Despite touting ourselves as a food capital of Southeast Asia, we really have to point out that Singapore sorely lacks eateries where you can get a decent, hearty steak.
No we’re not talking about the usual Aston’s, Jack’s Place or any other establishments that don’t even know what ‘medium-rare’ means, we’re talking about the real deal. No mushroom sauce bullshit, no fork-bending crap — just the pure taste of prime beef cuts and fat, bloodied to hell.
That’s where the new District 10 Restaurant, Bar & Grill at Suntec comes in.
It’s a place where gourmand meat lovers can definitely call home. The experience starts with their excellent appetizers, teasing your savoury palates with delicate dishes such as their butter lettuce salad with pancetta, hazelnut, Gorgonzola and egg ($20) and the very satisfying Vitello Tonnato ($24), starring thinly sliced roasted veal loin with light tuna sauce.
A particular highlight for cheese enthusiasts would be District 10’s Puglia Burratina ($26) — a buttery smooth shell of mozzarella and cream that spills apart its rich contents onto some crisp rocket lettuce and organic Italian tomato.
Before the main showcase of the night (hint: it’s steak), Chef Luca Pezzera treats us into a seasoned display of knifework, cutting into massive chunks of dry-aged beef. He picks two cuts — the corn-fed US Prime OP Rib ($18 per 100gm) as well as the corn-fed traditional Fiorentina steak ($22 per 100gm). Both have been dry-aged for 45 days.
After a short stint on the charcoal-grill, District 10’s raison d’être arrives on the table all sliced up and screaming for you to shove it in your mouth. None of that gravy silliness here, just plain salt, pepper and herbs that fuse together into an apex of supreme taste that got us on a proper meat-fueled high.
They come medium-rare of course, as all steaks should be. Well-crusted on the outside and tender to the touch on the inside, the cuts went down easily like sashimi. The phenomenal marbling and dry-aged quality of the beef pops out distinctly with a more intense beef flavor, while the connective tissue have all but broken down, producing an exceptionally tender meat.
Both cuts differ in texture, and your preference for either may differ. The OP rib’s a little more solid and heartier, while the bone-in Fiorentina is so tender that it might as well melt in your mouth.
Dessert provides a much needed break from all that protein, and District 10 delivers that with proper quality as well. Choice ones would include their piquant Profiterole ($12) filled with chestnut and served generously with warm chocolate sauce as well as their atas smores — bitter chocolate with marshmellow fluff and caramelized banana ($14).
If you weren’t intoxicated already by the pure merit of the steaks, there’s always a drink to top it all off. Pick out the Fruits of Angel ($18), a sweet but potent concoction comprising of Plantation Original Dark Rum, homemade papaya syrup, fresh lemon juice and a dash of thyme.
Finally, another rare establishment that truly call themselves a steakhouse.
District 10 Bar & Grill is at 3 Temasek Boulevard, Suntec City Mall Tower 2, #0514/515. Open Mondays to Saturdays from 10.30 am to 10.30pm.
Photos: Coconuts Media
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