Burnt Ends

For today’s entry, I am highly motivated to share this experience as I literally just had this meal yesterday!

Just recently, my girlfriend managed to secure a Reservation at Burnt Ends.

(Jumps for joy, not literally haha)

Photo from: https://burntends.com.sg/reservation/

She made sure to check with the staff if the place could accommodate wheelchair users, and the staff then said that they will help with entering the venue on the day.

We make this a good practice to check in advance if a restaurant is wheelchair accessible or not, so as not to be disappointed.

More about Burnt Ends: https://burntends.com.sg/

They are #65 of The World’s 50, #24 of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, and also have held their One-Michelin star since first awarded in 2018.

They also have one of the most competitive reservation bookings we have faced so far due to popular demand.

For those who have tried, you would know that it takes a certain amount of luck and good timing in order to get a reservation at this restaurant.

I know this personally because I had been trying for months on end and quite frankly at some point gave up on the idea of ever being able to dine there.

It is extremely competitive but definitely worth giving it a try!

For reservations: https://burntends.com.sg/reservation/

(They refresh their reservations at 10am every day and open up to 45 days in advance for booking)

But all that said, we finally made it! We secured a reservation on a Saturday for lunch and while waiting expectantly as the date drew closer, the day had finally arrived!

Before we jump into the AMAZING food that we had, I would like to talk about Accessibility and getting to the restaurant itself.

The restaurant is located at: 7 Dempsey Road, #01-04, Singapore 249671

And as you can see from Google maps, Burnt Ends is rather deep in on top of Dempsey Hill which is not exactly the most accessible area to get to via Public Transport.

The “walk-up” indicated with the blue dots above consists of narrow pathways on a rather steep upslope gradient.

For ease and comfort of getting to the venue, we took a Taxi that sent us all the way to the front door of Burnt Ends, which made the journey there and experience a lot more pleasant.

When we reached Burnt Ends, we started looking around for the main entrance, which unseeingly turned out to be this door with a couple of steps in between.

Not long after, the host came out to ask if we were looking for Burnt Ends and upon quickly confirming our reservations, she told us that she will be getting a few of her colleagues to help me with entering their restaurant.

Unfortunately, there was no ramps available to enter the main entrance.

Instead, 3 strong male staff came to carry me and my wheelchair up the steps and into the restaurant.

And as there are a couple more steps past the front entrance and into the dining room, they had to lift me up over the various steps a total of 3 times.

I personally didn't really mind that I had to be lifted up with my wheelchair as it wasn’t my first time being lifted to enter an establishment.

From my memory, this would be my third time, and I recall all 3 times were to enter restaurants for good food. (Nothing shall stop me from eating what I want)

Although that said, I do understand that not every wheelchair user is comfortable being lifted up while in their wheelchair and personally if there were an alternative option, I would also prefer not to be lifted up as I am a rather big guy. (Poor guys that had to carry me..)

After entering the dining room, we were greeted by our server for our lunch, Jasmine. We were assigned to a table near the entrance of the door and they already had a seat removed from the table for me. Jasmine was exceptionally warm and welcoming when introducing herself and gave us time to cool down (weather was blazing) and to have a look at the menu.

She asked if it was our first time there and we excitedly told her that it was and that we were really looking forward to today.

She shared our excitement with us and started to slowly introduce the menu and recommended that we consider taking up the “Chef’s Select”, which would mean to leave our dish choices to the Chef entirely.

She explained that typically for the Chef’s Select, they will start by asking these following:

How hungry are you on a scale of 1 – 10? (This will determine the number of dishes that will be served)
Do you have any food allergies or preferences that you do not like?(This will determine what dishes will be served)

After glancing through the menu options, we decided to go with the Chef’s Select as it was our first time, and we were fairly hungry and excited to try what they had to offer!

And now for the main event, the food!

Smoked Quail Eggs and Caviar - $18.00 x 2 [Highly Recommend]

A Burnt Ends Signature dish.

The smokiness from the quail eggs which also had a liquid yolk that popped in your mouth all came together which a rich, fragrant velvety texture filled with umami from the egg yolk and caviar.

The smokiness from this tiny bite gave an after taste that lingered for a few good minutes allowing you to fully enjoy the layered flavors just from a simple quail egg.

We really loved this!

We both gave this a 10/10!

