Ever since I bought a sous vide machine, I seldom order steaks at restaurants. It is so easy to cook steaks well at home now. But the steaks at The Feather Blade at Club St are affordable enough so that I don’t feel the pinch here.

Started as a pop-up, The Feather Blade’s dishes centre around Australian grain-fed beef, all of which use the “feather blade” cut or the shoulder. It is the second tenderest cut after the tenderloin. They use the second tenderest cut because they keep the cost low so consumers can pay less. The default doneness is medium rare here.

Feather blade steak ($21), topped with Hokkaido scallops (additional $11)

The mains here don’t include any sides. The moment I bit into the steak (200g, $21), I knew it was sous vide. The texture is preternaturally smooth, which is something I don’t like about sous vide, but to be fair, at this price point, one shouldn’t complain. The restaurant did it to maintain a consistency, a good enough reason. All things else, it’s nice, succulent, tender. This is the best steak dish among three mains here. You can’t go wrong ordering this.

The sauces are charged separately at $2 a tincture: Sichuan peppercorn, béarnaise, horseradish cream, red wine. Three classic sauces and one innovative. They are all delicious, but I’d recommend the Sichuan peppercorn for novelty and horseradish cream (which tastes like mustard) to undercut the grease.

Gyudon ($25) with foie gras (additional $11)

The steak in gyudon (100g, $25, beef rice bowl) is marinated with sukiyaki. It comes with an onsen egg, Japanese pickles, caramelised onions on top of rice. Individually, they all taste good, but somehow, they don’t come together as a Japanese rice bowl.

With an additional $11, you can top off your mains with 2 pieces of Hokkaido scallops or a thick slab of foie gras. I had foie gras at Restaurant Beurre two weeks ago before this and this one is better. It has that iron taste and the nice char on the surface.

Burger ($21)

The “specials” for the day is the burger (200g, $21). They ground the feather blade cut and make the patties, which they deep-fry in beef fat, not grilled. They call it a purist’s burger because the patty is accompanied only with béarnaise sauce and shallots. It’s a good burger but may be a little greasy.

Creamed spinach (front), mushrooms (back)

You have to order sides separately, all priced at $7. We tried all four sides and they are all great.

The mushrooms (sautéed shimeji, shiitake, button) are always a safe bet—I never know a person who doesn’t like mushrooms. The caesar is a salad topped with bonito-flaked onsen egg. Parmigiano-reggiano creamed spinach is always delicious. The skin-on potatoes are fried in beef fat and drizzled with sriracha mayo: comfort food at its best.

The food at The Feather Blade is full-on, in-your-face, no-holds-barred flavours. Strong, youthful, potent. It’s a place—price-point and food-wise—that young people would like.

Menu

Food: 7/10
Price/value: 7/10
Decor/ambience: 7/10

You may be interested in…
–Hot Stones, Clarke Quay: Longstanding Stone Grill Restaurant Revamped Dining Concept to Offer Japanese Steakhouse Dining Experience
–The Ranch Steakhouse by Astons, Clarke Quay: From Kopitiam to Atas. It Gets a Thumbs-Up From Us
–Black Marble by Otto, Raffles Holland V Mall: Steaks, Grilled without Frills
–Morton’s The Steakhouse, Mandarin Oriental: Old-time Favourite Steakhouse Now Comes with Limited Edition Menu

This is an invited tasting. Written by Dr. A. Nathanael Ho.