Bar Bar Black Sheep (bbbs) is one of those places that you would find it hard to categorise. Is it an upmarket coffee shop? Or is it a cafe-bar with al fresco (read: no air conditioning) dining? It doesn’t really matter. Expatriates love the place. I recently went to Bbbs Robertson Quay for brunch. There’s nothing quite like a hearty breakfast on a lazy weekend.

If you have not been there before, the cafe-bar (or whatever you want to call it) houses three different stalls that serve Thai, Western and North Indian cuisine – helmed by independent chefs. And of course, there’s a bar where you can get some drinks like a nice cocktail or beer.

Within a relatively short period, Bar Bar Black Sheep has expanded from its original outlet along Bukit Timah road to Robertson Quay and recently, Boat Quay.

I was hoping to satisfy my craving for a good burger. But unlike the Bukit Timah branch which has Smok’Inn Frogz Kitchen (they serve the best burger in Singapore), Bbbs Robertson Quay has a different Western stall – The Platterz. Sadly, the burgers here are not as good as the ones from Smok’Inn Frogz Kitchen, and they are also slightly pricier.

Between the two of us, we shared a Char-grilled Cheese burger ($13.9) which came with ordinary fries and home-made coleslaw; Eggs & Toast topped up with bacon, and sausages ($10.9); and Belgian Waffles ($7.9) with maple syrup and chocolate sauce.

I think that the food at Bar Bar Black Sheep, or rather, The Platterz (Western stall) is decent, nothing particularly outstanding, though. That said, I can see myself coming back again. There are not many restaurants in Robertson Quay serving breakfast food, and the prices at Bar Bar Black Sheep is quite acceptable.

Bar Bar Black Sheep at Robertson Blue is situated further away from the main dining cluster. If you are familiar with the Robertson Quay restaurants, it is nearer to Kith Cafe and eM by the River.

What do you usually order at Bar Bar Black Sheep? Indian, Western or Thai food?

Singapore Food Blog
86 Robertson Quay
#01-04 Robertson Blue
Tel: +65 6836 9255
Daily: 12pm – 12am (Fri & Sat till 2am)
Weekend Breakfast: 9am – 1pm.

879 Cherry Avenue (Bukit Timah Road)
Tel: +65 6468 9382
Sun to Fri: 11am – 12am
Sat: 10am – 12am

55 Boat Quay
Tel: +65 6535 2230
Mon to Sat: lunch & dinner

For more recommendations, please read my list of brunch places in Singapore

It was supposed to be January, but it is almost April soon! Well, like they say, better late than never! Forty-four was the magical number this time, and I’m glad to see many of my regulars, and of course our new friends.

Salt & Pepper Calamari

We started with the simple appetiser, but I was too busy running from table to table that the calamari turned cold by the time I returned!

Chicken & Cheese Quesadillas

Dallas signature Quesadillas was one of the dish which I remembered from my previous visit. Tasting almost like a Mexican taco, there was chicken bits soaked with tomato in chicken broth.

Shredded Pork Tacos

Baby Back Pork ribs

There was some confusion when the ribs were served. The three different flavours of Fiery, Alabama & Smoked Hickory BBQ were too alike! Because we did everything in tasting portions, the pork ribs had to be cut and served this way, otherwise we were be there until four.

Dallas Wings

There was some feedback that the wings were too dry and lacked marination.

Tempura Barramundi

Corn & crab fritters

Beef Fajitas with Guacamole & sour cream

Breaded mushrooms

The “twin” brother which looked almost identical to the Corn & Crab Fritters.

***

A total number of 44 people turned up for this LIC food outing, thank you everyone! Like I’ve mentioned, there will be no date announced yet for the next lic food outing, I will try to organise it soon, so see you next time! I’ll also like to thank Jason, the owner for Dallas for hosting us.

I will be adding the group photos to my Facebook page later. Do add me there to see the photos!

Read about my previous visit to Dallas here.
And Catherine @ Camemberu
Julia @ AromaCookery
Fen @ Sgdessert
Keropok man @ Singapuradailymakanphoto

Dallas Restaurant & Bar
31 Boat Quay
Boat Quay Conservation area
Tel: 6532 2131
Website: http://www.dallas.sg/

Ryan Giggs dribbled down the left flank, just like how he consistently did it for Man U over the years. He took a glimpse and passed it centre to Scholes, who stopped and played with the defender. After which, Scholes spotted Cristiano Ronaldo roaming in from the right wing, and he sent a perfect through ball in, the Portuguese winger took his chance and dutifully converted. Goal!

