As unbelievable as it sounds, I have never sampled @commonmancoffee food for myself. Yes, it’s an iconic Singaporean café, and I have never dined at one. Until recently, that is, and it wasn’t even for brunch.⠀
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Instead, I opted to have their Smash Burger ($28++) for lunch. Contrary to the name, the single patty was actually respectably thick as opposed to the traditionally thin patty of a smash burger. The patty was well done, and boasted a gorgeously charred crust all around, while still maintaining juiciness within. The ground beef had been mixed in with bone marrow, which explains how moisture had been retained inside the burger despite the doneness. The pure fat of the bone marrow deepens the beefiness and enhances the juiciness of the already superbly seasoned beef patty. ⠀
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Together in concert with the melted cheddar cheese, the beef & cheese make for one hell of a tasty burger. The sweet onion jam injects a caramel note of sweetness into the fiesta of rich, meaty, salty flavours for a little extra complexity. The beetroot barbecue sauce that had been spread on the toasted buttered brioche buns was exciting, with an earthy zest that could only come from beetroot mixed in with the molasses flavours of barbecue sauce. Unfortunately, there was a dire lack of the beetroot barbecue sauce, and I only got to taste fleeting flashes of it in the smash burger.⠀
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The herbed fries on the side were just as outstanding as the burger, and even threatened to steal the show on occasions. Each fry was like eating a tube of supremely savoury mashed potatoes that had been coated in a thin, crisp batter and deep fried. The herbs & heat of paprika simply added to the absurdly addictive allure of the french fries, and the spuds were gone in short order.⠀
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Sure, thirty bucks for a burger is excessive, but Common Man’s Smash Burger is an all star guaranteed to smash mouths.