Morton's The Steakhouse

Being a frequent patron of many restaurants, I know where good food is, be it cheap or expensive.

In the case of Mortons, it forces you to order chicken, fish or USDA beef (one of the lousiest meat if you ask me) for your main course. I asked if there were any pasta or risotto dishes and the waiter just unresponsive. (like öh well, that's just too bad").

I remember back in 2009, new years' eve , if I am not mistaken, I had my first experience there and it was pleasant as they actually had some pretty nice dishes like Macaroni and Cheese. They no longer serve it, unfortunately.

However, this is not to say that they don't serve some dishes which are delicious. Their crab bisque is without a doubt, the best I have tasted in Singapore. Their crab cake is worth a try but I have tasted better crab cakes at Good Wood Park Hotel.

What saddens me is that the main course selection is unspectacular and just too highly priced for what it is. I am a great believer that you have to pay for good food but this is stepping over the line as this is in my humble opinion, are not great main courses. I did taste my chicken and felt rather unimpressed.

If there were any other good points about the restaurant, it serves a warm and soft bread free of charge but this the cost of making this is easily off-set by the obscene sum of money spent on our main courses.

I am not keen on another visit until they change their mains selection.

for more details and pictures:  http://hungryinsingapore.wordpress.com/2012/04/17/mortons-the-steakhouse-dinner/ 

everything here is supersized so i'd say whatever item on the menu is double the normal portion!

the must try is the steak and I like the rib eye steak best. at $97++ it may seem expensive intially but remember that the portion is more than double of the norm, so you can share among 2. The quality of beef is super good as well (aged USDA prime) and the cooking execution was perfect. I've never had such perfectly cooked steak in a long time. 

the other items on the menu can be skipped, in my opinion. only the service and steak here is commendable.

I was just here for my birthday celebration. This is my first hungrygowhere review so you can imagine the impression Mortons made on me..

Let me qualify my review by saying that the ambience, service, and food was nice. Nice, as in an average nice. The standout item on the menu was of course the steak. I have tasted better martinis. Better lobster bisques. Better crab cakes. Better sides. Better desserts. And the list goes on and on. Let me add - And all that at a fraction of the price being demanded here. I would say the non-steak items could reasonably have been obtained at the same quality and probably much more quantity at any other reasonably mid-end establishment. So the entire experience was rather lacklustre. 

However the steak was great. I ordered a USDA ribeye which came juicy, medium rare, and seasoned perfectly. Even then, however, the cut was poor, with too much gristle to tolerate. That was the one flaw, albeit not something I would expect in what would arguably be deemed one of the top, if not the top, steakhouse in Singapore. I am not one to send food back, and I didnt send the steak back, as the gristle, although too much to be waved away as mere chance, or bad luck, was the only imperfection.

I did send my first glass of wine back though. (And this is also a first for me) Surprisingly, for a classy establishment such as this one, glasses of wine come totally unannounced from the kitchen, without the necessary embellishments one might otherwise be used to when ordering a glass of wine in a restaurant - a flourish, a peek at the bottle of wine, the satisfaction of confirming vineyard and vintage, and the measured pour from said bottle. My Meerlust (at $33 a glass) came from the kitchen tasting.. well.. plain spoilt. Sour. Acidic. Flat. Spoilt. I gave the wine a good airing (hoping against hope it would make a difference), and the benefit of five more small sips (I didnt want to be deemed a cheapskate and drink any more of a wine I thought would quite likely be going back into the kitchen) but.. to no avail. I upgraded, to a $40++ glass of wine, which was noticeably better, but still.. no bottle, no pour, no flourish, no satisfaction. The waitress took the first glass back without any complaints, which was commendable. However the entire practice of pouring wine in the kitchen, or wherever it might be poured, is detestable. This practice might be tolerated at Jacks, or perhaps the Western Corner at my neighbourhood hawker centre, but.. Mortons?

In the final analysis, there are many other places where better value might be obtained. For example, I have eaten in top steakhouses in America where the ambience, service, and food were perfect, above reproach, and the prices a mere US$100 per head. And that with crabcakes weighing in at 4 huge ones for US$20, whereas one miserable crabcake here at Mortons (Singapore) costs a multiple of that. LOL. A recent outing to the similarly priced (highish) Brasserie Les Saveurs (St Regis Singapore) bears mention. The food was amazing. The wine was impeccable. And the service.. Classy, attentive, and.. subtle. The difference is unmistakable.

