Morton's of Chicago, Singapore

If I could choose only one reason why 1998 was a great year for Singapore, the arrival of Morton's would be it. Singapore was fortunate enough to be host to one of my favorite steakhouses and before I stand guilty of exaggeration, let it be known that Singapore is the ONLY one of two countries out of the USA that has a Morton's (the other being Hong Kong). Of over more than a 100 countries to choose from, Singapore was a chosen one.

When I dine at Morton's it's like an epic journey of sorts, a slow building crescendo that starts off with this innocent-looking but evil onion loaf. Innocent because it's so fresh, warm and tasty but evil because eating too much of it will throw you off your course to finishing your quest. Have a little nibble but I strongly advise you to cast your eyes away from this sinful loaf. Our journey has begun.

Some starters at Morton's are worth ordering, this is the crabcake. "The" because there's only one but it's rather huge. It was a good teaser to start off the meal, slightly crisp on the outside and soft and succulent within, the fresh taste of crab meat was evident with every bite.

Since I don't normally order the lobster for my main, I satisfy some seafood urges with my starters which explains these grilled scallops wrapped in bacon. The sweetness of the scallops and the saltiness of the bacon goes extremely well with the mildly sweet and tangy chutney and a dash of fresh lemon juice.

My quintessential starter, the Morton's salad with blue cheese and egg dressing. I'm not a fan of blue cheese at all but it's all so subtle here and coupled with the super tasty (and salty) anchovies, this salad is always welcomed. I love the anchovies so much that I usually request an additional side platter of it.

Even though it wasn't Mortini Happy Hour, I just had to have their Cosmopolitan. Absolut Citron, cranberry puree and some other good things creates a tasty, refreshing drink everytime.

Alright, enough of the posers, the charlatans, the phonies. Enter my arch nemesis, the double-cut bone-in prime rib. This big mama weighs 23oz (about 640g) of pure USDA aged beef. Everything else before this was a minor prelude, this is what I'm here for.

First attack drew blood, oh but what tasty blood. I'm actually more of a medium-rare sort of person but whenever I order the bone-in cuts, I have it done medium-rare-plus which is just slightly over medium-rare. This is to compensate for the bone which retains a lot more coldness than the meat.

Which nemesis is complete without its minions? The sides for today were the sauteed wild mushrooms and the potato skins. I was abit disappointed with the potato skins because although they still used the same Idaho potato skins, they were slightly too dry and hard for my liking.

Half-way there (sort of). My attack on this follows a complex circumferential-perimeter style of nips and strikes. I finally found some use from reading SunTzu's Art of War.

My foe begins to falter. The once great and proud enemy now stands a scrawny, weakened "has been". It's almost as though I'm mocking it now with these little chunks that I slowly cut half-amusingly from its flesh.

It is done. The deed is finished. Another double-cut bone-in prime rib conquered. Another victory for D.

What better way to celebrate than with some sweets. This is a bit of their giant souffle, I was quite peeved that they took the initiative to cut and distribute it instead of giving that joy of "popping" it to me but nevertheless it still tasted soft, fluffy, rich and just sweet enough.

The quintessential Morton's dessert, their famous(ex-Godiva) chocolate cake. Although this tasted as excellent as always, I still prefer the chocolate cake at One-Ninety. The one at One-Ninety was slightly smaller but it had a greater lava-fudge to cake ratio and the pairing of the cake with citrus sorbets instead of vanilla ice-cream helped prevent any feelings of being overstuffed.

Last but not least, the key-lime pie is also another of my favorites. The rich buttery texture was as good as always and the light freshly whipped cream served with this was an excellent complement.

The good thing about Morton's on Fridays and Saturdays is that they have the double-cut bone-in prime rib cut. The bad thing about coming here on a weekend is that you hear "Happy Birthday" being sung every five minutes. I mean, it's good to share someone's joy and all and I was still quite jovial after the first five times but when I counted fourteen and then sixteen, I almost wanted to shove my prime rib into someone else's mouth instead.

The servings here are huge but expect Morton prices with Morton portions. This meal for three cost about 600SGD.

D