Kraze Burger - Fresh ingredients on doughy goodness

It was a lazy weekend evening and we were in Plaza Singapura, scouring the area for a good dinner location when the name Kraze Burger came up. Since there were already plans to head to MBS for it, we thought, why not here instead? 

So we trooped there in a trio, and got ourselves promptly seated despite quite a crowd. Good job on the spacious seating area KB. The Korean brand specialises in hand made burgers and they were served fast and hot; I like. Luckily we were near the kitchen too, so the waiters got to us in under about ten steps :p

Items ordered to share were:

1) The  Semi Nude ($16)

It was basically a burger served without the top patty, with an egg sitting atop instead. At first I was skeptical, as it looked like any other normal burger but at an inflated price. 

Like...: "Take away one side of my bun and still charge limbeh sixteen dollars, seriously??" 

Ok.. That was the masculine side of me taking over. Anyway. My first bite into the patty got me a mouthful of fresh tasting meat that was easy on the palette. Couple that with the crisped edges of the sunny side up and the special Kraze sauce; it became a symphony on my lips. 

Pretty sauce swirls that cleverly fill up the half empty plate HAHA.

Side view of the semi nude: onions, bacon and egg layered over fresh beef.

2. Idaho Garlic Fries ($8):  

Was expecting thin fries but wuuu weet, in came fat sexy wedges drizzled with a kickass spicy and sweet sauce. The latter had a garlicky aftertaste which didn't overwhelm and   it went surprisingly well with the whipped cream that was served together. Shioknesssss. 

3. The Matiz ($13)

We were intrigued by the name of this as it sounded like "mati" (die) in Malay. Not very auspicious but we forgot about it after a while as we got too greedy eating heh. 

Also forgot to take more pics of it :/ but it was basically a semi- nude with a top bun without the egg. Not very creative here.... but I guess the name comes from the generous servings of sweet potato fries and salad. Full until "mati". Figuratively of course. My say? Go for this as it is definitely more value for money since they use the same patty. Got free fries somemore. WIN.

4. Chili Beef Dip ($5.80)

Sorry for the sore lack of pictures but this is a good dip to try, with it full of big meat chunks in an appetising hot sauce.

Ended off with some sweets from Nana's Green Tea as well: 

Imma sucker for all things green tea and Nana has never failed me thus far ♡

Kraze Burger

Plaza Singapura Atrium 

(aka New wing)

#04-63/67

Opening hours:

Not stated :/

Call for reservations:

656333538

Enjoy!

WLF signing out.

Don't go list: TCC - really boring food.

I don't think I'd ever head back for a main course again because the sides tasted much better. :(

Even then, I believe I can whip up better sides !

Sides ordered were:

1) Shrimp martini 

- one of TCC's latest creations, and they were basically fried shrimps coated with batter. It was decent but nothing great, and thank goodness the sauce had some kick to it; slightly spicy with a tinge of sweetness.

2) Mozzarella sticks

- you cannot go wrong with this. But after a while, my tastebuds fell asleep because it is just cheese and more cheese. Wrapped in a flat breaded roll. Plus some tomato sauce. It's unlike Spizza's crispy sticks, where the cheeze really oozes out and has a firm chewy texture which keeps you going for more.

Mains ordered:

1) White fish with yuzu 

- this was SO bad I don't even feel like talking about it. The fish was dry and tasteless, and the vegetables..... none of them sweet. I buay tahan after 2 bites and requested to change my food.

Decided to give up on the mains and went for a salad instead. 

The Apple & Salmon salad was a surprising standard above the rest, with fat pieces of well smoked fish and sweet, fragrant apple cubes ( that were not very crunchy however). I would have enjoyed the salad had not the white fish destroyed my usually good appetite :p

2) Roast beef baked rice

- totally forgettable, with tasteless beef cubes atop a dish that felt like not much effort was put into it.

Goodbye TCC, it was nice acquainting myself with you. 

Maybe we will keep in touch for your desserts, but you will never be my muse.

A 20122012 birthday

*Warning: Image heavy post, not suitable for vegetarians or those on diet*

**All pictures are taken with a Canon DSLR 600-D, 50mm,1.8 lens, 430 EX-II flash**

Presenting.... 

The awesome Skirt, located at the spanking new W Hotel, tucked in the frontiers of Sentosa Cove.

It was a lovely night for dinner, with the love of my life, a cool sea breeze and starry sky, making this birthday quite unforgettable. Plus it was one day before the apocalyse leh. Lagi unforgettable. 

