Meat & Burgers

Really love that The Lokal makes so much of its food from scratch; I can sense the tender loving care with every bite. Also the most friendly staff ever. 😘 And fantastic wifi.

The burger ($25) was served medium. It's a classic burger bun with mustard and house-made fermented ketchup (I really liked the ketchup; it's super thick and rich, tangy and tomato-ey without being overly sweet) sandwiching a juicy cheddar cheese-topped beef patty, lettuce, tomato slice and a fried egg (topped up $3 for this, super worth it).

This juicy, meaty sandwich also comes with some thick, hand-cut fries which were crispy and delicious. Aaaaah, thick cut really does beat shoestring fries any day. However I really really liked the patty, which was super delicious and tender and really made me fall in love with the dish.

7.5/10

The newest starter to Alt Pizza's menu of starters. ($12) Five beef meatballs swam in a pot of tomato sauce with jalapeño, which gave the dish a kick of spicy warmth. It's topped with creamy ricotta, giving the sauce a dash of richness. I was quite blown away by how good that sauce was and how tender and flavorful the meatballs were, cutting open with a fork easily. Certainly no rubbery meatballs here. Quick tip: use the extra tomato sauce as a dip for your pizza slices. ;)

This burger ($25) was served with shoestring fries and salad. It's got a thick, perfectly medium-rare patty with melted cheese, bacon and all the other fixings, including B&L's special secret sauce.

As a burger, this ticked all the boxes. The patty is incredibly juicy and tender and every bite is a well balanced mouthful of meat, bread and vegetables. I just wished it was more special, ya know? I expected to be blown away, and I wasn't. Also, I couldn't taste much of the sauce at all haha.

I did like the fries though, crispy and hot. And I liked the squirt bottles of ketchup, mayo and Tabasco that's served on the side, to dress up the burger as necessary.

7/10

Good quality Japanese-style hamburg is hard to find but this one from the brand Fukuyoshi really ticked all the boxes. ($15)

It is formulated with Hokkaido Kuroge Wagyu and is so delicate and tender it just barely holds together. The patty cuts open with the press of a fork. It is super juicy too, I can literally see the juices flowing out as I cut past that beautifully caramelized crust. I only wish it was seasoned a teeny weeny bit more, as I relied more on the accompanying sauce for flavor.

It's served with great flair on a black ceramic plate with some crispy potato wedges and salad.

8/10

My dining partner and I ate in silence for a full five minutes, savoring every piece of this incredibly delicious steak.

It is an intimidatingly thick piece of meat; but so good. The steak was cooked perfectly medium rare, and super tender (and NY strip isn't known to be the tenderest cut) with a beautifully broiled exterior, blushing pink center and juices just flowing out when cutting into it. Plus that rendered line of fat running down the side...ohhhh yes. 🤤 It's served with some house-made spicy BBQ sauce, switches up the flavor of the beef even more.

For sides had the garlic mashed potatoes, wild mushrooms, sautéed spinach and asparagus. (We initially ordered three sides but somehow the spinach got tacked on there😅) I liked the mash the most. The flavors of the potato shone through without an overwhelming garlic flavor. The asparagus had a lemony pop which I really liked.

9/10
(steak was 10/10 but minus 1 point cause the sides were on a whole very average)

These are marinated beef cubes grilled fresh to order and then topped with melty cheese and salty mentaiko sauce.

I really loved the idea but somehow the execution could be more on point? Hmmm. Like the cheese could be sharper to contrast the gaminess of the beef. The mentaiko is really nice and creamy though and is my favorite part of the dish, while although the beef has a nice grilled flavor even though it's kinda chewy and not very tender. The flavor also became really jelak and super salty after a while, but I kind of expected that haha.

For $16.90 I don't know if it's worth it haha.

The Porterhouse is made out of two parts; the tenderloin and the strip steak on either side of the T-shaped bone.

