MAD (Modern Asian Diner) @ The Grandstand

What a name! MAD which stands for Modern Asian Diner is a collaboration between TungLok Group, Bar Stories and Dick Lee. I am guessing the name must have been suggested by Dick Lee, the flamboyant Singapore performer, composer and playwright.



This was an invited review to see what MAD has to offer and it was it is quite an interesting concept. I would not have worded it any nicer sounding than this press release by them:

"The split-levelled MAD features a bar, manned by famed mixologist Kino from Bar Stories; a charcoal-powered Josper Oven to enhance the flavour profile of meats and seafood; a specially fitted and designed Omakase-style tapas counter; and a wine cellar and tasting room by Top Wines, which boasts one of the most extensive wine lists in Singapore; and a bakery and bread boutique by Bakerzin which will serve freshly baked artisan breads."



During the day, this place is a bakery, cafe and dim sum place.
During the night, it transform into a restaurant and cocktail bar.

I heard that during the day, Dim Sum Trolleys will be going around serving Dim Sums here. For those who are nostalgic. Bring your parents or grandparents! 



MAD occupies two levels. On the first level has a bakery and a cafe seating area.

(Residents of Bukit Timah on the way home at night, drop by for some bread near their closing time. I think it was 50% off. I bought some after dinner.)



As you have probably experience it, with the recent labour restrictions, more and more restaurants are deploying tablets to take over what humans can do. Everything you want to order can be done through this iPad.



Oh yes, you can preview your bill at anytime too!

(Now, they should have an app to rearrange the bill according to the diners ya? As an IT guy, I know it can be done!)

>> The Bar

During the night, you have the Bar that's manned by famed mixologist Kino from Bar Stories. They specialise in tea and coffee based cocktails. Talk to them, let the mixologist come up with something, either alcoholic or non-alcoholic that suits your 'mood' at the moment.

Here's some photo of the beautiful creations. These were what we had:









I did not note down the name of the drinks. It was just so beautiful. This last one was the cutest with a little rubber duckie on it!


>> The Restaurant



Artisanal Bread from bakery.

 
MAD Baby Ribs with Homemade Barbeque Sauce



You can mark this place as one of the places for delicious ribs. Well marinated and done really well. Tender meat, wonder their charcoal oven had an special powers.

I like how it was served in a wooden board. So rustic and the presentation already makes you hungry by looking at it.



Foie Gras Terrine



The terrine goes well with the bread that they serve. If you order this, don't finish up the bread when they are served. Save them for the terrine. It had a nice texture and less oily too. I know some of you only prefer your Foie Gras pan seared.


Teriyaki Glazed Mushrooms with Cuttlefish Tagliatelle

Other than the ribs, this was also my favourites for the night. That's not green pasta but cuttlefish! It's not tough cuttlefish either. It's something you will probably order seconds.

I read from Bibik Gourmand's blog that portobello mushroom has been sous-vide. No wonder they taste just nice. (now to find out the ideal temp to sous vide portobello!)


Mushroom Risotto with Poached Egg.

Beautifully done. It's tedious cooking this. It reminds me of the 'cooking' competition that I was preparing risotto everyday to perfect it and on time too.

The mushroom flavour was not too overpowering and they added a poached egg. It seems they know that many people are obsessed with poached eggs!



For the tasting portion, they poached mini quail eggs for us too! So cute eh!


Rum and Banana Tatin with Vanilla Ice Cream.

They have a dessert menu and you can satisfy your sweet tooth by ordering through the iPad. ;-)
I liked the caramelized banana with the ice cream.



For those with kids and your kids can't get enough of macarons. Order them!




The kitchen is helmed by Chef Roberto Hernandez Sevillano.
He's previously from the Esmirada Group's Tapas Bar. 



If you prefer, you can dine at the Omasake-style Tapas Bar too.

>> The Retail Gallery



Other than eating, people in Singapore love to shop.
They have added a retail gallery to make some of our better halves happy.



It sells lots of quirky things that even I was tempted to buy.
I heard all of it has been selected by Dick Lee himself.

While dining, I thought the music sounds familiar and some of it seems to be from Dick Lee's musicals. I asked them who selects the songs and was told Dick Lee has selected the songs for all 365 days to be played here!



Oh snowy from Tin Tin Comics is available for sale here too!

>> The Wine Cellar



There's also the cellar and wine tasting room here by Top Wines.

It's quite an interesting concept here. First in Singapore to combine a 5-in-1.
Thanks to the PR folks of MAD for the invite.


MAD (Modern Asian Diner)
200 Turf Club Road
#01-20/21, The Grandstand
Singapore 287994

Tel: +65 64663303
Hours:  Sun to Thu – 10.00am to 10.30pm / Fri to Sat – 9.00am to 12 midnight

Website: http://www.modernasiandiner.com

Omakase Burger @ The Grandstand

The wife and I love burgers and when we hear that there's a new place for burgers, we will find some time to go try it.