Entering the place, we were greeted with friendly smiles all around. 

Then a random thought flashed through my mind: 

"Did they know it's my birthday?"

But..... I think too much sometimes. :p

Skirt ages their own beef using the dry method, so the steak turned out really good. 

Did you know there is 2 types of ageing, the dry vs. the wet kind?

Love the open concept kitchen! : D 

 Skirt's very own dry-aged beef waiting to be eaten. YUM.

(Ok... Not so yum yet.)

 An Argentinian Parilla Grill! 

Even the flames produced look beautiful.

 That's our bread grilling there : D 

Again, beautiful flames.

Chef Andrew Nocente looking very serious! 

He also checks all the dishes before they are served. 

Respect.

Then our meal began with a freshly toasted foccacia bread, served with a chili olive oil dip & seaweed dip. 

But the seaweed one was a tad fishy and didn't sit well on our palette.

So cute and fluffy:

We really had a lot of fun playing with the dripper!

 Hot appetiser:

Iberico pork belly and White Bean Cassoulet. 

Shiokness in a bowl.

This ang-moh version of our braised pork was very fragrant, tender and flavorful, 

well married with the light broth, with the latter serving as a palette cleanser after every bite of meat.  

We had many sides, but this was was the clear star:

Sauteed Wild Mushrooms Textures, with thick, juicy pieces of well marinated mushrooms.

After finishing a few fat pieces, we found some black fungus hidden inside, much to our delight!

It certainly wasn't the best looking dish, all orh orh one, but goodness us, were we deceived. 

Coming in 2nd was the Smoked Kipfler potato and Urbani black truffle salad:

Moist, soft potatoes tossed with black truffle, on a bed of truffle cream. 

HOW CAN DON'T LIKE.

Then came the handcut Garlic fries with Saffron mayonnaise.

Then I couldn't decide which was better. 

One bite into the crispy outer skin, aromas of garlic came wafting out and I was weak. 

This beauty of charred Pumpkin with charred sprouts and goat's cheese was sadly unappreciated. 

It was sweet, and had a crunch to it, with good cheese. 

But we were too busy with the above to savour the pumpkin :(

And now, time for the main star to be featured:

The Tajima Australian crossbred Wagyu ribeye, with a fat marbling of 6/10. 

Just look at it, so glorious and magnificent own its own. 

I have never really fancied steak before this, but I was a convert upon my first cut.

Me: "Why so easy to cut one?"

B: "Try it and you will know lor"

MY GOODNESS.

That first bite was filled with an explosion of succulent meat well seasoned with salt & pepper, and a balanced amount of fats that blended nicely, sending us momentarily to foodie paradise. 

It is easy to get gelat after eating fatty meat, but this was done very well, with a good proportion of fats to meat, and the fats do not leave an oily after taste.

The red wine we ordered went well with the meat, and also cleanses the palette after some bites.

However, it would be best to share a portion as I couldn't finish my portion and B had trouble finishing his. 

But he did.

Tajima, glorious medium rare you!

 I am in heaven.  

 And here's the menu for you guys to check out!

Definitely a recommended place, with great ambience and service because.... 

I got a complimentary birthday dessert!

(Much thanks to B)

This is the warm Venezuelan Chocolate Mud, with poached wild strawberry and Tarragon.

An equivalent of the molten choc lava cake, frozen version. 

 A refreshing end to the heavy meal, as it was infused with fruity flavours, and it certainly made me a very happy girl because I am a sucker for cakes.

Birthday cakes that is. :p

Ending off with a chubby me with the golden cushions.

We will be back!

Au Chocolat;

Was a quite a disappointment.

Maybe we ordered the wrong stuff, maybe it was too cold, maybe the chef was having PMS, maybe it was just way over-rated.

Le sigh.

Anyway, we had a girls' outing there and the interior was quaint, with a mini railway built into the ceiling and a train was choo-choo-ing along. Cute!

We settled in pleasantly into a cosy cushion seat, after we requested to changed from the metal chairs we were seated on cos our butts buay tahan.

The truffle fries came first, and it was well infused with the oil, chunky and crunchy with each bite. So we thought: "Wow, nice place with awesome fries! The food should be good too la." But some times in life, reality and expectations don't meat. I mean, meet.

Then the soups -onion and mushroom arrived, which were pretty decent but one can get sick of it after a while as they were done thick and heavy.