I feels sorry for the other diners, especially the foreigners whom I assume must be used to much higher standards at a much lower price, and will be content to cook my aged wagyu at home the next time my meat craving strikes.

Excellent steak and warm chocolate cake will bring you to the heaven.The Ribeye steak I had was perfect.The hot chocolate cake with liquid center to gives that rush of endorphins.

Service is almost perfect and always obliging

for a more detailed review with pictures, please check out http://thehungrybunnie.blogspot.com/2012/02/mortons-steakhouse.html

Morton's is one of those old-fashioned classically American fine-dining steakhouses with a history spanning decades. The Singapore one is the first to be opened of its 6 international outlets, housed in the luxurious Mandarin Oriental Hotel. To ensure continuity and familiarity, the Singapore restaurant was built in same decor, concept and style as with all of the other branches. The restaurant, kept aglow with lowlights, and coupled with the dark wood interior of the restaurant provides the ideal setting of a traditional steakhouse experience. The restaurant, with its butler-like service and visual presentation of the menu with a rolling meat cart and detailed descriptions of the preparation of each dish, maintains its old-world charm since the chain was founded in the late 70's.

We had:

1) Mortons' Onion Loaf (complimentary) is just legendary, and for good reason. It arrives on your table, a huge mound, and you're immediately hit with its aromatic oniony and fresh bread scent. You tear away fluffy soft bit-sized pieces, and your tastebuds are then assaulted with the taste of freshly baked bread with just a subtle hint of sweet caramelized onions

2) Broiled Sea Scallops ($40.50) wrapped in bacon and served alongside an apricot chutney really wasn't to my liking. With the exception of the slight charring on top, the scallop was largely raw. I like my scallops pan-seared and cooked through just right, not raw.

3) Aged USDA Prime Ribeye Steak ($97) my favourite cut. It may be the fattiest part of the cow, but I love the extra flavour it imparts to the meat. Full bodied and robust, a real man's meat. This was done to a medium perfection, so it was cooked through, no bloody elements, but still tender and juicy. The beautiful charring lent a smoky finish to the deeply intensely flavoured steak

4) Aged USDA Double Cut Filet Mignon ($97), the most tender cut with little fat and muscle suited the more weight and health conscious. Little wonder this is one of two cuts that are offered in smaller sizes, a single cut instead of a double. Fresh watercress, a favourite green commonly found in Chinese herbal soups served as a crisp, peppery refreshment. I have to point out that the wonderful thing about Morton's steaks is that they are so flavoursome on their own that sauce or gravy is never missed when chomping down on their steaks. They really are just that good on their own

5) Morton's Legendary Sundae ($35) instead. The chocolate cake, previously known as the Godiva chocolate cake, could only feed 2 diners, but the sundae is huge enough to feed 4. Try as we did, we just couldn't finish these. The sundae is like the hot chocolate cake, put on top a layer of sweet caramel and stuffed into a sundae cup, then topped off with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream and loads of whipped cream. The still-warm chocolate cake underneath the mound of cream oozed with warm chocolatey sauce when broken into. Super decadent, super rich and super indulgent, but it was so worth the gazillion calories.

We went to Morton's the other day, for celebration. We went with high expectations, which were quite disappointed. Some steaks may be worth it, but the restaurant is ruined for me by the hyper expensive sides, the expensive drinks and the hit and miss steaks. We will never go back there.

The dinner started with a presentation of the menu by a waiter. They showed the various steaks, some seafood, and some other stuff. I can only describe this as gimmicky. If they had just presented the steak, it would have been fine. But the presentation of salmon steak and live lobster is useless, and after that I lost interest because the waiter had obviously done that many times and was visibly interested to get it over with as well.

Then we got the written menus, and the wine menu. While we expected high prices for the steaks, what was shocking was the extremely overpriced sides: one of the cheaper ones - which we ordered - were steakhouse fries for $18++ (!!!). Yes, the same fries that are sold everywhere else for a third or quarter of the price. The wines start at $20/glass, and bottles at $90/bottle. The meal also includes a delicious onion bread that is served as a starter.

So we ordered a Cajun Ribeye ($83), and an Australian Porterhouse ($117) - for about the same price of around. The Cajun Ribeye was ordered rare, the Australian one medium rare. When the Cajun one arrived, it was SEARED, not rare (as in, cold and uncooked on the inside). This led to a discussion with the head waiter (I guess), where he tried to defend his restaurant's interpretation of "rare" (instead of responding directly to the guest's wishes). In the end, I asked them to make it "medium rare", as for them that means "red but warm on the inside". They brought back THE SAME steak (cut in half already) - I would have expected a new one for a price like that. It ended up being very good.