We heard that "Omakase Burger" that's located at The Grandstand (previous Turf City) has opened so we thought we would give it a try. Since it's located not too far from my in-law's place, we asked them along too!



We were there around 12:15 pm and the place was not as packed as we thought it would be.



The menu that was at the entrance. Yes, it's the higher priced gourmet burgers.
You can click on the photo above to see the full version, or you can visit Omasake's website to see the menu too.



After placing our orders, we got this buzzer that's getting popular everywhere!

It's self service here.
We were told to collect our drinks after we order at the food and drinks collection counter.
You collect your meal at the counter again when the buzzer vibrates.



We had all our meals 'upgraded' to a full meal, i.e. with drinks and fries. Some drinks and fries have different prices, so you top up accordingly.

The coke here comes served in the glass bottles. For those who can taste the difference between canned and bottled version, you will be glad. The less metallic tasting coke. ;-)

They used the double wall insulated glasses. We have quite a few of these glasses at home, so we know it does keeps the drinks cold for a long time. Don' think they are Bodum ones, usually Bodum ones have Bodum brand printed below it. This was some unfamiliar name, but it works. (yes, the geek in me again).

I do hope people don't break the glasses, expensive to replace!



FIL and MIL has the coffee and they say it's quite decent.

A note though: The food takes a long time to arrive, so either you finish your coffee while it's hot, or you probably need to order another one after your meal arrives.



I had the Omakase Chicken Sandwich with Truffle Fries.



It's a piece of fried chicken that was really oily though.

I wonder why the chicken sandwich has to 'wrapper' like the rest of the beef burgers we ordered, so my fingers were really oily after holding up the burger.



Since we had 4 people having lunch, we ordered 4 different kinds of fries.
The truffle fries are good. The fries were hot and crispy, but if there's more truffle oil it would be nicer.

Oh yes, the fries comes served in a Bodum glass.



MIL has the Bacon Cheeseburger with normal french fries.

Normal french fries was normal. :-)
We wondered how the onion rings would be like, we could have ordered that instead.



While we thought the chicken sandwich were not nice, the beef burgers were excellent. You have a bite and you would come back again.

If we order anything with a slice of bacon for MIL, she would be very happy with her food.



FIL had the Omasake Cheeseburger. We ordered it with Sweet Potato Fries.
Oh, these Sweet Potato Fries were excellent. They were sweet and had a nice bite to it. Something that you can munch piece after piece after piece.



There's nothing Omasake about it. LOL....
The ingredients were all described. The special thing is the Omasake sauce it seems. The wife says maybe they should always put a secret different ingredient in it, that would make it more fun.

Dad loved the burger. All the burgers were done a very nice 'medium' doneness.



The wife ordered the Deluxe Cheeseburger with Cheese Fries.

Oh, these cheese fries were so nice. Just like the sweet potato fries, we would keep picking more and more to indulge.



The Deluxe Cheeseburger had grilled onions and mushrooms. The wife ordered it because she loves mushroom. She asked if I wanted to have a bite and I said yes, and ended up with 3 bites!

Compared to my chicken burger, this cheeseburger were so much better. Both of us thought it was really juicy. A bite into it and it's minced meat just crumbles in your mouth. There's no hint of dryness in it. Together with the cheese, tomato slice, onions and mushrooms, it was full of flavour. The few leaves of lettuce gave it a slight crunch as you bite into it.

Oh yes, the buns were really soft and had a nice aroma to it.
Something that we will be back for!




Above, our fried veggies! (potatoes are vegetables right?)
Different style of fried veggies. Our favourite, cheese and sweet potato fries.

Below, our fresh veggies!



MIL says we need veggies, so here's the House Salad, full portion for us to share.
We had it with Sesame Soy which was quite nice.



Oh... when I was picking up the drinks, we realised we should have ordered the fresh orange juice.
I call this the 'Holiday Inn' orange juicer. I see them in Holiday Inns when I travel. You drop oranges on top and it will automatically cut and press the juice out.



The damage. The receipt is to show that you will have to wait some time for your food.
Arrive around 12:15pm, orders taken at 12:21 pm.
Still new, so they will take some time to take your order and you pay for it at 12:27 pm.


Our buzzer vibrated at 12:49 pm.
So it's not a fast food place. It was a 20 minute wait, we were with parents to catch up, so time passes rather quickly. As we were leaving, the place was so packed and we saw a foodie friend from HGW. He said he was told the wait time was around 40 mins.

We might be back to try the Oven Baked Parmesan Chicken that we heard from another friend who says it's good. Hmm, the Omasake Chicken was quite disappointing so should I try that chicken again? The beef burgers were all superb!

We like this new burger place in our neighbourhood.

Omasake Burger
200 Turf Club Road
#01-05 The Grandstand
Singapore 287994

Tel: +65 6763 2698
Hours: 11 am to 10 pm daily