Grissini and Taramasalata - $14.00 [Highly Recommend]

Another Burnt Ends Signature, Grissini and Taramasalata was light and refreshing without short-changing on flavor.

The abundance of fresh herbs from the dill and chives complimented the savory, creamy cured pollock roe and kombu base that was on top of a shatteringly crispy flat bread that held the weight of all the ingredients to give the best mouthfeel.

This was a delectable appetizer to start off our incoming array of dishes.

This was also a 10/10 for both of us!

Fish & Chips | Steak Frites - $35.00 x 4

Chef’s rendition of Fish & Chips and Steak Frites. This dish consists of Hamachi tartare and Steak tartare on top of crispy pommes frites. Both were strong and rich in flavors.

We felt that the star of the dish was the Pommes Frites. They were crispy on the outside and pillow-y on the inside, but they did overwhelm the tartare and caviar as the potato were very strong in flavor.

We preferred the Hamachi tartare over the beef because of the citrusy notes from the lime and lemon which made the overall mouthful more balanced.

We preferred the Fish & Chips here, giving

it at 8/10 and the Steak Frites at 7/10!

Beef and Uni - $70.00

I don’t think there’s much that can be said for this dish aside from “The Perfect Bite”.

The fattiness from the Wagyu, sweetness, and creaminess from the Sea urchin, combining together to form the most luxurious mouthful I have had in a very long while.

This was an easy 10/10!

Crispy Pigs' Ear and Za'atar - $14.00

The crispy pigs’ ear was crunchy and had layers of texture and flavor from the cured pork fat (Lardo) and blend of Za’atar spices which had fragrant notes of oregano, marjoram, and cumin.

It was pretty good but not amazing to us, it pales in comparison to the other dishes we tried.

This was 6/10 for us, pretty good, not amazing.

Crab and Pork Stickers - $15.00 [Highly Recommend]

I think we both didn’t have many expectations for pot stickers even after seeing the dish, but we were really blown away by the explosive crab and pork flavors from these pot stickers.

The vinegary sauce helped with the richness of the crab and pork filling and the semi-crispy skin gave a lot of texture to the dish.

We were surprised and thoroughly enjoyed this dish!

This was mind-blowingly good, 10/10!

Chilli Squid & Lime - $14.00

The grill on the squid was decent giving it some char and smokiness especially near the tips, textures were pretty good as well.

The sauce was very spicy, fragrant and flavorful. I normally can handle my spice, but this spicy sauce was pretty intense.

Overall decent flavors but nothing too remarkable.

This was 6/10 for us, pretty good, not amazing.

Chicken Tail - $12.00 [Highly Recommend]

I have always been a big fan of chicken tails in skewers, be it from the cumin-spiced Chinese 串 or the yakitori Bonjiri.

Burnt End's Chicken tails had a unique 7 spice blend that the Chef curated and it was the scent of cinnamon that carried through. The mild sweetness and fragrance that lingered was a really nice after touch.

I shared with Chef Patrick that I really enjoyed the lingering notes and fragrance of Cinnamon from the Chicken Tail, and he was elated and appreciative that we enjoyed their unique spice blend.

This was sooooooo good, 10/10!

Jamaican Chicken and Lime Crema - $12.00

The chicken was smoky and savory, the dry rub spices on the chicken was impactful and carried so many flavors.

The meat within the crispy skin was juicy and succulent, the only thing we wished for was for it to be slightly bigger!

The Lime Crema gave the flavors a nice balance with its refreshing tang while maintaining its lightness.

We both gave this an 8.5/10!

Chef Patrick Leano personally served this dish to us and took the chance to check if we were still hungry.

When we told him we still had room to go, he celebrated exclaiming out “Yes! Let’s go!” as if he scored a goal and told us he had prepared more dishes to come.

This might be the first time I personally experienced a Chef excited to be able to feed their guests more food because he was hoping we could try more of his repertoire of dishes.

It kept our excitement and anticipation high, despite already going through 9 dishes.

Thus, we pushed forward and carried on!

Cubano Pork Belly Tacos - $14.00

The pork belly was so tender, well marinated and a little smoky, the layers of fat had rendered well, and it also had a charred crust on the rims giving it more texture and flavor.

Easily one of the best pork bellies I have had in a while!