The Australian one was quite sinewy, and for $117++, absolutely not worth the money at all.

Our total bill ended up $270 for two persons. Considering what we got for it - one good steak, one so-so steak and a ridiculously overpriced side dish - I would never go back to this restaurant.

For photos and more reviews, visit us at http://foodphd.wordpress.com!

Accompanied with a scoop of Haagen Dazs Vanilla Ice Cream, Morton’s Legendary Hot Chocolate Cake is the mother of all molten chocolate cakes (not to mention the most pricey at $29++). What was most impressive was the premium quality of the chocolate. The outer layer was a moist chocolate cake, and the centre was the gooey molten fluid chocolate. The molten centre was thick and rich and you could almost savour the top notch quality of the premium chocolate used. We have to admit that the price is indeed rather steep for the size, but for a once in a while indulgence in a premium quality molten chocolate cake, Morton’s is your definite choice.

As the title suggest, Morton's has somewhat established themselves as the best steakhouse in Singapore. Dispute for the best Japanese, Chinese or French cuisine restaurants, Morton's stand strong.

Food quality has never been an issue. A team of 4 chefs to cater for 100+ hungry customers, Morton's never fail to churn out plates and plates of grilled-to-perfection steaks. Quality aside, my done-ness has never been missed. (Gotta love my Fillet Mignon done rare. Oh! Dont forget the famous prime rib available on weekends only!) Together with many delicious sides (creamy spinach, gigantic asparagus and broccoli and french fries), main course never fails to satisfy.

For the entree, I was very impressed by the quality of the cold seafood platter. The natural sweetness from the crab's leg, prawns and oysters, it was totally blown-away. For me, it was like finding clean water in the desert - pleasantly shocked. However! I had a taste of negativity when I was served the frozen, and not fresh seafood on my platter. At one bite, you could taste water within the flesh, and gone is the natural sweetness. It is obviously kept in the freezer and served without proper defrosting. What a shame.

The 'Mortini' is always popular, together with the steak sandwiches. Yum yum. A place I would never fail to recommend for good martini lovers.

Service, as always, is impeccable. One of the best restaurant for me in Singapore. However, I look forward to Morton's, helmed under the new GM.

Till then.

Morton's The Steakhouse (formerly Morton's of Chicago) was founded in 1978 by Arnie Morton & Klaus Fritch. Today there are 76 locations in the chain all over the world. Morton's The Steakhouse serves prime beef, the highest grade given by the USDA, sourced from a meat packer in Chicago, IL. The meat is aged on location for 3–4 weeks using a wet-aging process which means the meat is aged inside of a cryo-vacuumed bag. The meat is cooked to order on an 1800 degree broiler for service. Meat cuts offered include Filet Mignon, New York Strip, Porterhouse, Ribeye and BOne in Prime Rib ( From Wikipedia ).

Being a world renowned steakhouse, Morton's was a household name in the industry for having one of the best steaks in town, so my buddy and I decided to check it out when we had a super bad craving for a d*** good steak.

The Steakhouse was awfully crowded for a Friday night, especially at 9pm. I was thus annoyed by the noise level even though the chic decor of the steakhouse gave off a chill and relaxed vibe.  K and I were excited that we were going to feast on the upmost top notch quality of beef, however quality also came at a price as after much pondering we decided on each having their Steak & Seafood Combo ($108++) which seemed as the most worthwhile deal. The combo consisted of a Single Cut Filet Mignon ( 8 oz ) ,  a salad , a side and a seafood entree. This was definitely the best choice for people like us who wanted to best of both worlds as a Single Cut Filet Mignon on the Menu was already priced at $86++. Service was commendable as service was top notch yet not intrusive. The onion loaf shortly arrived pipping hot on our tables after the wait staff took our order.

The onion loaf served was enormous as both us were stunned at the mere size of it, Nonetheless two very hungry men devoured the entire thing which was delightful and aromatic and boy we sure regretted it!

