Skirt at W Hotel Singapore has been winning raved reviews since opening a few months ago, so I had to check it out to find out for myself. Indeed, the restaurant lives up to the hype, and it has rocketed to become my favourite steak restaurant in Singapore. It is a top-class steakhouse with middle-range pricing.

At the entrance of the restaurant, there are “aging cabinets” which contain choice meats alongside specialty cuts of milk-fed lamb and venison. For those who like to have a drink before having dinner, the bar tucked at one end of the restaurant offers bespoke cocktails. The restaurant itself is elegant and stunning. It is classy, yet not pretentious; it gives off a cool and hip vibe effortlessly.

We started our meal with the Tuna Tartar ($28) with avocado and wasabi; and Iberico Pork Belly with Bean Cassoulet ($20). The former was decent, but unremarkable. The latter saw chunks of pork belly with white beans and carrot in a pork broth made with pork loin and spices like star anise, cinnamon and honey.

Next, we had the delightful Grilled King Prawns ($25) from the grilled picadas menu. Fat, juicy and fresh prawns were split and generously peppered, then put to grill, producing a hint of smokiness and a lot of sweetness for our indulgence.

The Seared US Scallops ($35) – with dashi, apple and Jamon – are what dreams are made of. Plump and meat, they were the easily the biggest scallops I have ever had. This was my favourite starter.

And the highlight of our meal – steaks. Skirt has an impressive selection sourced from Australia and USA: Blackmore Australian Full Blood 9+ Wagyu, Tajima Australian Crossbred Wagyu, Creekstone Farms USDA Corn-fed Black Angus, Cape Grim Australian Grass-fed Angus, and Donald Russell Irish Grass-fed Aberdeen Angus. Prices range from $35++ to $158++, and most of the steaks are priced below $60.

The 250g Blackmore Wagyu Skirt Steak ($48) is one of the most popular options on the menu. We had the Tajima Australian Crossbred Wagyu, a 25 Day Dry Aged Ribeye ($70/140 for 250g/500g). It was a good piece of meat prepared at the highest level. We enjoyed every bite.

The other steak that we tried was the chef’s special ‘Skirt Steak Sandwich’ – a Blackmore Australian Full Blood 9+ Wagyu Tenderloin served with beetroot and Jamon. This was an off-the-menu item which is reserved for regulars and those in-the-know. If you plan to try this dish at your next visit to Skirt, inform the chef and I am sure they will be glad to prepare it for you.

And oh, did I mention about the sides and condiments? Unlike other steakhouses where the sides tend to be over-priced, the ones here are decently priced between $5-12.

The steaks are served with seven condiments – Red Wine & Marrow Sauce, Peppercorn Sauce, Horseradish Cream, Bloody Mary Butter, Cherry Tomato Relish, Blood Orange and Tarragon Bearnaise Red Chimichurri and three kinds of mustard. In addition, they also come with six different types of salt: garlic salt, beef salt, rosemary salt, Hawaiian red salt and smoke salt.

While steaks are the main focus at Skirt, the restaurant also offers quite a few main courses on the menu. The Braised Dorper Lamb Leg ($45), Dover Sole ($50), Cinnamon Poached Maine Lobster ($85) and Iberico Pork Skirt ($40) are tempting options.

We went for Skirt Beef Wellington ($58) because not many restaurants in town do this dish well. Beef tenderloin coated with pate encased in a crispy puff pastry; it was faultless. That said, while Skirt’s rendition was executed perfectly, I am not sure if I would pay for this. I am not a fan of Beef Wellington to begin with. Moreover, some of the steaks on the menu are more appealing and affordable.

The Toasted Honey Meringue ($18) came highly recommended and it did not disappoint. It came in the form of coconut and pineapple ice cream on a digestive biscuit base, topped with a beautiful sheet of pineapple jelly and meringue.

We also had a Warm Venezuelan Chocolate Mud Cake ($18) with poached wild strawberry and tarragon. Other desserts include: White Chocolate Parfait ($18), Chocolate Forest Cake ($18) and Crepes with Dulce de Leche and Chocolate Lava ($15).

A meal at Skirt need not be expensive if you order wisely. Their signature 250g Skirt Steak is only $48, and other affordable cuts include a 250g Irish Grass-fed Sirloin ($35), and the 250g Cape Grim Australian Ribeye ($42). In conclusion: if you love steaks, you must make a trip to Skirt at W Hotel Singapore.

