Oh yes yes yes... After months of longing, I can finally include Morton's under my belt of 'been there done that' restaurants to visit. *Victory dance*
We were charmed by the ambience- dimly lit (i.e horrible photos), dark mahogany panelling- a throwback to the classic Chicago steakhouse. We were seated in the booth and it did seem odd that they physically shifted out the entire table so that we could walk in instead of slot in. Thoughtful but clumsy.
Part of the experience is sitting through the menu recital. It felt like being in a children's choir concert where your mind wanders off midway but by the end of the performance, you end up doing a "Bree van de Kamp", smiling as if you never heard of anything quite so delightful. Somehow I don’t see the significance of this recital: uncooked and untreated, nothing on the trolley was capable of yielding an appetite and almost every item on the trolley seemed like genetically enlarged Franken-food. The lobster, alive but not kicking, made me wonder if anyone would have the heart to order it. I mean, it is one thing to pick out a slab of dead raw steak but another to single out the only ‘live’ item on the trolley and kill it for your enjoyment. Die Lobster Die!
For what it’s worth, it sure was a conversation starter.
Service was excellent. Although the menu recitation would have easily sounded like a malfunctioning machine gun, our waiter, Idris was personable and contributed significantly to the overall enjoyment of our evening.
Onion bread
Within minutes of placing our order, the onion loaf made its way to our table, much to our delight. Bread-knife-less, we greedily tore apart the onion loaf (can I just add: there's no better way to eat bread). Crusty on the outside, unapologetically fluffy on the inside, this onion loaf was capable of making bread whores squirm with desire.
"Be careful not to finish it, otherwise you would be too full to have your mains..." advised Idris.
Now that was one advice that almost fell on deaf ears as we could hardly stop after the second, third or fourth wad...
Crab Cake
The timely arrival of our crab cakes saved us from polishing off the onion loaf. A patty of shredded REAL crab panfried in butter, served with mustard mayonnaise. The crab cake was bursting in flavour despite its meek facade.
(L-R) Spinach & Mushrooms. Lyonnaise potatoes.
The earthy aroma of the button mushrooms complimented the withered spinach nicely but honestly, it was a tad too ordinary.
Morton’s is capable of producing potato sides in "6 different ways" and according to Idris, they serve “the best fries in town”. Not particularly in the mood for fast food, we chose something “fancier sounding”. Sliced potatoes and julienned onions sauteed in -breathe- BACON FAT (yup, that’s the secret ingredient), the Lyonniase potatoes were very good.
According to Theoretical New Economics rule #6, "People are bad at computation" as many often use "price to signal value". So to put things in perspective, the sides were “very good” but not in an earth-shatteringly pound-the-table sorta way And when you revisit the experience, all we ordered were essentially very-average agricultural products.
You say po-TAH-to, I say po-TAY-to… Sides aside, we were here for the steaks and it didn’t disappoint.
Porterhouse Steak- take one.
According to The Cook's Thesaurus, "Many believe these (porterhouse steaks) to be the best of all steaks. They include parts of two muscles: the flavorful top loin and the buttery soft tenderloin...."
How true how true...
Porterhouse Steak- take two.
The porterhouse steak was slightly charred, replete with a smoky aroma and gorgeous texture. Like a beautiful woman free of makeup, the sign of a good steak is the lack of some run of the mill gravy.
I should just let the pictures do the talking…
Porterhouse Steak- take three.
It would be technically correct to say that there wasn't any room left for dessert- after all, most entrees were probably larger than your stomach. Although we declined dessert, the key lime pie and Brand Marnier soufflé sound absolutely inviting. May be next time... haha As you can see, I was already planning for my next visit but if truth be told, Morton's is alot easy to stomach when somebody else settles the bill. As we were about to leave, they shifted the boulder of a table again- only this time, it only seemed totally necessary.
Rite of passage for every steak hound.
Oh well. At the very least, I can say, “I’ve been to Morton’s”
I'm at peace.
HUMMM
Oriental Hotel
Fourth Storey
Marina Square, 5 Raffles Avenue
Tel + 65 6339 3740
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