Kay was less of a fan of the taco shell as it was a little too crumbly for her liking but personally, I quite enjoyed it because the taco shell itself had a very nice fragrance and after taste of corn.

This was an 8.5/10 for us, Pork belly alone was 10/10!

Beef, Marmalade and Pickles - $16.00

Just when we thought we had peaked with flavors from the previous dishes, the Beef Marmalade came out swinging hard.

It was sweet, smoky, juicy, and meaty.

This was easily one of the strongest tasting bites out of our entire meal. The homemade pickles helped with the richness to balance out all the flavors.

The only reason why this is not a 10/10 is because we generally both don’t prefer our meats sweet.

Still an incredible scrumptious bite especially if you enjoy marmalade.

Umami Bomb, not for the faint-hearted, 8.5/10!

Maitake and Black Truffle "Congee" - $48.00 [Highly Recommend*]

I highly, Highly, HIGHLY recommend this dish if you enjoy mushrooms.

We absolutely fell in love with this dish and to be frank it was so good that at some point we were “fighting” over the spoon.

I struggle to put our experience with this dish into words as I don’t think I can do it justice.

The Maitake mushroom was grilled and smoked to perfection. The entire mushroom was smoky, edges were crisp, and the centre was juicy.

The mushroom itself had so much flavor and textures that I would have been happy just having it by itself.

But no, Burnt Ends and Chef Patrick had to take it to another level. The savory “Congee” that accompanied the Maitake was permeated with black truffle and topped with a cured egg yolk that the staff told us to break open and mix with the congee before enjoying it together.

Cutting up the Maitake into bite sizes and adding it to a spoonful of the most extravagant “congee” together in a single bite was just pure bliss.

This dish was one of the most memorable to us and it will probably be one of the dishes that we will definitely come back to if it happens to be on the menu again.

11/10 - Highlight of the meal

King Crab and Garlic Brown Butter - $75.00 (half) [Highly Recommended]

The King Crab flesh was succulent and sweet, the Garlic Brown butter was so flavorful and nutty, along with the dash of lemon to refresh the dish and cut through some of the richness of the butter, this was yet another highlight of our meal.

One would think that by now, we should be too full after having 12-13 dishes, but when the staff who served us the King Crab said “I would recommend having the sourdough with the Garlic brown butter, it goes amazing together!”

Say no more, I asked for 2 slices of sourdough to go with it and eventually ended up ordering even more bread and wiped the brown butter sauce clean.

Burnt Ends Sourdough by itself was really good. But with the juices from the crab, fragrant and nutty Garlic brown butter, I couldn’t hold myself back from wiping the whole plate dry. The staff even told us to let them know if we require more Garlic brown butter, but I refrained from indulging myself further than I have already went.

10/10, Smiley faces all around - Highlight of the meal

(Kay adjusted the lemon wedges and King crab legs to smile for the camera)

Flat Iron, Burnt Onion, and Bone Marrow - $50.00, $40/100g

The Flat Iron steak was cooked to a beautiful Medium Rare and had an amazing texture which was well complimented by the bone marrow and burnt onions.

The meat with the sauce was rich and just the right portion for the both of us especially after all the dishes we have had.

I think because Kay and me both prefer Ribeye in general, we felt that the Flat Iron steak was decent but maybe not to our preference at the end of the day. We might try the Blackmores’ Cube Roll next time, I think we might prefer that instead!

Overall, this was 9/10 for us!

Black Forest Soft Serve - $5.00 x 2

Dessert began with a nice refreshing soft serve ice cream of Dark Chocolate and Cherry. Chef described it as their take on Black Forest flavors.

The Dark chocolate was rich and smooth, and the Cherry was tangy and refreshing.

Having each flavor individually by themselves were great as well but together they provided a pleasant balance.

It worked as a great palate cleanser after all the rich food we had!

Burnt Ends take on Black Forest flavors, we felt a strong 9/10!

Berry Tart - $7.00 (half)

Typically, I tend to avoid sweets, especially desserts because I don’t quite enjoy sweet food.

This berry tart however was not too sweet. It was light, buttery, and crumbly. And on top of it all, there was a dollop of Chantilly cream that came with the tart, it was fragrant and light and creamy which complimented each bite of the tart.

A satisfying tart that didn’t take too long for us to wipe the plate clean. They also sell these at their bakery just next door, and I will be sure to pick it up the next time I visit!

