Barossa has opened its second outlet, Barossa Bar & Grill at VivoCity, focusing on Australian dry-aged beef from four renowned brands: Bass Strait, Wanderer, Josdale, and Carrara. The new outlet also boasts Josper oven-grilled dishes. Josper is a revolutionary indoor charcoal oven that can grill meat and seafood to smoky perfection.

Ah Hua Kelong’s Tiger Prawns

Ah Hua Kelong’s tiger prawns ($26) are served with deep-fried crispy kale, which is savoury and addictive. The restaurant uses prawns from a local kelong and they are sustainably farmed but this dish would have been more satisfying if the tiger prawns are plumper.

Steak Tartare

As a prelude to the mains, Barossa steak tartare ($26) is a great choice to discover the quality of the beef served in the restaurant. After mixing the egg yolk into the steak tartare, ponzu jelly, pickled red onion, and wasabi zuke, the result is absolutely delicious. The smoked oyster aioli adds depth and fragrance to the raw dish.

Australia Premium 50-day Dry Aged Porterhouse 600g

Good for sharing, the Australia premium 50-day dry aged porterhouse 600g ($138) has a rich beefy flavour but it is a bit chewy at the tendons. The Australia full blood Wagyu ribeye MS7/8 300g ($98) is tender and grilled to a perfect medium rare. I prefer the wagyu to the porterhouse for its tantalising juicy fats.

Australia Full Blood Wagyu Ribeye

Every beef steak comes with roasted garlic confit and tomatoes and a choice of in-house sauce – either piquant whisky double mustard, minty chimichurri, intensely rich tarragon béarnaise, or classics like red wine bordelaise and truffle brown Jus. It is a great selection of sauces to pair with the meats but I am happy to eat the steaks with just a smidgen of garlic spread.

Ōra King Salmon

Fish lovers will enjoy Ōra king salmon “The Wagyu of Salmon” ($35). It is still orange pink at the centre, a mark of succulence and richness of the oily fish. The salmon skin could have been crispier and then it would have been perfect.

Fig Mochi Cake

The jasmine infused smoked fig mochi cake ($18) is one of the most interesting desserts I have eaten in a while. The warm chewy fig mochi cake has an uncanny likeness to our Chinese nian gao (年糕), in terms of texture and sweetness. The cake is infused with jasmine smoke and is eaten with jasmine white chocolate ganache and passion fruit gel. The tartness from the passion fruit gel evens out the sweetness flawlessly.

Frozen Dark Chocolate Whisky Souffle

If you like something richer, frozen dark chocolate whiskey soufflé ($18) is creamy and cool. It has chocolate pearls, berries, and spiced crumble to break the monotony. The chocolate is not overly sweet and has a very pleasant tinge of bitterness from the whiskey.

If you only want drinks and light bites while enjoying the view, the al-fresco menu serves tapas, cheese platters, and pizzas. There are also bar snacks like truffle fries, Sakoshi Bay oysters, and chipotle buffalo wings to choose from. The atmosphere is casual and relaxed, a good place to unwind and enjoy a meal.

BAROSSA BAR & GRILL
VivoCity #01-161/162, 1 Harbourfront Walk, Singapore 238801
Weekdays 12pm – 10pm, Weekends 11am – 10pm
T: +65 255 1855
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Food: 6.5/10
Price/value: 5/10
Décor/ambience: 6.5/10

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–Black Marble by Otto, Raffles Holland V Mall: Steaks, Grilled without Frills
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This is an invited tasting. Written by Cheang Shwu Peng.