Morton’s where size matters

Morton’s The Steakhouse
Mandarin Oriental
5 Raffles Avenue, Marina Square
Tel: 6338-0066

The steak lineup

For that one night in Morton’s I decided that I was going to pretend to be a man because that seemed to be the only appropriate response.

Morton’s stays true to the idea of American style over the top indulgence. It is a very masculine restaurant. I was in super-size me land with steak fillets as big as my face and lobster claws as large as my hand. In Morton’s land, size matters. Correction, size is everything. Even the tomato was the size of my fist!

The service is winning. It is the integral part of the whole experience from the start to the finish. Part of the whole experience of being pampered is having the waiter literally bring the menu. They recite it off the top of their heads and as show off their platter of meat cuts available and dangle the 1.5 kg lobster in front of you. It is a fun spectacle.

The steaks. They are good, they aren’t awe-inspiring but they are good meats. It starts with a good ingredient – a gingerly aged piece of beef – and that’s what you are presented with. What I love about it is that, there really is no margin for error here because the steak is presented to you in its naked glory, cooked to your choice of bloodiness.

jumbo lump crab cake

But before we get to the steaks, there are the appetizers to get through. Maybe the colossal shrimp cocktail or a main lobster cocktail? I had neither but I was allocated a colossal shrimp Alexander with beurre blanc sauce which strangely but very amusingly tasted like popcorn. Along with that, the jumbo lump crab cake is outstanding, so if you can’t decide between the starters, this is my choice pick.

As for desserts, as far as I can remember this might have been one of the first places to have the ubiquitous molten lava chocolate cake in Singapore (correct me if I’m wrong) and a Godiva hot centre chocolate cake but the Godiva has now been dropped but it is still a fail safe good ending for dinners.

Will I come back? Maybe but one condition must be fulfilled - someone else has to picking up the check because I don’t feel that the prices are justified. The whole theatric experience was to a certain extent bordering on ludicrous but very entertaining. I can’t fault the food it was good but maybe I’m not man enough to stand up to the size of it. A good steak, yes and too much of a good thing, I packed half of mine home and prolonged the pleasure of my NY strip. So maybe this place isn’t for me and definitely not for the faint hearted.