street Singapore 068642
Tel: (65) 6221 3323
Monday - Saturday Lunch 1130am - 230pm Dinner 6pm - 10pm Closed on Sunday
