Review: Uluru Aussie Bar & Steakhouse

There is a cluster of restaurants atop Duxton Hill which, I feel, is rather underrated. My sister though quite highly of The Universal, and although I didn't think BROTH was all that great, it wasn't bad, and there are a number of interesting-looking bar/restaurants in the vicinity (not the KTV lounges, though).


Uluru is one of the antipodean restaurants (the other being BROTH) on Duxton Hill, and they serve Australian cuisine, as well as burgers, steaks, and other carnivorous offerings.


No Australian eatery would be complete without a watering-hole, so Uluru is well-equipped to meet all your imbibing needs with a generously-stocked bar.


Just in case anyone needed a reminder that they were in an Australian restaurant, the walls are helpfully painted the dusty red of the outback, and the walls are festooned with paintings portraying "Kangaroo crossing" signs, and other scenes that are evocative of Australian culture.


The menu at Uluru is actually pretty extensive, and as you'd expect from an Australian joint, both surf and turf dishes make an appearance, as this prawn spaghetti aglio olio with shimeji mushroom broth illustrates. The pasta was pretty decent, though I'm not sure about the combination of aglio olio and mushroom broth: it seems like the worst of both worlds as the broth waters down the pungency of the garlic oil, while the shimeji mushroom broth was not particularly flavourful. I liked that the helping of prawns was quite generous, though.


I was rather disappointed by my rack of ribs, unfortunately. I was expecting a full rack or at least half a rack of ribs, but received only a third of a rack, which was not at all substantial.


The Uluru burger, on the other hand, is a filling affair, with a juicy, mouth-watering patty, lettuce, tomato, bacon and a fried egg sandwiched in a soft sesame bun with mayonnaise and Dijon mustard. Personally I think having the bacon and egg is something of an overkill, but then again I'd prefer to clog my arteries with this rather than something mass-produced for Carl's Junior.


In terms of calorie content and heart-stopping potential, however, the Uluru Burger has nothing on the monstrous Ultimate Burger, which is a vast, towering beast of a burger that also comes with a cornucopia of fries and salad.


Here is the beast up close in all its magnificent glory. Three 200g patties are double-decked with tomatoes, lettuce, sauteed onions, two mushroom omelettes, gherkins and jalapenos (just to make the burger harder to eat), and if you can finish all that, plus the fries and salad, in 30 minutes, the burger is absolutely free.

Just to prove that the Ultimate Burger challenge can indeed be done, here are pictures of one of the challengers cleaning his plate, with just his fork and knife, in about twenty minutes.



Frightening, but true.


If you still have space for dessert, Uluru, true to its roots, serves up a faithful rendition of sticky date pudding slathered with butterscotch sauce and paired with a fairly neatral vanilla ice cream. The puddings were surprisingly light, but quite tasty, so it was a pleasantly dulcet end to the meal.

Uluru is a great place to come to with a large group of friends, and the Ultimate Burger challenge is a surefire way to keep the whole table entertained. With its impressively extensive menu, there'll definitely be something for everyone to enjoy at this laidback, affable eatery.

Uluru Aussie Bar & Steakhouse
40 Duxton Hill
Tel: +65 6223 3654
Website

Review: BROTH

BROTH stands for Bar Restaurant On The Hill - it's nice to know that slight pretentions still exist in this country. It's a renovated shophouse atop Duxton Hill, and one of the increasing number of Australian restaurants. Personally, I don't care much for Australian food, but it was to be a family dinner, and sister chose the venue.

Some restaurants impress you immediately, either with their appearance or with their service. Unfortunately, Broth was not one of these restaurants. The ambience here is decidedly backwater, with tables set up rather haphazardly, even spilling out onto the street facing the restaurant. The interior of the eatery itself is quite tight, perhaps a remnant of its shophouse architecture. The service was equally awkward, with the waiters not doing much to put us at ease.

Broth was offering a special menu that week - a Margaret River menu that was to be exclusively Australian and featured rather more exotic fare such as kangaroo, rabbit and quail. Under normal circumstances I would have been delighted by the prospect of trying new meats, but some of the methods employed in actually cooking the damned things seemed very dubious (quail pie?) That being said, the following review is probably not representative of the food there in general.

For starters, I had a rabbit rillette with camalised prunes and pickles ($17.90). Somewhat like a pate, but shredded to give it more texture. I was not really blown away by this attempt (3.5/5), and only ordered it because everything else seemed even less palatable.

Being the sort of person who needs to have meat on a fairly regular basis, I decided to try the kangaroo fillet with cabernet chutney and caramelised sweet potato ($29.90). This combination I found rather questionable - the bland sweet potato did no justice to the kangaroo meat, and I can't fathom the appeal of chutney. Again, I was less than impressed (3/5).

I find that Australian cuisine, being fairly new on the food scene, tries to compensate by being bold and exciting in its fusion approach to food. I suppose that could be partly attributed to Australia's multi-culturalism as well, but whatever the reason, I am, unfortunately, a bit of a purist, and have yet to come across fusion cuisine that I could appreciate wholeheartedly.

For dessert, I decided to be adventurous and try the Cabernet Merlot jelly with creme fraiche ($12.90). This proved to be most unwise, because the sour creme fraiche only over-emphasised the already astringent Merlot jelly (2/5).

Although it is true that the food came from the limited period Margaret River menu, it nonetheless did not entice me back - certainly not at those prices, at any rate.

BROTH (Australian)
21 Duxton Hill
Tel: 6323 3353
Location: 2/5
Ambience: 2.5/5
Service: 2/5
Food: 3/5
Overall: Only if you have an exceptional craving for Australian food

Technorati Tags: Restaurant Reviews, Australian Food, BROTH, Singapore

Review: Whitebait and Kale

The main problem with the restaurant industry is one of consistency. The only way to keep your customers coming back, rain or shine, is to provide them with consistent, unshakeable standards of service and food.

Of course, affordable prices are a prerequisite, but once you've established a loyal clientele, they'll come even if your prices are high as long as they think they're getting good value for their money.

The issue, of course, is that it's very difficult for restaurants to provide such constant quality. Freshness and availability of food is not always assured, and chefs and waiters are apt to leave as and when the fancy strikes them.

Take, for instance, Whitebait and Kale, a fairly new restaurant at Camden Medical Centre on Orchard Boulevard.

When I first went there two years ago, I was so pleased to have found it. I thought it was so fantastic that I gave it full marks for everything, which, on hindsight, was probably a little too generous.

However, a year later, I had to very regrettably reappraise my initial evaluation when I was presented with shoddy service and equally shoddy food. It was all very depressing.

On my first visit, I had a mushroom and chestnut soup ($10) which was memorable but overpriced for the size of the portion.

The sirloin steak ($28) was good too, it was tender and came with a very interesting beetroot concasse that complemented the taste of the steak, but on my second visit it had suddenly become very dry and tasteless.

I can't remember what happened to the dessert, chocolate fudge with vanilla ice cream ($8), on my second trip there, but it couldn't have been very good.

Quite possibly the only decent thing about the restaurant now is their gourmet section which sells interesting products like Za'atar spice mixes and sumac, which I have yet to find elsewhere. Not cheap, though.

This entry is rather vague because it was an early review, and I haven't been back in quite a long time. Anyone willing to try their luck can fill me in on the results.

Whitebait and Kale (Australian, seafood)
One Orchard Boulevard, Camden Centre #01-01
Tel: 6333 8697
Location: 4/5
Service: 2/5
Ambience: 5/5
Food: 2/5
Overall: Go at your own risk

Technorati Tags: Restaurant Reviews, Australian Food, Whitebait and Kale, Singapore