Food Picks: Steaks and sides on Skirt's new menu

Straits Times

15-05-2025

Contemporary restaurant Skirt is the kind of place you visit for a hit of escapism. Nestled in the bosom of W Singapore, near Sentosa's eastern tip, is it far away enough from the incessant buzz of city traffic to offer a bit of a breather. The idyllic waterfront views do not hurt either.
The menu, however, is not too much of a departure from what one might find along, say, the Tanjong Pagar supper belt. Refreshed and beefed up with a suite of non- bovine options, it prides itself on the kind of open-fire, whole-carcass cooking favoured by modish mainland restaurants.
That is not to say the food tastes tired, though. On the contrary, chef de cuisine Lim Zhi Wei grills, chars and dry-ages with exquisite precision.
He has amassed a respectable collection. There are grass-fed varieties, full-blood wagyu steaks, a USDA prime Angus T-bone, as well as a variable selection of special cuts. It depends on what you are looking for in your steak.
Dry aged T-bone from Skirt.
PHOTO: SKIRT
If you prefer something with a bit of chew, try the Blackmore Skirt Steak MB9+ ($98 for 200g), prized for its beefier heft. For a more buttery bite, the A5 Kurohana Wagyu ($128 for 150g) from the special cuts menu is a good bet. Though milder, it melts in the mouth, coating the tongue in a silken sheen of fat.
The restaurant's other plate of prized red meat is its dry-aged duck (from $58), trimmed with glassy strips of fat that have been crisped up on a lively flame and glazed with an orange gastrique. A golden nugget of foie gras and a couple of fermented blackberries round off this elegant procession.
All this richness guests can slice with their pick from a chest of knives, encased in hilts forged from materials such as concrete, resin and carbon fibre – part of the restaurant's attempt to curate a more personalised experience, down to the smallest detail. This extra touch does not necessarily make the food taste any better, but it is hard to deny the modest thrill of getting to wrap your hands around a beautifully crafted blade.
This care is extended to the side dishes, which hold their own even on a table overcrowded with heavyweight mains. The charred hispi cabbage ($18) and lightly oceanic lobster mac and cheese ($38) are two especially enjoyable standouts.
Dessert errs slightly on the sweeter side, with options such as the pistachio kunafa ($24) and smoked cheesecake ($18) supplying the kind of potent sugar rush you allow yourself only on holiday.
Where: Level 1 W Singapore, 21 Ocean Way
MRT: Harbourfront
Open: Noon to 3pm, Saturday; 6 to 10.30pm, daily
Info: skirt.sg
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