This time since I was on a steak roll, I decided, "Heck, why not give it a try once in my life?" And so I dutifully trooped down to Morton's on a weekday evening. The earliest reservation we could get was at 8pm, and I was surprised at how full the restaurant was.
Did you know that Morton's is listed on the New York Stock Exchange?? And the last stock price was somewhere around US$4.40 range. Wow. Never occurred to me that the ROI on cow was that profitable. Then again, people do pay $100 and up to eat a slab of meat. So there.
By the way, Arnie Morton, founder of Morton's, is also the father of Peter Morton, who owns the chain of Hard Rock establishments, amongst a slew of other steak restaurants. Talk about a chip off the old block.
Anyway, dinner at Morton's is an entire elaborate and somewhat wayang affair. (For the uninitiated, wayang refers to Chinese operas with very dramatic performances with exaggerated costumes, make-up and actions.)
First they serve their signature onion bread -- which really is this huge fluff of a dome that everyone plucks chunks out of ala communal bonding. Mmmm....I love my carbs and that bread was GOOOOOODDDD.....a nice crisp top with a beautiful freshly-baked sheen, and warm, fluffy and soft on the inside.
Next, we wait for the waitress to come and offer us the menu. But the waiting takes a while, think it was more than 20 minutes before she rolled a trolley around and proceeded to introduce the different cuts of beef available and the specials of the day.
Now, I know that it's not easy serving tables, and on top of that, having to memorise all the different specials available and regurgitate them with a smile. Problem was, I couldn't understand a word that the waitress was saying, and only managed to catch the occasional "Morton's" and "special" and "today". None of which were particularly illuminating descriptions of how I could have my beef and eat it too.
As the only uninitiated Morton's patron, my buddies did the ordering. We ordered one Steak and Seafood Menu set and a Porterhouse steak a la carte to share amongst 3 of us.
For our set menu (S$95), we picked a Caesar salad to start, Jumbo Lump Crabcake for the seafood dish, and Potato Skins for the side. The steak was a single cut filet mignon -- medium.
We picked the Porterhouse (S$98) for variety because it gave us both the tenderloin on one side, and the striploin on the other. Also done medium.
I'm going to digress for a while here. figure all of us could do with a basic introduction to cow parts and what gives each slab of meat its "cut". Here's Steak Cut 101 (courtesy of Wikipedia no less):
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| Steak cuts (Source: Wikipedia) |
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| Jumbo Lump Crab Cake (Photo source: Morton's) |
It took another 20-30 minutes for the main dishes to arrive. First I tried the Jumbo Lump Crab Cake. I am a HUGE fan of crab cake, having enjoyed several years of US East Coast (famous) crab cakes when I was abroad. Funny though, for a country so proud of its crab dishes (Chilli Crab, Black Pepper Crab etc.), we haven't really claimed a local version of crab cake yet.
Morton's Crab Cake lived up to its standard. Moist and chunky (real) crab meat held together in a lightly-browned patty. Ohhh. Give it to me again!! I would certainly go back for the Crab Cake, if nothing else. Nowhere in Singapore have I managed to get my hands (and mouth) on something so crabbily good.
(By the way, although the photos are from Morton's website since I didn't have the fancy camera on me, I guarantee that my food turned out exactly as they look in the photo.)
My buddy asked for English mustard to go with the Porterhouse and Filet Mignon. I took a swig of that yellow paste and the blaze shot right through my nose! Like when you eat too much wasabi with your sushi and that through-the-roof temporary numbness and dizziness overcomes you.
Oh, but when that shock tided over, the mustard made for an excellent companion with the steak. Funnily enough, although we ordered both steaks done medium, I felt they were bordering a little on the medium rare side. But the meat was tender, juicy, very tasty (considering there was no marinade or gracy) and delicious.
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| Porterhouse Steak - tenderloin on one side, striploin on the other (Photo source: Morton's) |
As far as cuts go though, I think I prefer the Filet Mignon. Something about that boneless slab of meat so perfectly tender and a perfect size too (well you can't get too much of it simply because the cow only has one tenderloin and the Filet Mignon is cut from the most tender part of it).
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| Morton's Legendary Hot Chocolate Cake (Photo source: Morton's) |
Dinner isn't complete, of course, without Morton's Legendary Hot Chocolate Cake. In essence, it is a warm lava cake, firm on the outside, oozing chocolate liquid on the inside, with a scoop of Haagen Daz vanilla ice cream.
The first taste was melt-in-your-mouth-over-the-moon delicious....oh the combustion of warm cake, hot molten chocolate and cold ice cream was an indescribably enjoyable sensation. But of course, there's a reason why they teach you about diminishing marginal returns in Econ 101....after a few more mouthfuls, it started getting a little too sweet for my tastebuds. Good thing there was 3 of us to share - I couldn't imagine finishing a whole plate on my own!
The meal ended costing us S$255 in total, which wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. That being said, for a place so renowned for its beef, I wasn't blown away by the steak, particularly given the hefty price tags that came along with them. But I will definitely consider coming back for the Jumbo Lump Crab Cake if I'm having a craving and feeling generous with myself.
Ironic, since this is Morton's The Steakhouse (not the Crab Cake House). I think I'll head over to Admiral Bar & Grill whenever I'm in the mood for a steak. Same size, quarter of the price. It's more than enough for me.
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