Food Review: Bread Street Kitchen by Gordon Ramsay (Marina Bay Sands)

Gordon Ramsay, a Scottish-born British chef and restaurateur, is well-known for his highly-acclaimed restaurants and cookbooks. His claim to fame is as presenter and judge of various food/ cooking-related TV programmes and competitions, and most of us in Singapore would also remember him in Singtel's Hawker Heros Challenge 2 years back.

With many Michelin stars under his belt, we waited in much anticipation as we learnt that this celebrity chef was going to open Bread Street Kitchen at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) offering "British European menu with fresh seasonal produce". 

We visited the restaurant at lunch time in end-July and end-August 2015, so this review will reflect our experiences on both days. Overall, the first experience was a disappointment (probably due to teething issues as it was newly-opened), but we were glad that it redeemed itself during our second visit.

Ambience

This black-and-white-tiled restaurant offers a casual dining experience with its "lively warehouse design combining vintage and modern decoration" and is styled mirroring its London edition.

It was crowded during both our visits, so I would certainly advise you to make a reservation beforehand. Otherwise, just like what the service staff advise, you can also walk in during the off-peak hours.

Starters

Bread Street Kitchen is aptly named as we were welcomed with a complimentary basket of freshly-baked bread to start off our lunch.  The bread, both in terms of quality and variety, provided a delectable start to our lunch and we particularly loved the breadstick and focaccia bread.

The Garden Pea Soup ($18++), with its lobster bits, was unpretentious and hearty. It was quite a small bowl though (note the height of the bowl vs our resident hedgehog).

Main Courses

First visit - We ordered 2 main courses and they were both rather underwhelming; overall a major disappointment.

1. Seared scallops, carrot purée, treacle cured bacon, apple, celery cress (S$24++)

The scallops didn't quite go well with the bacon, apple and carrot purée.  Not that they weren't fresh, but somehow the different tastes didn't create a delectable synergy of flavours you would expect.  It felt contrived, like an experiment gone bad and someone (the chef, I reckon) tried to redeem the dish by adding more ingredients, only to create an epic fail scenario. The scallops from Gordon Grill are just way better.

2. Black Angus Sirloin Steak ($60++), topped up with Half Lobster (extra $25++)

This dish was similarly mediocre and nothing to shout about. For the price, we expected much more. If you want good steak in Singapore, try CUT, Prive Grill or even Bistro du Vin.

Second visit - This time round, we played safe and ordered the signature dishes. We were glad we did, and would certainly recommend that you do too.

1. Slow-roasted Dingley Dell pork belly, spiced apple purée (S$28++)

We loved how crispy the pork belly skin was. The purée while rich, was not overwhelming and went well with this meaty dish. It was too bad that the portion was quite small, but no regrets choosing this!

2. Traditional fish & chips, crushed peas, tartar sauce (S$26++)

Unlike most fish & chips with little fish meat and thick skin batter, this dish was almost perfect. We loved the chunky fish fillet meat and of course the plus point was that it was served very hot. The crushed pea sauce was similar to the one we had in London - refreshingly sweet and minty, and simply a refreshing accompaniment! The fries, while chunky and fat to our liking, were pretty standard.

3. Bread Street Kitchen Beef Burger (S$26++) 

Perhaps we are not "burger" people, but we expected more from this $30 burger. While it was a signature dish and no doubt the beef patty didn't taste like processed beef, we thought we could give this a miss.

Dessert

The pineapple carpaccio, passion fruit and coconut sorbet (S$15++) provided a refreshing end to our otherwise meat-heavy lunch. Despite it also being a chef's recommendation, it was nothing to WOW about - to be honest. Maybe we expected something more memorable, given that this was a celebrity restaurant?

Overall

As this restaurant was pretty casual and usually crowded and noisy, it is more suitable as a family restaurant. 

Overall, there was some hits and misses, but let's just say that we were more critical as Bread Street Kitchen by Gordon Ramsay (yeah the chef's name had to be included) prides itself to be a celebrity restaurant and we paid good money. Nevertheless, we were glad that we gave the restaurant a second chance to redeem itself. We highly recommend that you order the pork belly and fish & chips! :)

Taste: 7/10

Ambience: 8/10

Value for money: 6/10

Overall: 7/10

Bread Street Kitchen by Gordon Ramsey (website)

Monday - Wednesday 11:30am - 10pm
Thursday & Friday 11:30am - midnight
Saturday 11am - midnight
Sunday 11am - 10pm

For reservations, please call ++65 6688 5665.

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