Steak

Came to Delibowl X Nuodle at Tampines Hub with 0 expectations but this Sichuan Style Fried Eggplant [$9.90] sucker punched me all the way back to my time in Barcelona where I first tasted (and inadvertently fell in love with fried eggplants). Served freshly fried and glazed, these crunchy shards of eggplant came drizzled in a dark sticky sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds. A closer look reveals pieces of fried garlic, dried chilli, spring onion, and of course, Sichuan peppercorns.

When you bite into the first piece, the crunch takes you by surprise. It’s a combination of the crispy exterior thanks to the hot oil but also the caramelising of what I believe to be a sweet dark soy sauce. Then you get the fragrance of the aforementioned aromatics before the creamy eggplant rounds these punchy flavours and textures into the perfect bite. All while it was hot! Absolutely fantastic, and unpretentiously delicious.

I find myself scavenging the bowl for bits of fried garlic and peppercorn and wow, what a delightful dish from start to end. I will definitely come back and I can only wish that it lives up to this first appearance.

The Feather Blade Steak [$21] is a secondary cut of meat and it unfortunately tastes like it was not picked first for a reason. Personally it could use a more severe sear to give it more flavour as the only flavour that’s coming from the meat is an oddly metallic liver like aftertaste that’s characteristic of frozen beef. I doubt that it’s frozen as the texture was not indicative of frozen beef and the livery taste can be attributed to the flat iron cut which contains more iron. So this is not particularly a jab at the handling of the beef, it was just unexpected. It was also a workout to eat.

The sides on the other hand were really great. The free popcorn was intensely buttery and truly the most memorable dish on the table. The creamed spinach [$7] was solid as well; I have yet to see an establishment mess up creamed spinach. The Roasted Potatoes w Beef Fat and Siracha Mayo [$7] was one to order as well. On first glance it looks almost too charred but the colour was not indicative of its taste. Honestly the beef fat wasn’t too present but considering the heady aroma of the buttery popcorn w the steak on the table, it didn’t need to be.

We ordered 2 different sauces to go w the beef. The Red Wine Sauce [$2] held its own and definitely imparted a sweet shalloty flavour to the steak, highly recommended as the steak gets one dimensional after the first few pieces. The Horseradish Cream [$2] was interesting, having the texture of whipped cream as opposed to a cream sauce. Flavour wise, it provides a cool milky note to the steak but frankly w the popcorn being the dairy heavyweight champ of the table, I would rather opt for perhaps a more piquant sauce.

The total bill was $70 for 2 pax, no drinks involved. Popcorn was free for the table. We had 2 steaks and 2 sides. If you’re in the area and craving some steak and buttery popcorn without wanting to break the bank, sure, give The Feather Blade a visit. They obviously have skill and passion, perhaps the cut of meat was just inherently subpar so just manage your expectations as you’re after all paying $21 for a decent portion of steak.