Skirt Steakhouse
21 Ocean Way, W Hotel
Tel: +65 6808 7278
Tue to Sun: 7pm – 12 midnight
Note: This was an invited media tasting.

There are a few things in life which you can never forget. Your first love, the first time flying on a plane, the wonderful taste of food, and of course, my first visit to the prestigious 6 Star St Regis Hotel, and not to mention, the most expensive and excellent dim sum that I’ve there.

I can never forget the taste of Peking duck after trying it for the first time a couple of years back. The perfectly crispy skin with a thin layer of fats beneath. Yan Ting’s Crispy Peking duck ($60 whole duck) served with traditional condiments arrived within minutes after making our order. Instead of wrapping in the typical pancake, the chef decided to use flour skin instead.

Like the usual practice for Peking duck, the remainder of the meat was done in other methods. The one that we had was diced duck meat, which came across as salty. It would be a great compliment with a bowl of white rice, but other than that, there wasn’t much hint of the duck meat. I wondered where the rest of the duck meat actually went. And the second serving ($27) came at a cost of 3 bucks per head.

While I didn’t try any “San Bei Ji”, or claypot chicken with basil & golden garlic ($20 for medium serves 4) before, the rendition here was satisfying. The fragrance of the meat announced the arrival of the dish, the chicken was tender, with some fatty meat and the tasty sauce was the icing on the cake, or rather chicken.

The question mark on my face was evident when I couldn’t figure out what the vegetable on the table was. I was told, the Dou Bei ($26 for medium serves 4) was the superior cousin of the more common Dou Miao. An expensive plate of greens this was, for the seemingly average taste of the vegetables.

We also tried the Crispy garlic pork ($28 for medium serves 4). The pork ribs were crispy, and had a strong garlic taste. The dish also came across as a tad salty. Nonetheless, we dutifully whipped clear the plate of the ribs.

I can never forget my penchant for cod fish. Taking a bite of the Deep Fried Cod Fillet coated with Crispy Cereal ($28), the fish immediately melt-in-the-mouth, with the cereal giving an added crunch. There’s barely enough for all of us a piece each.

I ain’t a big fan of scallop, so this line could be pretty bias. The Pan Seared Scallop filled with Shrimp Mousse ($32 for medium serves 4) was big in size indeed. However, the scallop was overwhelmed by the strong shrimp mousse taste.

I can never forget my mother’s rendition of French bean. I’m of the belief that simplicity is beauty. Using garlic to stir fried the vegetables can always bring out the fragrance of the garlic without covering the freshness of the greens. So I was rather sceptical initially when i saw the Wok Fried French Bean with Minced Pork and Chilli ($20 for medium serves 4). But it did proved me wrong with the wok hei of the beans. And the minced pork didn’t complicate the taste.

Instead of the typical deep fried prawn with mango, the Deep Fried Prawn filled with Fresh Mango ($36 for medium serves 4) came with a twist. Prawns and mangos were wrapped in beancurd skin, and deep fried. To be frank, I dislike beancurd skins, especially those served during dim sum. But this one was decent, the mango could be sweeter though.

With the name Chef Chan Signature Baked Spring Onion Chicken ($28 for medium serves 4), the dish certainly was bundled with expectations. You can’t go wrong ordering the signature dishes, or so it seems. The chicken was plain ordinary, and definitely didn’t warrent the hefty price tag.

I can never forget the best char siew sou ($1.8 per piece) I had before, from Yan Ting of course. Dim sum is not served during dinner, but we made a request to the manager, who to our delight, agreed to ask the chef to make it for us specially. Maybe we were saddled by the huge expectation that we had, but we are guessing it’s most probably because of the shorter baking time, that the char siew sou didn’t turn out to be as good as before. Nonetheless, it was good of the restaurant to do it specially for us, and I’ll be back again for it.

Total bill was $362.85 for 9 person, after a 25% discount using the Astor card. This came up to about $40 per person, which was totally cheaper than what we expected. And if we didn’t drink tea ($40), and no desserts ($48), the add up will probably be around $283 or $30 per head. With the ambience of the place, the prestige of the restaurant, and the decent quality of the food, the price was definitely reasonable. I’ll definitely be coming back for their dim sum, Yan Ting IV. There are a few things in life, which you can never forget after all.

Read about my dim sum visit to Yan Ting here
& Yan Ting snowskin mooncake here

Yan Ting
29 Tanglin Road
The St Regis
Tel: 6506 6888

Yan Ting is listed as one of ladyironchef’s favorite restaurants in Singapore