Introducing Starker Bistro, an establishment with huge signature platters, delectable mains, and beer. This is one restaurant in the West we’re willing to travel far for!

Here’s everything we love about Starker Bistro!

We started off with their Starker Favourites (S$32.80++), a platter consisting of Starker wings, a basket of sweet potato fries and two grilled sausages. We especially liked the wings. The sweet potato fries were also crunchy and fragrant with a lingering sweetness.

The spicy pork sausage with herbs gave a fiery kick of spice, while the texture was chewy and Q. Equally consistent in texture was the veal sausage — we enjoyed the burst of beefy flavour when we tucked into it.

Next up, we had the Starker Traditional Pork Knuckle (S$43.80++). It was beautifully plated with fried onion rings, pork knuckle slices, creamy mash potato and their Starker beer sauce. The onion rings were sweet with a salty skin, reminding us of our usual fries.

When we bit into the slow-roasted pork knuckle, the skin crackled, oozing juice from the layer of fat underneath. The thick chunks of pork also paired well with the beer condiment.

We also got the Ocean Catch (S$24.80++). It was topped with a myriad of seafood, such as prawns, mussels and octopuses.

Great for beer connoisseurs, the drinks here are served fresh from the barrel. We tried the Lychee Beer (S$16.90++/1 pint). Brewed with Belgium Lychee, the medium-bodied beer was light and aromatic with fruity notes. It had a short finish and was the sweetest option among their signature brews.

We also had the Dunkel (S$16.90++/1 pint). Full of malt flavour, the beer was smooth and rich. It was not too heavy on the palate either.

Albeit on the pricier side, the portions here are generous and perfect for sharing with bae. You can even watch soccer matches with your squad in their outdoor dining space! So, come on down and give Starker Bistro a try!

Starker Bistro
50 Jurong Gateway Rd
#01-05 Jem
Singapore 608549
Tel: +65 6734 2740
Mon to Thurs: 11am – 12am
Fri: 11am – 1am
Sat: 10am – 1am
Sun: 10am – 12am
Nearest Station: Jurong East

Oktoberfest is a German beer festival that has been around since 1810. The popularity of this boozy event has grown so tremendously that even non-German cities all over the world celebrate it on an annual basis.

Needless to say, Singapore too celebrates this joyous occasion! Beer never gets old, right?

Here are 7 Places in Singapore Where You Can Celebrate Oktoberfest.

#1 BREWERKZ

Every Oktoberfest, the Clarke Quay precinct will transform into a vibrant German-themed carnival and award-winning microbrewery restaurant Brewerkz is one of the participating tenants in this fun-filled festival. Usher into Oktoberfest with Brewerkz’s comprehensive selection of handcrafted beers and American-style dishes.

301 Merchant Rd
Riverside Point
Singapore 058282
Tel: +65 6438 7438
Sun to Thu: 12pm – 12am
Fri and Sat: 12pm – 1am
Nearest Station: Clarke Quay

#2 BROTZEIT GERMAN BIER BAR & RESTAURANT

Brotzeit German Bier Bar & Restaurant is the go-to place for authentic German cuisine and German beers. Unwind with loved ones over Münchner Lagers and Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbiers; the former is a slightly malty Bavarian treat, while the latter is an aromatic golden wheat beer with a fruity aftertaste.

252 North Bridge Road, #01-17
Raffles City Shopping Centre
Singapore 179103
Tel: +65 6883 1534
Sun to Thu: 12pm – 1am
Fri and Sat: 12pm – 2am
Nearest Station: City Hall

#3 FESTIVE WALK, RESORTS WORLD SENTOSA

Held on 01 October 2016, from 7pm to 2am, Oktoberfest at Festive Walk, Resorts World Sentosa will feature a gourmet line-up of German delicacies. Michelin-starred and celebrity chef restaurants – namely CURATE, Fratelli, Forest and Osia Steak and Seafood Grill – will be launching specially created bratwurst sausages on this very day.

8 Sentosa Gateway
Sentosa Island
Singapore 098269
Tel: +65 6577 8888
Nearest Station: Harbourfront

Source: Oktoberfest Asia

#4 OKTOBERFEST ASIA

Held from 13 – 15 October 2016, Oktoberfest Asia 2016 will be a large scale boozy event. Visitors can look forward to free-flow festive brews that are available only during Oktoberfest Asia, live performances by Hofbrauhaus Band and irresistible Bavarian dishes. Regular tickets start from S$70 per pax.

Tan Queue Lan Street
Singapore 188108
Nearest Station: Bugis

#5 PAULANER BRÄUHAUS SINGAPORE

Paulaner Bräuhaus Singapore is celebrating Oktoberfest from 23 September 2016 till 01 October 2016. There will be a kids-friendly Oktoberfest Brunch held on 25 September 2016 from 11.30am to 3.30pm. Treat yourselves to Munich speciality classics while enjoying the traditional and modern Bavarian tunes performed live by Scharivar Sextett.

9 Raffles Boulevard
#01-01, Millenia Walk
Singapore 039596
Tel: +65 6883 2572
Mon to Fri: 12pm – 2.30pm, 6.30pm – 10.30pm
Sat: 6.30pm – 10.30pm
Sun: 11.30am – 2.30pm, 6.30pm – 10.30pm
Nearest Station: Promenade

Source: Stuttgart Blackforest

#6 STUTTGART BLACKFOREST BOUTIQUE S-CAFE

Stuttgart Blackforest Boutique S-Cafe is aptly named after southwestern German city Stuttgart. The cafe-cum-restaurant specialises in Swabian cuisine and you can expect dishes such as pork knuckle and black forest cake. Kickstart the Oktoberfest party with their exclusively imported German beers.

9 Bras Basah Road, #01-01
Rendezvous Hotel Gallery
Singapore 189559
Nearest Station: Bras Basah

Source: Swiss Club

#7 SWISS CLUB

Held across five days from 07 – 11 September 2016, admission tickets to Swiss Club’s Oktoberfest range from S$29++ per adult to S$798 for a table of eight. Be ready to party like there’s no tomorrow! Those with little ones should visit on a Sunday for the Family Brunch, as there will be bouncy castles, balloon sculpting and more.

36 Swiss Club Road
Singapore 288139
Tel: +65 6591 9420
Daily: 10am – 8pm
Nearest Station: Botanical Gardens

I have this mad obsession with list, so here’s the list of German restaurants in Singapore for you (and me) to try out. Due to their strategic location in the popular shopping malls, Brotzeit & Paulaner Brauhaus are arguably the better known German restaurants when it comes to German food in Singapore.

But I have heard good things about Werner’s Oven in the East, and I’m quite keen to go for Magma’s weekend brunch too. I already went to Paulaner Brauhaus a couple of weeks ago, so hopefully this list can spark your crave for German Beer, pork knuckle and sausages.

I just found my new love, her name is pork knuckles.

Bacchus
Blk 7 Dempsey Road
#01-02
Tel: +65 6474 6628

Brauhaus
101 Thomson Road
#B1-13/14 United Square
Tel: +65 6250 3116

Brotzeit Bier Bar & Restaurant
1 Harbourfront Walk
#01-149/-151 VivoCity
Tel: +65 6272 8815
Also available at Raffles city & 313 @ Somerset

Erich Imbiss & Backstube
40 Sago Street
Kreta Ayer Conservation Area
Tel: +65 6224 4420

Magma German Wine Bistro
2 Bukit Pasoh Road
Tel: +65 6221 0634

Paulaner Brauhaus
9 Raffles Boulevard
#01-01 Millenia Walk
Tel: +65 6883 2572

Stammtisch
805 Bukit Timah Road
#01-04 Sixth Avenue Centre
Tel: +65 6468 1649

Werner’s Oven
6 Upper East Coast Road
#01-02 Hacienda Grove
Tel: +65 6442 3897

* * *

I will be adding this list to the top of my Delicious page page, if there’s any good places for German food that I’ve missed out, feel free to let me know and I’ll add on to this list. Please call the restaurant to confirm a reservation before going down.

Pork Knuckles is calling. Race you to try all the German restaurants in Singapore. Hurry up!

The idea was to eat, eat, and eat, but plan b, or rather the lack of a proper plan, meant that we start at Plan B. We started off easy, but it was surely one of the best burgers that I’ve.

It took everything that I got to resist ordering another burger for myself, and missed out on all the stuff that was about to come – and so three hungry dude shared one burger.

Plan B by Becasse is famous for their wagyu beef burger, and at just ten bucks, you must try this burger! What is wagyu, anyway? When even the MacDonalds in Sydney sell Angus beef burgers, you probably think it’s not a big deal.

But the real wagyu burger, comes in the form of a thick beef patty, everything was kept simple; there’s no exotic ingredients like foie gras, nor were there redundant sauce – it was so good that you could feel the sauce gushing out! Interesting, beetroot was used, and it provided the contrast from the other burgers.

