I finally get to strike Burnt Ends from my restaurants-to-try list with a recent visit in February. Burnt Ends has been on my list for the longest time ever because it’s not easy to secure a reservation. And I doubt it will get any easier as Burnt Ends recently came in 10th in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2017 by S. Pellegrino with head chef Dave Pynt winning the Chefs’ Choice Award.

To make a booking, one would need to do so on their website. And most of the Saturday slots would be booked once these were released on the system. Burnt Ends allows customers to book up to 3 months in advance.

With much planning and luck, I managed to make a booking for 25 February for 3 counter seats at 6.30pm (the latest time slot).

My brothers and I drove on the day of our dinner and were lucky to find a parking lot just a few units from Burnt Ends. And being punctual, if not early, was crucial in securing good seats as customers were seated according to how early one arrived. And no, not everyone in the group had to be present before seated. My brothers and I arrived 10 minutes late, and were seated a little far (but not the furthest) from the (open) kitchen. We sat facing the 4 ton dual cavity oven, between the open kitchen and bar. Not much view lah.

And from the menu, we ordered:-

1) Smoked quail egg and caviar, $15 per piece (above) – Despite the hefty price tag, I was told by friends that this was a must try. And thus, we ordered 1 each. And this was good. It’s as what the dish name said. I could taste the intense smokiness when I bit into the egg. But of course, some may think it’s crazy to pay $15. But I say “just order” since the reservation wasn’t easy to come by. Ha!

2) Grissini and taramasalata, $12 (above)

3) Jamaican chicken and lime crema, $10 (2 pieces) (above) – The chicken was a little too charred for my liking.

4) Burnt ends’ sanger, $20 (above) – Pulled pork shoulder, cole slaw, chipotle aioli, brioche bun. It was thoughtful that they sliced the burger into 3. However, my youngest brother wasn’t too impressed. He didn’t think the various ingredients complemented one another. But I enjoyed eating this. The entire process of sinking my teeth into the thick, greasy burger. It was a delicious mess. Keke.

5) Hot roasted quail, $24 (above) – Pretty good!

6) King crab and garlic brown butter, $75 (above) – And this was pretty good too! Very fresh and meaty.

7) Burnt ends’ sourdough, $5 (above) – The staff recommended us to get the bread to ‘clean’ the remaining gravy from our crab dish. And I am glad we went with her recommendation cause even without the gravy, I enjoyed their sourdough which was chewy and stretchy.

8) Suckling pig and cider, $65 (above) – Menu stated it’s for 2, but it fed the 3 of us very well.

9) Mint and chocolate, $12 (above) – Give this a miss. I was expecting something creative, but it was literally mint ice cream and chocolate pieces.

10) Sugar cake and smoked ice cream, $12 (above)

Different groups of friends said it’s a sin that my brothers and I went to Burnt Ends without trying their beef. My friends endorsed the beef dishes, citing that it’s one of the best they ever had. But, but… my brothers and I don’t eat beef because of religious reasons. =(

And I personally felt Westerners had it better than Asians in terms of service. With every different groups of customers that came in and sat at the counter, I noticed head chef Dave Pynt would only approach the groups of Westerners. Hmm… Though to be fair, it could be because he observed Asians tend to be more reserved and bad at striking conversation. Thus him only conversing with Westerners? But it was fortunate that the lack of personal attention was made up by the attentive and friendly waiting staff.

Would I still recommend Burnt Ends? Well… I still would. But one really must make reservation. Those who tried walking in at 6.30pm were asked to return at 8.30pm. But by 8pm, I could hear kitchen staff shouting “Pigeon finished”, “No more crab”, etc.

UPDATE: Restaurant was awarded 1 Michelin star by Michelin Guide Singapore 2018.

Related posts:

Dinner @ Den 傳 (Tokyo, Japan) Dinner @ Cheek By Jowl // CLOSED Dinner @ Whitegrass [Revisit] Dinner @ Restaurant André [Revisit] // CLOSED Dinner @ JAAN [Revisit]