Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Review: Relish


This past week, I had a cousins lunch at Relish, the new burger eatery opened by Willin Low, the proprietor of Wild Rocket.


I have to thank Rachel Balota for the people photos on this post. If you are in need of a photographer, who is not only super gifted with her eye for colour and beautiful composition, which you can check out here, but wonderful and accomodating to work with, definitely contact this crazy talented girl.


Relish is always crowded, everytime I go and it has the undefinable joie de vivre of good and popular restaurants, that is, this feeling of happiness and a happy place. It's full of light and fun, more comfortable then pretentiously trendy.


Maybe it's the cheerful yellow walls, the high breezy ceilings and unassuming hardwood floor, the young and enthusiastic service, or the stacked fat burgers and clever selection of complementary Belgian beers but whatever the case, it's a fantastic place, particularly for a midday meal as it allows you to experience and enjoy the saturation of colours and smells of the day.


The menu is simplicity itself, which is usually a good thing. There are three salads, three side orders, 10 burgers and three desserts. There are also 10 beers which can be paired with your choice of burger, as well as some wines, floats, soft drinks and coffee and tea. Unless otherwise specified, the meat in all the burgers comes medium rare, which in my biased opinion is exactly as it should be.


We had two orders of the original Wild Rocket burger and two orders of the Ramlee burger. I like the original burger but since I'd had it often at Wild Rocket, I was looking forward to trying something new. The Wild Rocket burger is a 170g patty of chopped-up chuck and ribeye in a bun with fresh arugula leaves, sun-dried tomato relish and a Sarawak pepper cream.


I was particularly taken with my Ramlee burger, yes, don't say it, this was a $19 burger so of course it's not what you get in the street.


Look at how thin the omellete is and how it folds neatly over the patty!


It even slices evenly, to display the envelope of egg. It was juicy and slightly spicy, yet light enough for each mouthful to taste both of solid meat and fluffy bun. It was very good and I enjoyed it throughly.


Another yummy burger is the Mexicana burger, which I've tried before but didn't have this time. This is the Grilled Beef Burger with the open face fried egg.


While it's true that it's not the cheapest burger joint and the clientele is both modern and well-heeled (the week we were there, former Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan was enjoying lunch with some friends whilte being watched by security detail), I feel Willin's Relish is an experience because the burgers are very generous, with a thick patty and chunky home-made chutneys where the quality speaks for itself.

I would call ahead for a table! As they say, go grab their buns.

Relish
#02-01 Cluny Court (next to Serene Centre)
501 Bukit Timah Road
Singapore 259760
Tel: 67631547

No comments: