Roadhouse

Who do my parents look for when they want a new culinary experience? Me. I have an unfortunate and unusual habit of perusing restaurant menus on the internet. Yes you heard me right, I spend time looking at menus online. Menus in Singapore, menus overseas, and don't get me started on menus in Disneyland; I follow Disney food blogs for god's sake. Why unfortunate? Browsing menus makes me hungry at the most inopportune moments. Like at 2am at night.

So anyway my dad wants to try this new place called Roadhouse located at dempsey hill. Dempsey hill is an old army barracks area, now converted to a somewhat posh place to wine and dine. My dad hates queues and doesn't like being out more than he has to so we got the restaurant just as it was opening. It's a small place and oh crap I really should learn to take photos of the restaurant as well, gonna need to make a mental note on that. We were served very promptly being the only customers there.

I've been craving ribs real bad for a while now so I jumped at the BBQ kurobuta baby back ribs with onion rings even though the menu was also featuring a mac and cheese bolognese. I found myself torn between the ribs and the slow braised tomato stewed ox tongue so my mom got that so I could try some. Dad and sister ordered burgers, dad's had guacamole and jalapenos and my sister's had bacon, shrooms and sweet onions. I apologize for the lack of burger photos.

Huzzah. That one there on top is a half rack of ribs for $26. A ripoff? Indeed! But were they tasty? Very much so! Tender and juicy and smokey and lick your fingers delicious. But they feel sad for that price for that is not much rib at all! Also the onion rings, while crisp and crunchy and not too oily, did not carry as much flavour as I thought they would. I eventually ignored them and left them to soften in a corner.

Now this friends, is an ox tongue stew, slow braised with root veggies and squash and other tasty things. This by far was the most TENDER ox tongue I've ever tried and I would know; I a huge eater of ox tongue. I often partake of ox tongue stew while in the philippines and while I've always enjoyed it there, it's never been this tender. The tomato flavour is a little overpowering but if taken as a whole, it complements the dish well. The veggies are delicious and lo, they still retain they're textures! I hate it when I eat veggies that have no texture, it's like eating an unpleasant mush. No, these veggies had character! And so I ate them! Even the carrots, which I normally don't like, were quickly speared and devoured. I would definitely order this again.

The burgers were a pleasant surprise. All the burgers are made of wagyu beef and what tasty beef it was. There are times when one eats a burger and finds that the meat is genuinely tasty on it's own. This is one of those times. Juicy and dripping with juices, this is one mean burger not to be messed with. It's big and gloppy and will fall apart if not tamed early on with a good stabbing of the fork. The fries however, I found them a tad bit too salty. I'd avoid those.

Dessert! Sister and I wanted one of everything. A glare from the parents dropped that number to just one out of everything. So what's a s'mores crazy dragon gonna do? Go for the s'mores ice cream cake of course.

Isn't that a thing of beauty. A joy to behold. A graham pie crust loaded with vanilla toffee ice cream and drizzled with lightly toasted marshmallows. Ah. It was so so very good. My first bite was all wtf is this tasty thing and why is it so tasty I must have more omnom. In fact I was so overwhelmed by it that I didn't know that it was vanilla toffee ice cream anymore, just that it was smoky burnt butteriness and that I had to have more of it. My parents didn't quite share the same joy so me and my sister happily fought over it down to the last crumb.

I have few gripes with this place. Service was quick and prompt, water was refilled without asking, ample napkins and wet towels were provided for messy eaters, meaning me. I was surprised by the crowd that slowly trickled in though, huge families with lots of small children, very quick to fill the place up.

Now I summarize with prices.

I ordered :

BBQ Kurobuta Baby Back Ribs

with crispy cajun onion rings

& Roadhouse special BBQ sauce

half rack: $26, whole rack: $48

Sister ordered :

Bacon Marinated Burger

200g Josper-grilled wagyu patty, homemade bun,

melted gorgonzola, streaky bacon, caramelized

onions, aioli & sautéed mushrooms $26

Mom ordered :

Tomato Braised Ox Tongue

with summer vegetables and potatoes $24

Dad ordered :

Hot Mama

200g Josper-grilled wagyu patty, homemade bun,

melted cheddar, jalapeno, sour cream, guacamole

& tomato salsa $26

And here's the restaurant's homepage.

I recommend this place for chilling out and good food, though I advise booking a table when possible or going real early. That place is small and fills up fast.