Extremely satisfying and comforting Tart, 8.5/10!

Smoked Cream Caramel - $14.00 [Highly Recommended]

Didn’t expect ourselves to be “wow-ed” again so deep into our meal but this Smoke Cream Caramel had so many technical levels to it that it was just pure impressive.

The pudding was firm enough to hold itself, had no air pockets in between them, yet smooth and soft inside.

It had the same amount of smokiness compared to the previous meat and seafood dishes we had before and the scent from the vanilla beans was strong yet not overpowering the entire dish.

On top of it all, the caramel was well balanced and not overly sweet.

I am not a huge fan of desserts, but this was truly one of the best desserts I have ever had and to end this meal on such a strong note. For someone who tend to avoid the dessert menu in general, especially with sweet desserts (I enjoy sour desserts more), I would actually order this again should it be on the menu.

Highly recommended! Simple but so technical, beautiful and flavorful, 10/10!

Marshmallows - $3.00 x 2

I think this might be the least favorite item for us on the menu.

It had the best texture possible for a toasted marshmallow but the flavors of orange and the burnt caramel were not to our liking.

It wasn’t bad in any sense where it spoiled our dining experience, but we could have been alright without it and just ending our meal on the Smoked Cream Caramel.

This was overall a 5/10 for us.

And that concluded our Chef’s Select lunch, a total of 18 dishes.

We did get some Earl Grey tea ($5.00) and Peppermint Tea ($5.00) to cleanse our palates and to help with digestion after such a heavy lunch.

That said, I think we were comfortably full and did not have to push ourselves to finish the courses. The dishes were well planned out by the Chef, and we had thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and would definitely love to come back again!

Would highly recommend the Chef’s Select if you are visiting Burnt Ends for the first time, of course if it is within the comfort of your budget and stomach space.

We didn’t manage to ask for a photo with Chef Patrick or our Server Jasmine, but they and their colleagues were provided top-notch service throughout our lunch. Topping up our waters and changing our dining plates and cutleries every so frequently in between dishes.

They also made sure to do multiple check-ins with us albeit not intrusively, if we liked the food and our current level of hunger to ensure we have the fullest experience with the Chef’s Select.

After finishing up the meal, I had a look at the time and realized that it was about 2.5 hours since we started our lunch, time really flew by while we were enjoying ourselves.

We had a lovely short chat with Jasmine before leaving. She had arranged for her colleagues to carry me out at any point once I was ready, but Kay and I wanted to check out the bakery next door.

The staff then instead lead us though the kitchen and into the bakery which gave us an exclusive glimpse of the inside of the busy kitchen.

Being someone who has had F&B experience in the kitchen for many years before, I couldn’t help but check out their line which consists of a huge team of Chefs and Cooks and all the various mise-en-place that was neatly organized. Such a beautiful sight!

After checking out the bakery, we did realize that there was actually a ramp leading out of the main bakery door.

It was also then that we figured, the staff technically didn’t have to carry my wheelchair and me up 3 times, instead once would have been sufficient if we came in from the Bakery, through the side kitchen door, past the kitchen and into the dining room.

The bakery had many beautiful tasty looking pastries but we were just too full to get anything else, will be back to try the pastries another time!

They also had an accessible toilet beside the bakery which was a pleasant surprise for me as a wheelchair user.

Of course, we also did take the opportunity to suggest to the staff that they invest in a portable ramp for their main entrance or bakery so that their staff do not have to physically carry wheelchair users in, and it would also at the same time allow for more accessibility for other wheelchair users who can’t be carried.

Overall, it was a tremendously enjoyable experience, and we would definitely love to be back once we get another opportunity at securing a reservation!

Assessed on	Rating	Description
Food	10/10	Absolutely amazing, definitely worth travelling to try
Cost ($$$$)	6/10	Fairly steep prices but worth saving up for
Value for Money	9/10	Not cheap but definitely worth your buck
Accessibility	3/10	Dempsey Hill is not the easiest to get to without a car, restaurant has 2-3 challenge points with steps Staff are available to carry you and your wheelchair in, if you are comfortable with it.

This took me quite some time to type out, but I really enjoy myself while I was doing this. May this be the beginning of more sharing of food places / reviews and one day about travelling too!

#food #foodreview #restaurant #burntends #michelin #michelindining #access #accessibility

Burnt Ends

Comments