This is not a scene at Old Trafford, although all Manchester United fans would die to visit the place at least once in his lifetime. For the next closest thing, we have Manchester United Cafe Bar.

The breezy al fresco area overlooks the Singapore River, with the picturesque Singapore Flyer in the settings. I was surprised by the coolness of the place on a hot afternoon.

Manchester United Café Bar (MUCB) should not be a stranger to those who frequented Boat Quay, or the soccer fanatics. Opening shop in November last year, the place is the Devils new home ground taking over the now defunct Reds cafe @ Devil’s Bar.

For the true devil only. Vodka, tequila, kuas, whisky, brandy are some of the liqueur mixed with juice to create this Red Devil drink. I took a few sips, not that I always drink during the day-time, and there seem to be stars flying all over. All right, I’m just joking about the stars!

Their highly acclaimed Crispy soft-shell crab ($15.0) started our tasting session. Lightly battered soft-shell crab topped with cucumber salad and a special ginger flower dressing. You know, the problem with food-blogging is we tend to take a long time trying for a perfect shot of the food. By the time we tried this, the soft-shell crab was a tad soft and soggy from the sauce already. But i love the refreshing cucumber salad which complimented the crispy crab very well.

There’s the devils’ wing. There’s devils on horseback. There’s beef short rib. And there’s onion rings. A bit of everything. The Manchester Combo Platter ($28.0). There wasn’t anything spectacular about the devils’ wing, just crispy chicken wings accompanied with sweet and sour hot sauce. The peculiar-sounding name of devils on horseback did piped my curiosity, which was deep fried veal sausages wrapped with chicken bacon. The beef short rib also caught me by surprise since my first impression of it was pork ribs instead of beef.

Named after Europe’s top club trophy which Manchester United won last year, for the third time. The Champions Burger ($16.90), how befitting. Freshly ground ribeye beef patty done medium-rare, topped with caramelised onion, chicken bacon, and mushroom. However, I lamented the fact that there wasn’t enough cheese, and it wasn’t melted enough to give the Oomph impact.The fries were generous and pretty decent.

The fish & chips ($17.90) came with two slice of the battered fillet of fish, with golden fries and greens. If you are looking at a typical fish & chips in Singapore, this passed the test, but it lacked the connection to the English food, which a Manchester United café should have.

My meal can never be completed without any sweets. I asked for the in-house dessert, which turned out to be Red Devil’s Pudding ($7.90). Homemade chocolate pudding served with hazelnut and ice cream. This is one dessert which can never go wrong, with chocolate lava oozing out from the pudding, eaten with the cold chilly ice cream, you are in heaven, my dear. I did felt that the $7.90 tag is slightly steep considering a place which does not specialise in desserts. But if you are like me who need sweets to end off a meal, here you go.

Be at the top of the world controlling your favourite club, transferring and buying your favourite players. That’s what Football Manager (FM) brags about. Something better, sit at the dugout in the midst of a match!

More than just a sports bar, MUCB hopes to portray the image that there can be good food with your drinks too. I think it is good for Boat Quay on a whole, to shake off the sleezy image which so many people perceive it to be.

MUCB offers food with reasonable pricing, but my only qualm was the lack of identity of the cafe. The food although it was above average, lacks the connection with Manchester United the football club. The place, although it has lots of Manchester United stuff, lacked the distinctiveness.

Maybe it was due to the afternoon visit, I’m sure the atmosphere will be very different on a match day. Whatever it is, MUCB does provides a new option for lunch if you are working in the vicinity. And for the Manchester United fans out there, what are ya waiting for?!?

I will like to thank Shawal from Asiaprwerkz who invited me for this food tasting session, and Mr Andy Yun, CEO of Manchester United Food & Beverage Asia, who hosted us and gave an interesting insight about his vision for MUCB.

Manchester United Café Bar
Boat Quay (Next to Dallas)
Tel: 65335880

Strolling down the Singapore River, we found ourselves mesmerised by the scenery, the cool evening air, the group of angmohs enjoying some beer before the sun sets, and the occasional harass from a few of the “eateries” which touted free drinks to entice us.

History has it that this beautiful watershed was the place where the myths and legends conjured up memories of the lighters, bumboats, tongkangs with their painted eyes to see the danger ahead and sampans of yesteryear. This is the place where the Chinese, Malay, and Indian once lived. This is the the place where Sir Stamford Raffles once sailed through to land on Singapore.

