Read the review from 8dayseat about this 3 month old meat joint near my place and decided to head down for Saturday dinner. Two of the chefs used to work at 2-michelin star Zen.
Arrived at 10min past 5pm and was surprised to see that the indoor seats were already 50% taken up. Playing the safe cards, we went for all the dishes that's recommended by 8days eat. Meats were charged by the gram and we had 3 of them, 1 sandwich, 2 sides and 1 dessert to share btw 3 adults.
The meats were generally very well seasoned but on the salty side and could function without the sauce. Beef brisket $14++/100g and pulled pork $9++/100g did not disappoint but the St Louis Pork ribs $9++/100g were dry. There's also a minimum order of 200g for the ribs. The meats were served with some house pickles which E commented that the quantity could be given more.
E said he would go back for the Beef Tongue Sandwich ($19++) which was beef tongue in its purest thick cut form served with Russian dressing (ketchup+mayo) and saukeraut. The beef wasn't overpowered by the dressing and the rye sourdough bread was crispy. But I still prefer the version at Le Bon Funk.
For sides, the sweet slaw $5++ tasted very much like those you will get from western food stalls in hawker or kopitiam. The Corn Bibingka $5++- a cross between corn bread and kuih bingka- is a dark horse that easily outshone the Smoked Banana Tart. It's sweet but still manageable, with a creamy custardy sublayers and pleasant whiffs of coconut. Must Try!
Perhaps expectations were set too high for the Smoked Banana Tart ($10++) which comprised of smoked overripe bananas and mascarpone cheese, and sprinkled with toasted sesame, roasted white chocolate and malt. It sounded better than it tasted. For we thought the savoury nuances closely resembled Bak kwa while E commented that it had hints of cinnamon. We thought the combination did not pull off well, and it's not a share-friendly tart for the filling was extremely liquid and thus you can imagine a flooded scene when you try to portion it into 4.
The total damage for 3 pax was $94 after gst and service charge. Prices are very reasonable if we compared to similar food concepts like Meatsmith or Morgansfield. Service was warm and welcoming.
Social Smoker
2 Jln Leban, S577547. Open daily except Mon 5pm-10pm.
Reservation 8388 8396.