Mains ordered were:

1) Duck Confit: 

When the duck confit came, it was a tad too salty albeit served with good mash. But still palatable, just really salty. Go to Barnacles at Sentosa for a really good one!

2) Pacific Crabcakes:

It was a chef's recommendation, and I can see why, as it was packed with fresh, juicy chunky crab meat atop the same nice mash. Quite yummy...... la. 

Sorry, my bad, the most yummy dish of the day was gone before a picture could be snapped but it looked like this:

3) Pancakes from the all day Breakfast menu: 

This is not the usual fluffy texture you get at places like Strictly Pancakes or Spruce, where the texture reminded me more of man chian kueh or in English, chinese pancakes filled with peanut, coconut etc. I liked it, though it did not sit well with R who ordered. The rest of the sides were good, so this one pass.

4) Crispy Pork Belly: 

It should be taken off the chef's recommendations. 

Apparently the term crispy was taken to another level, where the skin was so hard that our jaws actually hurt from just one bite. Poor SJ who refused to take a second bite for fear of her braces breaking. (Mai siao siao ok, happened to me before. Culprit: a very strong chicken wing.) So, this dish was tossed aside, barely touched. This dish should be renamed CPF: Crispy Pork Fail. Then, at least we can all manage our expectations. :p

After the epic let-down, (fyi, all of us did not finish the food) we decided to just go for desserts, in an attempt to feel happy once again. But their sweets were reaaallly sweet. Even for a person with a sweet tooth like mademoiselle, it was too much.

We had the
1) Dark chocolate tart 2) Apple cheese cake crumble and the 3) Minty brownie bomb
Again, none was finished. Can cry already.

I am doing my best to salvage the place, and the only things I can think of are: nice decor, nice truffle fries, nice crabcakes/pancakes. The rest,  别提了。Some things are best left forgotten!
I'd say go if you want a nice place to chill and catch up with friends, but you can forget about blowing away your palette. Blow away your wallet yes, but any other tastebud-related stuff.... no.

But I must say, the cakes look good. And sometimes in life, looks can be deceiving! #@#%$#

p.s: I might go back again, just to see if the standards have improved and redo this post if it has.

Special feature: Barbacoa restaurant

Lunching at a friend's place, located in the spanking new City Square Mall. Did you know it is the first eco mall in Singapore? But they use too much air conditioning for an eco mall leh, I almost freezed my butt off that day!

Lucky the food at Barbacoa managed to warm us up! It specialises in grills and pasta, which are made to order, where you can mix&match bases and toppings. I must say it was a nice twist to pasta ordering. Shawn (the enterprising owner) was the one behind the concept and said some people make really weird orders. Eg: Cream base pasta with carrot & broccoli. OR tomato base with mushrooms. No offence to vegetarians but..... I'd pass.

I like my meat, sometimes too much, as we had the Duck salad, Aglio Pesto pasta (the only way to eat pasta, btw) with bacon and bell peppers cos there were no shrooms :( AND we had duck slices atop cos we knew shawn. Yay! And also, Grilled Lambchops (to perfection) served with chunky fries.

You can't do much injustice to a salad; for our case the smoked duck slices were soft and tender, with crunchy fresh veg. I found the beetroot too bitter though, but overall pass, as it certainly whet our appetites.

The Pasta was simply divine, done al dente with olive oil drizzled on it, and we found bits of garlic in it, much to our delight. Every bite was filled with either garlic, bacon or duck. Shiokkkkkkk.

Warning: you can get either sodium or meat overload from consuming this dish, so get more complimentary water from the server!

What do you get when you combine Divine with Divine? L.a.m.b.c.h.o.p.s.
Seriously, I did not expect this standard when we ordered. It was chargrilled, leaving the meat slightly charred, and full of juice. It was like a party inside my mouth, where the melting fat danced on the explosion of meat juices before rolling down my throat. Plus, there was no gamey taste, add points somemore!

NO KIDDING, YOU GOTTA TRY IT.

We were served Rum&raisin icecream for desserts, and this sweet ending rounded up our wonderful meal.

Definitely a great place for a weekend, with no GST & Service charge AND free ice cream. HOW TO RESIST. I'm a sucker for free things, so this alone will win me over hahaha. (Don't judge me hor, fellow Singaporeans.)

Thanks baby for the good intro and shawn for being such a great host.
We will be back. Only if you -shawn are there. HAHA.