Steaks with a Twist @ Fat Belly [Review]

Foie Gras Creme Brûlée. Creamed Kale. And Tajima Beef Char Siew.

These are just a few of the many unique items that are on offer at Fat Belly at Serene Centre, Singapore’s first speakeasy-style steakhouse – and which prides themselves on giving their customers an unorthodox approach to beef.

And one of the ways in which they do this, is through making available lesser-known cuts of steak – such as rib fingers and Tri-Tips.

Explained owner Stanley Seow, “What Fat Belly aspires to achieve is to turn the heads of the casual fine-dining scene with a showcase of alternative cuts of beef.”

Together with a dining companion, I had been invited to Fat Belly for a media tasting session.

On reaching Jalan Serene, I have to point out that Fat Belly may be a little hard to find though, as the eatery is hidden within dessert parlour Sugarhaus.

On stepping inside the eatery, I had been quickly led over to the bar tables where I was greeted with an open kitchen concept where I had the chance to watch my dinner being by the talented chefs at work.

An Alternative Experience

We were having the Fat Belly Alternative Experience (S$78 per pax) which was something like a degustation creation.

Pre-Dinner Snack

Kicking off the session was a surprise Pre-Dinner Snack, which turned out to be home-made rice puffs prepared with beef sauce. I had thought that this was quite enjoyable.

Biting into a rice puff, I was reminded of a cross between rice crackers and papadums; the rice puffs were addictive, slightly salty and light, and the rice flavour was immediately apparent. However I would say that the flavour of the beef had been very subtle – and that I could not really detect much of it.

Foie Gras Creme Brûlée

Our second course was the much-anticipated foie gras creme brûlée. For this dish, foie gras and truffle paste are combined, and the dish is decorated with a coral tuile that is prepared with beef fat and vanilla.

This was a very complex dish to taste. When I first took a bite, the truffle was the predominant flavour and this attacked my taste buds immediately, but after that, the taste of the foie gras suddenly hit me, together with a subtle taste of burnt caramel.

And a strong foie gras aftertaste continued to linger on in the mouth for several moments after swallowing, too.

The coral tuile had been very light and crispy and upon biting into it, a vanilla essence taste comes out strongly. And interestingly, when this is eaten together with the creme brûlée, it seemed to mute the flavour of the foie gras and at the same time, giving it a crunchy note too.

Overall this was definitely an interesting and unusual creation and it is really a mind-blowing twist on the classic creme brûlée, which happens to be one of my favourite desserts.

Grilled Beef Skewer

The third course was the grilled beef skewer, which is made using beef taken from between the ribs. This is prepared with a chimmichurri sauce that consisted of red vinegar, olive oil and cilantro and is then served with Himalayan pink salt on the side.

This too, was a rather interesting dish. The beef was full of flavour. When I took my first bite, I could detect a chewy texture in the beef, but then after a few moments, a strong beefy note suddenly hit me. This then gave way to a rich, oily aftertaste that lingered on for a short while.

And when the beef is dipped into the Himalayan pink salt, the saltiness hits me, and somewhat tones down the flavour of the beef at the same time. But the beef taste comes back after a few moments.

Tajima Beef Char Siew

We were then presented with the Tajima Beef Char Siew as the fourth course. Like with pork char siew, the meat is taken close to the belly of the animal, but it is beef instead of pork.

For the preparation process, it is marinated with Asian sauces and spices and then finished with a blowtorch to give it a charred, caramelised crust. The dish is then served on a bed of toasted curly kale.

And I would say that this one was possibly my favourite dish out of the lot. When I bit into a piece of the Char Siew, I found it to be soft and moist, and I was able to pick up a beefy note too.

The texture of the meat was smooth and at the same time, it also had a slightly burnt taste as well as a slight hint of sweetness, both of which I think that good Char Siew should have.

At the same time, there was a slightly spicy note from the herbs and spices that had been used in the preparation process. Eating this dish arrested all of my taste buds at once and though I could detect plenty of flavours at the same time. Everything blended in really well together.

As such, I had thought that it was done really well and if I had not been told that it was beef, I could have sworn that I was eating pork char siew instead. This is a dish that I admit I was definitely impressed with.

And the side serving of kale was also cooked very well. This was crunchy at the edges and chewy at the centre. The simplicity of the kale was great in balancing out the richness of the beef char siew.

Mini Gouda Wagyu Beef Burger

The fifth item was the Mini Gouda Wagyu Beef Slider, which is freshly ground Wagyu meat topped with Gouda cheese and then sandwiched between soft, handmade potato buns.

Upon tasting this dish, the rich flavours immediately hit my taste buds, setting them on fire. I could pick up a slight chewy texture from the bun, and this complemented the flavourful beef very well.

While I thought that the texture of the beef patty may have been a little on the coarse side, but the rich flavours from the herbs and spices that were used in the preparation process, had more than made up for this.

