Morton’s, Singapore

The Singapore steak house scene has seen in recent years the arrival of new entrants.  Some are good; some are ludicrous — witness the laughable coming and going of Brawn.  It arrived with a gaudy PR blitzkrieg and left in a smelly cloud of negative reviews.  In the midst of increasing competition, Morton’s of Chicago remains firmly a stalwart.

Morton’s is renowned in American restaurant industry for its fine quality

dining, service and elegance.  In Asia, its tradition continues.

My evening began at The Bar@Morton’s.  The bar begins at 5pm and by 6pm, the bar is packed, with expat bankers from nearby banks. It figures since they offer a very good deal—from Mondays to Saturdays, during their Happy Hour from 5pm-7pm, they offer specially priced MORtinis at only S$12.95.  I tried the Apple MORtini (slightly sour and tart) and Chocolate MORtini (chocolaty, velvety, heavenly!).  Every once in a while, the servers would bring out complimentary filet mignon sandwiches  The buns of the sandwiches are ordinary and nothing to shout about but the filet mignon is quality.  The ambience is quality; the crowd is quality.  As reservations are not taken, come early or be prepared to wait at the door.

I proceeded to enjoy my dinner at the dining room.  My first course was the Five Onion Soup, made up of leek, shallots, garlic, Spanish onion, purple onion and topped with croutons and cheese.  Nice and rich.  You might want to get the Egg and Onion loaf (which was ok) to go along with it

Next was the seafood platter.  Morton’s is known as a leading steakhouse and I came with the expectation of a satisfying steak of the highest quality.  As such, the seafood platter was an unexpected (albeit rather exciting) surprise.  The seafood ranks among the freshest I have tasted, as fresh as the seafood in Australia.  The platter consists of oysters, crab, shrimp, lobster and Alaskan King Crab.  There are 2 options for the seafood platter: fresh or baked.  Fresh implies that the platter is cold and comes served on ice.  Baked implies that the seafood comes baked with some cheese. Fresh is highly recommended over baked.  This way, you can really taste the freshness of the seafood, which, in itself, is an enjoyment of the highest level.

Then came the main event itself— the steak.  I ordered 2 cuts: Rib Eye (454 grams, medium rare, grilled in Morton’s griller (800 – 1000 F) for 7 mins) and the Single Filet Mignon (250 grams, medium rare, grilled in Morton’s griller (800 – 1000 F) for 8 mins).  The Rib Eye has been wet aged for 40 days and is flavourful, though not as flavourful as the dry-aged Ribeye at The Prime Society (see here).  Sorry Morton’s.  Nevertheless, it is extremely good.  What strikes me most is that it has been perfectly grilled.  Top marks for that.  I whole-heartedly give it my thumb up.   The Filet Mignon is tender, tender, tender.  Again, a very competent steak.  For the side dishes, I chose sautéed asparagus.  Loved it!  Loved the taste of balsamic vinegar.

I had the 2010 Beringer Founder’s Estate Cabernet Sauvignon to go with my steak.  It was a satisfactory accompaniment.  I would have preferred my red to be bigger and bolder to match up to my steaks, but the experience was still all right.

Morton’s offers hot and cold desserts.  The most popular hot dessert is the hot chocolate cake; the most popular cold one is the carrot cake.  The hot chocolate cake is all right. Strongly recommended is coffee to round up the experience.

Besides the fresh, fresh seafood and the expertly executed steaks, the best part about dining at Morton’s is the service.  The service here is dependable and competent.  In service-starved Singapore, that is like stumbling upon a gold mine.  The servers all seem to know what they are doing and are never pushy.  They have all worked here for a considerable length of time, which is always a good sign. It means they are happy with their jobs. When they are happy, they do their jobs well and the diner benefits.  When ordering your steak or dessert, they bring you a cut/ dessert platter, so you know exactly what you are ordering.  This is the way things should be done and for that, I am extremely thankful.

The Morton’s dining room whispers business and power.  The ambience is serious and grown-up.  This is a good place if you want to impress somebody with money and power.  It is definitely not a place where kids will run around, crying and screaming.  It is a huge relief to have a place that is unabashedly grown-up (and leave the silly, draggy world of kids behind) where adults can relax and enjoy a quality dining experience.

If American capitalism offers quality product, consistency and competent, dependable service and dining experience, my response is a resounding “WHY NOT?”