This blushing piece of beef is the strip steak, along with some steamed broccoli (for a change in texture and taste), and it was done medium. Ok I should have gone for medium rare, but this was still so incredibly juicy and flavorful. It was served sizzling hot and the juices still bubbling away on the bottom of the plate. My eyes positively popped out biting into this piece of steak. I loved the tenderloin portion more, because it was was even more soft and tender, juice exploding out with each bite. They also provided a bottle of their house sauce which was really delicious; sweet, tangy and just paired really well with the steak.

Service was really warm and on-point with the waiters being attentive and filling our plates efficiently.

8/10

A special main course off the Valentine's Day💕 menu, this 250gm, perfectly marbled wagyu steak came resting on a bed of leaves with rosemary potatoes and a sauce made from the beef juices.

It was done medium which was surprisingly just nice. While it was beautifully seasoned (drizzle of vinaigrette, salt and the beef jus sauce) and really tender, I felt that it definitely wasn't the best steak I've had in my life and didn't justify the $82 price tag. Perhaps it just wasn't fatty enough, or I just prefer the grilled smokey taste for my meat which wasn't present here. The potatoes were really good though; fork tender and super flavorful with rosemary.

7/10

This is their 600grams bone-in 'Dinosaur' beef rib ($60), only available on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

And wow what a meatastic experience it was. Just pull apart tender beef, perfectly seasoned with spices and peppers, the flavor-packed juices from the fat and meat literally dripping as I tore into it. The beef separates effortlessly from the bone. And there's so much of it, I was flipping and turning the bone and discovering fresh chunks of meat all the time.

In the background I have some lovely tender pulled pork ($8 per 100grams) and a fresh piping hot sourdough roll from Starter Lab ($2 per roll). I cut open the toasted roll and stuffed some pulled pork into it, drizzled with some barbeque sauce to make the perfect pulled pork sandwich. The delicious airy crumb of the roll soaked up the pork drippings and barbeque sauce...mmmm.

You definitely get an authentic American barbeque experience here, complete with awesome and friendly service. Go ahead and over order, you won't regret taking the leftovers home in a brown bag. :)

9/10

This intimidating meatball (made with a pound of ground imperial wagyu, Italian sausage and veal) is easily larger than a grown man's fist and crowned with a generous scoop of ricotta cheese and surrounded by a pool of tomato sauce. ($38)

Cutting into it, the juices literally flowed out of the center of the meatball. I'm fascinated by how the meatball is cooked all the way through without burning the outside. The meatball itself is tender but flavor-wise didn't blow me away.

What did though was the tomato sauce and the ricotta. The tomato sauce isn't overly flavorful or sweet so it complimented the meat rather than masking its flavors. And the cool temperature of the ricotta against the hot tomato sauce and meat was a contrast that worked surprisingly well. The creaminess of the ricotta made it work really well in the dish by providing an element of richness against the tanginess of the sauce. The addition of the ricotta singlehandedly elevated the dish.

7.5/10

This is a part of the cow thigh ($40 for 100grams) with a fine, soft texture and rich flavor. It's my new favorite cut because it is so tender, so juicy with just the perfect bite to it.

Served with salt, garlic chips, mustard and wasabi which the beef honestly didn't need because it was super flavorful on its own. It was this gorgeous medium rare pink with the perfect charred crust on the outside. Even the portion size was perfect for a single bite. The meat quality was obviously top-grade.

An excellent Japanese-style steakhouse which takes its meat seriously.

10/10

This beautiful burger ($16) wasn't too big or fanciful, but that was all part of its charm.

The double beef patties were cooked perfectly pink in the center. They were dripping with melted cheese, juice and grease in the best possible way. There was just a smear of burger sauce on the perfectly toasted bun, which wasn't soggy at all despite the cheese and juices. There were three pickles to add a slight injection of sourness in there. It was the perfect size to get a good portion of all the ingredients in a single mouthful.

Each bite tasted like a well-composed symphony of flavors and textures. Definitely worth the price. In the world of oversized, rubbery monstrosities drenched/stuffed with cheese and other strange ingredients (mac n cheese burger, I'm glaring at you), its really nice on occasion to enjoy a good old fashioned cheeseburger done right.

8.5/10