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Sear-Interior-Facing-kitchen

Review: SEAR by 50RP – Left Us Burnt

Ambience
7
Quality
2
Variety
6
Service
2
Value
3
Reader Rating1 Vote
5.7
To Perfection
Mac and Cheese
Burnt
Long waiting times
Quality of food
Poorly trained staff
4

When you go to a ‘upscale’ restaurant you expect an experience that will change not just how you see food, but how the establishment experiments with tastes. Unfortunately, perched atop the 45th floor of the Singapore Land Tower, SEAR didn’t just fall short, it made me question how they call themselves a professional high end restaurant.

SEAR’s interior is what you would expect from a classic American Steakhouse – dark woods and an earthy tone. The floor-to-ceiling windows do well to give a sense of freedom. Unfortunately for us though, the wow factor stopped there.

Your first impression of a restaurant is most important. Walking up to a noisy club with drunk people pouring out, is not exactly my idea of a posh dining experience. As the SEAR is located right next to a nightclub, our first impression wasn’t the best, but we pressed on and hoped the food would speak for itself.

We ordered the Tomahawk, a 1.6 kg Australian Jacks Creek Wagyu, meant to be shared between 4-6 people. They brought out the steak to present it first before they sliced it. The steak weighs maybe half and the bone takes up the rest. It was disappointing that it only fed 3 people… leaving everyone else to order a regular steak.

Now a place that has a $6000 steak on the menu – the 2kg certified Kobe Rib Eye with 300gm Sturia vintage caviar, and calls itself a steak house, should know how to properly cook a medium rare steak. To our surprise, and horror, they sent us a burnt piece of what appeared to once be meat. Now, everyone makes mistakes, although it does baffle me how a steak of that quality was allowed to leave the kitchen. But the same mistake four times?

When asked, the service staff explained that the chef had burnt the steak 4 times previously and this was the ‘right one’. Which also explained why it took 45 minutes for it to be served. He burnt 4 steaks before he was able to get it right? How can anyone call himself a chef when this is the quality of his work. That also explains why he didn’t come out to apologize or talk to us after the mistake. After all, if that was the best that I could do, I’d be ashamed to come out too.

The only saving grace for the meal was the Mac and cheese, which says a lot about the quality of this supposed fine dining establishment. It was crispy on top and full of creamy, cheesy goodness on the bottom.

SEAR, unfortunately, is not only overpriced but poorly staffed and the food lacks quality. After going to this ‘steakhouse’, I almost became a vegetarian. I give SEAR the Juan Pablo’s Stinker Of The Month.