The charming Boat quay offers a magnificent view of the Singapore River, with the Fullerton hotel as the backdrop, and the towering skyscrapers in the buzzing CDB just behind. Since the area is famous for its vibrant night life, one will certainly not associate the place with food, I had the same impression, that is, until I visited Dallas restaurant.

Entering the second level, it was a complete stunner as we experienced the hundred & eighty change in environment. From the blasting pub, we stepped into a room befitting of a semi-formal dining restaurant. With nice furnitures, carpeting, and  the natural lighting from the windows, this room was ideal for a quiet and romantic dinner.

And if you think that is the end, you are in for a surprise. The bar and restaurant concept was fully displayed in the third level of Dallas. With a slightly tone down attitude compared with the second level, this one was all about the causal and relax approach for a hearty dinner. And the smoothing lounge music overhead certainly helps too.

To begin the long dinner which we realised in the aftermaths, lasting almost three hours, we started off with the Dallas platter ($12 for 2 person). The succulent mushroom immediately made an impact as the juices gushed out when we took a bite.

Chicken wings, and the Cheese Quesedillas completes the platter. There wasn’t anything extraordinary about the wings, but the garlic mayonnaise that came along was everything about garlic. On the other hand, the popular cheese quesedillas fared reasonably on my score sheet. Tasting almost like a Mexican taco, there was chicken bits soaked with tomato in chicken broth, but I lamented the fact that it wasn’t cheesy enough.

My dining companion is a big fan of prawns, and the Salad of green mango & prawns ($16) definitely worked its magic. While I felt prices did seem slightly steep for a bowl of greens, but there was a generous portions of the fresh & juicy prawns. And the crisp, tart green mango reminded me of the refreshing Thai-style salad.

Our first main course was the BBQ Barramunudi fillet ($20), one of Dallas’s signature dish. The watercress that accompanied the dish caught my attention, since it wasn’t that common to see this vegetable as a choice of green for salad.

Gigantic, huge, enormous are probably some of the terms you will link the baby back ribs ($22 for 1/2 rack, $28 for full rack) with. I’m a sucker for pork ribs, and the sight of this ginormous baby aroused the carnivore in me. Man, I can still clearly recalled the sweet and juiciness of the ribs now, and if it wasn’t for the fact that we had other food after this, I’ll gladly go for the full ribs instead.

I could only stared at the Tenderloin with shitake mushroom sauce ($28) when it arrived. Being almost full by the previous ribs, the thickness of the steak did shocked me for a bit. While some people would insist on medium well to prevent seeing red, I felt that it would not do any justice to the piece of tender meat.

Medium rare it is.

By the time the Roast chicken and Penne pasta ($16) navigated its way to our table, we were completely stuffed by the multi course dinner. Nonetheless, we did a sampling, and since I’m not a fan of penne, maybe it wouldn’t be a completely fair comment. I found the pasta pretty plain in taste, but the restaurant manager Kenneth, told us that it was a favourite among his angmoh customers, Acquired taste perhaps. And not to forget the roast chicken did wonders for me, it was akin to our roast pork, or more affectionately known as, sio bak.

We were told frankly by the manager that Dallas is still working on their desserts, and there was nothing to rave about. But being the dessert enthusiats we were, a meal wouldn’t be complete without any sweets, so we decided to go for the Dallas Cheesecake ($8). It could be due to the fact that we had zero expectations, the cheesecake actually didn’t turn out to be as bad as we thought. We couldn’t resist the rich and cheesy dessert. But for the price, I wouldn’t exactly recommend trying the desserts, just get another appetiser!

Dallas Restaurant & Bar stands out as one of the few gems among the food outlets in Boat Quay. I certainly changed my mind about the impression I had of the area, and Dallas proves that there can be a good place for you to dine and drink at the same time. Their set lunches are pulling in all the office crowds, with the 2 course lunch at $18++, and 3 course dinner at $28++.

I would like to thank Rayner from creative partner for inviting me for this food tasting session, and Kenneth the restaurant manager for hosting us for dinner. And oh yes, for you guys who are looking for a venue to have your birthday bash, or a group outing, Dallas has their function room on the third level with a private bar, and a balcony for this. For more information, email to events@dallas.sg

Dallas Restaurant & Bar
31 Boat Quay
Boat Quay Conservation area
Tel: 6532 2131
Website: http://www.dallas.sg/