Happy 18th Birthday, Chiobu! (who has been celebrating her 18th birthday for the past few years.) May all your wishes come true.

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Dear Wolfgang Puck, celebrity chef of Cut, one of the top 3 steakhouses in USA,

To celebrate Chiobu’s birthday, we went to Cut, where we had been wanting to go for a long time but your restaurant just didn’t top our priority list. (We did try Cut bar before, which has cut-throat prices.)

Despite being Austrian, with training in Europe, you present to us an American steakhouse. The interior is dark and sexy, chic, clean lines, lots of wood, with tables somewhat too close to one another. Photos of American celebrities hang on the wall and are found at the back of the menu. American classic rock music sets the ambience. A very boisterous mood with the sound of prattle of people trapped and reverberating off the walls. We didn’t expect the place to be so packed. The extremely dim lighting made our photos lousy. I’m sorry.

Many servers are local Singaporean ah bengs. Nothing against foreign wait staff although the familiarity of having Singaporeans to serve us was very comforting. However, the service was rather uneven. For instance, the manager went to some tables to show the cuts of steaks and explained the menu but didn’t go to other tables. Or those who were having anniversaries or birthdays were served a complimentary lollipop but we didn’t receive any. (In any case, can’t you at least provide a slice of birthday cake as a complimentary dessert? Don’t be so cheap.)

Let’s talk about the food. The steaks are imported from Australia, America and Japan. And the steaks are GIGANTIC. Each slab can come in 300g–about as big as Mosses Lim’s face–and starts from $80 or so. The manager recommended the beef from Snake River Farms, Idaho, USA, because, he claimed, “nowhere in the world can you ever eat a steak from the farm. We are the only restaurant to serve it.”

But we opted for the more expensive Tasting Menu of Sirloin Steaks ($225) that come with USDA Prime graded (Illinois Corn, aged 21 days, 120g), American Kobe from Snake River Farms (120g), and Japanese Wagyu from Shiga Prefecture (60g). We also ordered two sides, creamed spinach ($18) and Mac & Cheese ($22). Chiobu said we should share the steak and if we were hungry after it, we could order more.

The journey started with gratis bread which was AMAZING. The foccacia was kickass salty and drenched in olive oil and the soft pretzel was incredibly fragrant with a hint of coffee beans.

Not sure if it was because of the four servings of bread I had–they were irresistible–that I was actually full after the shared and tiny steaks, which the restaurant had thoughtfully cut for us (as shown in the photo above.) I think visually, it was terrible. Other patrons had a ginormous slab while we had three tiny mouthfuls each, which was why I wanted to order more… but I was full after eating so I didn’t order. My eyes are bigger than my stomach, it seems.

The sides we ordered–spinach and mac-and-cheese–were not the bomb; they bombed. The spinach was superlatively salty and the mac-and-cheese lumpy and tough. Equally shoddy was USDA Prime, so tough that we had to hack our way like how the Prince machete-d his way through the magical briar to get to Sleeping Beauty.

We ordered medium-rare but the steaks, we thought, were more medium.

However, the American Kobe and Japanese Wagyu were a different matter. Each steak was crusted with char and the char contrasted wonderfully with the tenderness of the two steaks. The Kobe had a bite, which may appeal to people who like to chew, while the Japanese Wagyu was tender and juicy and pure. The keyword here is “pure.” Whenever you chew wagyu, there is a juice that comes out and it tastes slightly oily but not here. Here, the juice was just… pure. (I don’t use ellipsis lightly.)

All desserts cost $24, including pear crumble, lime pudding cake, pecan baked Alaska, Valrhona chocolate souffle, and banana cream pie. The souffle, like most steaks in the restaurant, was plus-size, enough for 3-4 people. It was competent but could get jerlat (surfeit).

Is Cut a cut above the rest? Between Chiobu and I, we have eaten steaks at Morton’s, Bedrock, Salt Grill, Lawry’s, Gordon Grill and other famous steakhouses in Singapore and we honestly can’t say Cut makes it to top 3 in Singapore. Chiobu’s favorite is Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse and mine is Le Bistrot du Sommelier.

In the end, we paid $340 for two (although theoretically, if you order two cheapest steaks, you can get away with $190 for two). Is Cut worth the money? Well, for the amount of money we paid, we expected perfection but there were some hits and misses which were unforgivable. However, I didn’t feel the pinch when I was paying but that may be because I was treating someone whom I love. Happy birthday, my wonderful sister.

Cut Restaurant Singapore

B1-71
The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands
T: 6688 8517
Website

6-10pm

Rating: 3.063/5 cuts

ps: Not to steal away Chiobu’s thunder, we’ve launched our new logo, designed by our dear friend, Michelle Andrea Wan.