The taste of the Gouda cheese was also very distinctive. In fact, the moment I bit into the mini burger, the first thing that I could taste had actually been the cheese, before the beef flavours came out and arrested my taste buds.

When all of the ingredients were eaten together, the overall sensation was a combination of flavours and textures that completely arrested my taste buds.

Wagyu Marble Score 8 Grilled Tri-Tip Steak

Finally, after all of the pre-entree dishes, we were served the main course. On the tasting menu, this was a Marble Score 8 Grilled Wagyu Tri-Tip which is marinated in herb oil and charcoal grilled to impart a smoky flavour to the meat.

Also called bottom sirloin, this lesser known cut is prized for its rich, beefy flavour and is described as providing a burst of flavour and tenderness with every bite.

This dish arrived, with the steak having been cooked to Medium and served with pumpkin mash and almond kale on the side. I was pleasantly surprised by the rich textures and flavours in the meat.

Upon biting into a piece, I thought that the meat had a nice, beefy note to it, and at the same time, it was slightly salty, and the texture was really soft and moist. In short, it was delicious.

The red wine Bordelaise sauce that it was served with, had a strong savoury note to it too, which I thought had balanced out the beefiness from the meat quite well.

The pumpkin mash was also quite yummy; this was very smooth and it was savoury, yet sweet at the same time, with some natural sweetness from the pumpkins. When it was eaten together with the meat, the sweetness had balanced out the beefiness rather well, and at the same time, accentuating the moistness of the meat, too.

I admit that I had never heard of the Tri-Tip cut beforehand, but I had really been blown away by it. So as a result, I ended up munching on more than my fair share of the meat – even though I was beginning to feel a bit full by this point of the meal.

Wagyu Marble Score 5 Onglet Steak

The second main course that we were given, was the Wagyu Marble Score 5 Onglet Steak (S$38.00) and the done-ness was Medium Rare.

This dish is not usually part of the tasting menu, but the chef had given this to us because he had wanted us to try different cuts of meat.

According to Fat Belly, the Onglet steak is a flat cut from the diaphragm or lower belly of the cow. Also known as the Hanger Steak, it is highly prized for its rich meaty flavour and excellent marbling. In fact, it is sometimes called Butcher’s Steak because butchers in the past recognised its excellent flavour and would often keep this exceptional cut for themselves rather than sell it in the market.

When I bit into it, the Onglet steak had a significantly stronger beefy note to it – as compared to the Tri-Tip steak. At the same time, it had a slightly smoky flavour that had balanced out the beefy taste, thus complementing it nicely.

However, I had thought that this cut had also been more chewy than the Tri-tip steak – even though Onglet is supposed to be the second most tender cut after ribeye.

But then again, this may have been because the Onglet steak had been cooked more rare than the earlier Tri-Tip steak, thus bringing out a chewy texture in the meat.

But at the same time, the meat was quite moist, which had been a pleasant surprise to me as I had never heard of Onglet steak before, let alone eating it.

This steak had been served with asparagus on the side, which had a nice flavour and brought crunch to the meal when eaten together.

Creamed Kale

Another dish that we were served, that was not part of the tasting menu, was the Creamed Kale (S$5.00). For this dish, the kale is prepared in a cream sauce that is mixed with garlic, onions, cream and nutmeg – in order to bring out the flavours.

When I took a bite of the kale, the creamy note hit me straight away, filling my mouth with the smoothness of the cream sauce, together with the slight crunchiness of the kale. They had matched each other quite well.

This had been a classic twist on the creamed spinach dish that is commonly served at Western restaurants and I thought that using kale had been a great alternative.

However I would say that this dish was quite rich, so it is best to share it with a companion because after several mouthfuls, the cream made me feel a bit “jelak”.

Chocolate and Raspberry Lava Cake with Cinnamon Gelato

And to end off the tasting on a sweet note, the final dish had been the dessert – this was a molten chocolate lava cake with a raspberry centre and served with house-made vanilla cinnamon gelato.

I thought that this dish was an interesting twist on the standard molten chocolate cake, which is traditionally served with vanilla ice cream.

And I had really liked the way that Fat Belly had prepared the lava cake. The rich, dark chocolate flavours complemented the light, tangy fruitiness coming from the raspberry very well, and the combination arrested my taste buds, without any of the flavours overwhelming my senses.

The cinnamon flavours in the gelato, too, added another dimension to the dessert. I could taste a slight hint of vanilla in the gelato but the flavour of the cinnamon was significantly stronger, and when this had been paired together with the chocolate and raspberry flavours, it added a refreshing zing to the dessert that hit my palette, helping to set it apart from many of the other chocolate lava cakes that I have eaten.

My only gripe though, had been that the molten lava did not ooze out of the cake when I cut into it.

An Enjoyable Dining Experience

As a whole, I would say that I had really enjoyed my dining experience at Fat Belly. The twists that they had added to many of the classic items was intriguing as well as interesting.