Despite the Romaine Lettuce being really crunchy and crisp which reflected on the quality of the freshness of it, the salad was pretty ordinary to me as it was forgettable. The croutons served along it were nicely salty as well as the bacon gave the salad a crunch. The dressing was decent as well as the garnish of grated parmesan cheese as I was slightly disappointed  K on the other hand had the Morton's Bleu Cheese Salad ( $22++). When the salad first reach the table, it was shockingly bland, but prompt service from the wait staff which got us a new freshly tossed salad was worth the wait as the bleu cheese dressing was simply delicious despite being a sinful. For our seafood entrees, i opted for the Colossal Shrimp Alexander ($42++) while K opted for the Jumbo Lump Crabcakes ($35++)

We both oped for our Filet's to be cooked medium rare as Morton's certainly did deliver on their Standards! The Filet Mignon Served was a generous 8 Oz / 220g as their combination of cooking steaks with first smoking them on a Josper Grill then in a broiler was genius. The Filet was charred beautifully on the outside as its crusts had a smoky robust flavor when i took my first bite and yet the steak as tender, succulent as it literally melted in my mouth. The Bernaise sauce served along with it was of perfect consistency and flavor just that I felt it was a little too heavy.  K also agreed that it was one of the best steaks he ever had. My Colossal Shrimp Alexander on the other hand was disappointing as despite the shrimps being almost as big as baby scampis, they tasted like IQF ones from Ocean Gems which you could buy in Supermarkets as there was nothing to rave about it. K's Jumbo Lump Crab-cakes was the better seafood entree of the night as the crab-cakes were delicious and cooked perfectly. Basic seasoning used to cook the crab-cakes really brought out the flavor and freshness of the crab meat. The Jumbo Asparagus for me was a healthy option after consuming a great deal of meal for the night as it was nicely grilled and the balsamic reduction went well with it. The Fried potatoes were a tad too salty and greasy making it pedestrian at best ( Morton's Signature potato would have been a better choice )

By the time we finished our mains, K & I were stuffed to the max as we both decide it would be insane to have a round of desserts to end of our meal despite the temptation to order Morton's Signature Molten Chocolate Cake.  My dining experience @ Morton's was overall a rather positive one as Morton's certainly lived up to its reputation of having the best steak in town as I felt my meal was rather worth it considering the hefty prices. Would I return to morton's? The question still lingers as I am left unsure. Sure Morton's serves a bloody good piece of steak but the rest of their sides and seafood dishes were pretty average and for the price, I would gladly go to Bistro Du Vin for a slightly inferior cut of Ribeye. Maybe just maybe i would return one day for their speciality burger and a drink at their bar.

Click to view for photos

I decided to do something different during the recent F1 weekend. Instead of keeping miles away from the epicenter, I braved restrictive roads and major inconveniences to dine at Mortons, which had a special lunch seating only during this annual weekend.   As mentioned in my previous entry on Mortons, windows had been installed to allow for natural light to flood in, radiating the traditionally sombre main dining area. And what better time to see the place in a different light than in the afternoon, over a leisurely and decadent lunch?

Caesar Salad - Fresh crunchy greens homogeneously tossed in classic caesar dressing and topped with fresh tasting croutons that didn't reek of rancid oil. Huge bowl so try to share.

Lobster Bisque - The lobster bisque had a nice smoothness to it without coming across as too rich or creamy. The brandy taste is quite distinguishable so if you don't really like alcohol, you probably shouldn't order this. I applaud the freshness of the lobster but moan the measly portions (it's just 1 small piece of lobster). After all, it is $34.50++ a bowl.

Spinach with Mushroom - Our mandatory greens for the meal. Plentiful mushrooms and spinach. So plentiful that we got sick of eating mushrooms after that. Good for 2-3 pax.

Chicken Christopher - Coated with a layer of egg and pan fried till a golden brown, the chicken christopher was actually quite tasty, especially when dipped in the creamy yellowish sauce that came across as light with a mild garlicky flavour. However too much of the chicken can be quite a nauseating affair. Read. Share it.

Fillet Mignon - It's been a while since I've had steak at Mortons, opting instead to go for their burger (standards have dropped!) during my last couple of visits. And I'm glad I decided to order my favourite cut this time round - the fillet mignon. Done up to a perfect medium rare yet a little charred on the outside, the meat was excellent - juicy and full of natural sweetness. What more can I ask for? Well, maybe seconds?

Morton's Hot Chocolate Cake - Luscious warm chocolate oozing out from a break in the crust and paired with a nice chilly scoop of vanilla ice cream made for a wonderful end to the meal.

As with any meal at Mortons, you can expect prices to be in excess of $100/pax, even for lunch. However, $246 for 2 pax was reasonable in my humble opinion and I'll definitely be happy to drop by again, be it for lunch or dinner. One thing to note though. The quality of food did seem better during lunch probably due to the lack of crowds so do lunch if possible.

See all my pictures here.