One place that had been making its rounds across social media of the late is Roasted Story 烧烤物语 — a fairly new addition to the Middle Road / Selegie Road neighbourhood at Elias Building. For those who are unfamiliar with the area, Elias Building is situated right across the road from Wilkie Edge; essentially the same building that used to house Sing Ho Hainanese Chicken Rice and an outlet of L.E. Cafe Confectionery and Pastry before they had moved out due to restoration works of the building. Being one of the first tenants to have moved into the building post-restoration, Roasted Story boasts of a modern interior that is simple yet chic — concrete floors with walls with half-height panels; all that with furniture that features gold and marble accents. Specialising in roast meats, Roasted Story’s menu does somewhat resemble that of yet another roast meat specialty establishment at Killiney Road — not only does Roasted Story serve up a variety of zichar-style offerings in categories such as meat, beancurd, vegetables, seafood, soup, snacks and egg, but they do also offer accompanying carb options to their roasted meats such as Plain Mee Pok, Plain Egg Noodle and Steam Fragrance Rice as well as a selection of congee too. For those looking for more communal plates of carbs, Roasted Story also does offer dishes such as Stir Fry Ee Fu Noodle, Capsicum Shredded Duck Meepok, and Roast Pork Fried Rice, while the selection of desserts include Mango Pomelo Sago, Red Bean Pancake and Fried Ice-Cream — just to name a few. Roasted Story serves up both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages; the former consisting of Chinese Tea, instant coffee, Nescafe, Milo and packaged drinks and cordials, while the latter comprises of various types of beers.

Dining in a group size bigger than our usual meant that we were able to order the Quadruple Roast Meat Platter — the option to go for if one is looking to try all the four (4) types of roasted meat which they serve up at Roasted Story. Other roast meat platters available here includes the Double Roast Meat Platter (featuring patron’s choice of two roasted meats), and the Triple Roast Meat Platter (featuring patron’s choice of three roasted meats). If one is to ask us to narrow our choice to only two out of the four different types of roast meats they have to offer, our pick would be to go for their Bu Jian Tian Char Siew and the Roasted Pork Belly. The former is also available as-is on the menu as the Fire Bu Jian Tian Char Siew — essentially the same item though comes with its own performance where it is flambéed for a theatrical factor at the table. While the version that came with the Quadruple Roast Meat Platter does not come with the “fiery” performance, the Bu Jian Tian Char Siew is still quite a highlight on its own — we liked how the meat is so immensely tender and fatty here, yet carrying a good chunky bite; something that sous-vide variants just simply lack, whilst the exterior comes with an appropriately sweet honey glaze that provides so much flavour. There is just enough chew; all that without carrying any undesirable porky stench — definitely worth making the trip for. The Roasted Pork Belly was equally impressive; again, we liked how the meat were sliced sufficiently chunky to give a good bite — did not feel overly fatty here, and we liked how the fats did not turn particularly gelatinous here as what it could have been if it were to be sous-vide. Again, no undesirable porky stench detected for the meat here — all that with that irresistibly crispy skin over the top that also provides a savoury note to the meat. Absolutely spot-on.

Truth to be told, we felt that the food here at Roasted Story is a little hit-and-miss. There was not an item that left a bad note for us, but we do feel that most of the dishes could have been done with a bit more impact — items like the Soy Chicken was a little less memorable; perhaps so considering how it was pretty much up against the more attractive Bu Jian Tian Char Siew and Roast Pork Belly on the same platter, while we felt the Wasabi Prawn could carry a more evident numbing punch for the wasabi mayonnaise. The Plain Mee Pok was also a little too wet, and does carry a slightly alkaline note — could be done springier with an option to add chili for those who really need some spicy to go along with their noodles. That being said, Roasted Story is a fairly decent option to consider dining at whilst in the area; the Bu Jian Tian Char Siew and Roasted Pork Belly being items which we would most definitely order again if we make a revisit. Reservations are recommended — we were turned down for lunch on a public holiday due to them being at full capacity, whilst a trip made with reservation placed for dinner sees it being slightly less crowded; do also note that there may be limited portions of Bu Jian Tian Char Siew served a day as well, and it does take a while for them to roast the meat should one choose to wait if they are open to preparing a new batch. Just some pointers to note for those who intend to make a visit here!