Plan B, 204 Clarance sheet, have you taken down the address?

It will be disappointing if one did not step into any pub/bar when in Australia. The folks here simply love (read: adore, head over heels, cannot do without) drinking. Be it a glass of the fine wines from the vineyard, or a pin of beer straight from the brewery, say cheers! There’s a strong drinking culture here; it’s not surprising to see people drinking during lunch time, or 3pm in the afternoon.

I was glad when Richard proposed that we make a trip to his favorite pub, Bavarian Bier Cafe for some beer to chill down the hot afternoon heat. Since I always have a sweet tooth, I went for the Mango, which had a smell consistency of the fruit. The taste however, did not have such a strong mango flavor.

No one in their right mind will pass on the chance to have German Sausages, and so we ordered a platter to share. There was a krunching sound when I bite the cracking roast pork, as with the German food that I visualize, it was hearty, tasty and definitely not enough.

‘Deep-fried sushi?’

Richard casually asked if we are keen to try it out, but I could sense the excitement in his seemingly-subtle-tone.

‘I don’t know, I’m not so sure.. about this’

And the next thing I know, we were standing in front of Kana Express kiosk. This is one place where most people wouldn’t have heard of, much less try the snacks here; an oblivious kiosk by the corner of a back alley.

The sushi was done Korean-style, and there’s other popular Korean snacks like spicy rice-cake, but our focus was on these two words: Deep-fried, & sushi.

As the guest, or so they said, I was entitled to the first bite. It was edible. I think one’s enjoyment of this sushi comes from the revelation of deep fried to the mind. On it’s own, the sushi tasted very tame, but the addition of the fiery hot chili sauce enhanced the flavor greatly.

I love summer. I really do.

Summer, is the perfect excuse for us to indulge with ice cream, and more ice cream. We dropped by Passionflower, a dessert cafe which exotic ice cream flavors. The choice of vanilla hazelnut & burnt caramel was made by me, the former was evidently the favorite, and I liked the nutty taste in the vanilla ice cream, while the latter had a strong burnt caramel taste.

Summer, is not summer, without ice cream.

I stole a glance at Krispy Kreme when we walked by the shop, and was immediately dragged in and convinced to have one (just one) of the original donut. This should be the definition of how a good donut taste like: glazed with a layer of sugar, yet not to the point of being cloyingly-sweet, there wasn’t any hint of oilyness that a poor donut will have. One, simply isn’t enough.

Our original plan was to have tonkatsu at a nearby Japanese restaurant, but it was closed by the time we got there, so we went to Harry’s instead. I’m sure, any reputable guidebook will list the pies & hotdog at Harry’s Cafe de Wheels as one of the must-try in Sydney. Tiger pie is particularly famous, but to be honest, I’m not very certain of it. Mashy and meaty, maybe it’s just me, but I didn’t really enjoy it.

On the other hand, we thoroughly enjoyed the hotdog, it was a shame that we only had one to share. I’d imagine one to hold the big sausage with both hands, and put the whole thing into the mouth!

While on the way to Max Brenner, we passed by Le Patissier and decided to stop here for some sweets instead. For a small place, they have quite an array of desserts to choose from. I wanted to try vanilla pastry cake but it wasn’t available that day, so we had the Lemon Ganache. The sourish lemon ganache provided a good counterbalance to the sweet chocolate layers, but the whole cake was too dry, and I’m not a big fan of kirsch that’s also present in the cake.

When the fork first sank into the Creme Brulee, we already came to the conclusion that it failed. And unsurprisingly, the surface of the dessert was not caramelized properly; it was either a leftover, or they had torched and caramelized too early. However, the custard underneath was actually quite decent, and there’s even vanilla beans used.

* * *
Just in case you are wondering again, yes, we ate all of these in one afternoon.

Plan B by Becasse
204 Clarence Street, Sydney 2000
Tel: 9283 3450

Bavarian Bier Cafe
24 York Street, Sydney, NSW 2000
Tel: 02 8297 4111

Kana Express kiosk
Corner of Central Street

Passionflower
580 George Street
Sydney NSW 2000

Krispy Kreme
Queen Victoria Building
429 – 481 George Street,
Shop 95 – 97 Lower Ground Floor,
Sydney, NSW 2000

Harry’s Cafe De Wheel
Haymarket, NSW 2000
Next to Paddy Maguires Pub
Tel: (02) 9281 6292

Le Patissier
50 Clarence Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: (02) 9299 0015