Steak

TL;DR: 👎🏻

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The menu at Opus greets you with this: “We take grilling very seriously and aim to achieve the caramelised, smoky flavours that are loved by many when cooking over a full charcoal open flame grill”. They even use a Himalayan salt tile cabinet to dry age their meats. Our service staff highly recommended the Rangers Valley Angus OP rib to us, claiming it was the best Opus had to offer.

Sadly, my dining experience at Opus was like watching Suicide Squad, where expectations and reality did not meet. Just like Margot Robie’s Harley Quinn, the steak was easy on the eyes but difficult to stomach.

Understandably, as the OP rib is a thick cut, there is considerable difficulty in preparing it, especially over an open flame. However, if it is the signature dish of the restaurant, a consistently above-average/perfect execution of the dish should be expected.

The doneness of the meat was uneven throughout, with the sides achieving our desired medium-rare while the rest of it was rare. We sent the rare parts back and received a plate of medium and medium-rare doneness steak slices. Better than having them rare i guess?

The steak was far from caramelised and barely had any smoky flavour to it. Dry-aging the meat did intensify the beefy flavour of the steak but that alone is not enough to make a steak great for me. I won’t comment on the tenderising effects of dry-aging on our steak due to the unevenness in doneness. Due to the lacklustre taste of the steak, I found myself having to dunk slice after slice into the black truffle mushroom sauce, which goes against every fiber of being as a steak purist. But a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do to finish his food.

Seeing other reviews about Opus Bar and Grill, it seems like I just decided to visit Opus on a bad day. Unlike Suicide Squad, Opus has the chance to change for the better, which I really hope will happen.

Anyway, if you intend to visit for a meal, I would recommend visiting Opus from Sundays to Thursdays as they offer 2 hours of free flow wine. At the very least, you can seek comfort in endless alcohol.

Would have preferred posting this picture but it doesn't really show you the peppercorn crust or how well the meat was done. And yes, Luke's has a marble bar top counter 😍

Luke's Chop House is located at a discreet corner on the 3rd floor of The Heeren. Open the doors and you are brought into a whole new world, one that speaks of timeless elegance and sophistication that Gatsby would approve of, where you feel like you're one of the few in the know. Describing the interior of the place wouldn't do Luke's Chop House any justice, I suggest that you visit it yourself.

More importantly, if you're not looking to spend a bomb and you still want to impress your date, I think visiting Luke's during lunch would make an ideal choice. Their special lunch menu, which isn't available online, consists of only a few items: Steak and Fries, The Original "Travis" Burger, "Lunch Only" Vegetable Burger, Luke's Lobster Roll and Grilled Fish & Nice Little Salad.

If you're all the way at a Chop House, why go for anything other than a steak right? The Steak and Fries ($39) served here isn't your usual but is in fact, a marvellous piece of peppercorn crusted tenderloin served with fries, salad and laurel leaf bearnaise. Each bite into the steak left me more convinced that I didn't need the bearnaise, as nice as the bearnaise was. While the tenderloin is one of my least favourite parts of the cow due to the lack of flavour, the peppercorn crust definitely helped make up for it and I think Luke's did a really good job with it. The fries were also seasoned with rosemary and old bay, deep fried to a crisp on the outside while still retaining a well-cooked potato texture on the inside. I finished the entire pile of fries, enjoying each fry with the lovely bearnaise sauce.

Now that I have confidence in Luke's, I can't wait to return again and splurge a little by trying items on their normal menu.

This was my first time trying The Market Grill so my friend and I decided to get a 1.1kg U.S Prime Rib accompanied by caramelised onions, potato saladaise and red wine jus to share. Having heard so many people raving about having good steaks at The Market Grill, I think I was sorely disappointed with the meal I had. The Prime Rib was really dry throughout. I had to eat all pieces of the steak with red wine jus otherwise it would've been bland and tasteless. Maybe my friend and I were just unlucky that day or maybe The Market Grill isn't good with bigger cuts of meat.

With compliments from James of James' Butchery, I really loved this dish. Thick slabs of wagyu rump can be seen on the spit roast as you walk past his temporary stall outside MBS, alongside with many other vendors from Pasarbella. When it comes to meat products, trust that James will recommend you the best that he carries and give you the best parts as well. A friendly chap serving good food at decent prices, what more can one ask for? Also, it is very rare that you get a perfectly medium rare slab of steak, especially on such a huge pit (visit the stall to see what i'm talking about). We're talking about some mad skills here. James' Butchery is definite must try if you are at Pasarbella or at Pasarbella & Friends Go To Town.

sometimes, a good steak is all you need to make the day better

Steak Frites

Brandt Ranch U.S Prime Striploin with potato and leek gratin

Ribeye X Cut from Astons Steak & Salad