Burn Ends is currently (2021) ranked 59 in list of World’s best restaurant, so when a reservation opens up, I don’t ask if it is worth going. I just book it.

We got bar seats and could only choose the chef selection set menu. For reasons I will explain below, it might make more sense in terms of budget to opt for the ala-carte options instead. The way the set menu works is, you will be served dishes selected by the chef depending on your appetite, food preferences, and the amount of time remaining for your seating. For example, if there is a 2nd seating at 1.30pm and it is already 1.00pm, you will be served the main and then dessert even if you had room for more food. There is no set price for the menu, you pay for what you eat. The chef will probably serve you dishes to work around the range of $180-$250 per pax.

In our case, we ended up eating 15 items + 1 sourdough bread. It is a good amount of food, though I felt a little rush trying to maximize the number of dishes I got to try in the span of an hour and a half. If I could have a full 2 hours, I’d probably enjoy it more. Now onto the individual dishes.

1. Smoked Quail Egg Caviar ($15) – Some egg-on-egg action… Nice amuse-bouche, but I wouldn’t order it because caviar is overrated.
2. Grissini with Taramasalata ($12) – The one dish I would order every single time. Imagine a thin crispy cracker with a cream made of smoke and ocean, combined with a healthy heap of chives and dill to balance the fat.
3. Steak and Lobster Frites ($35) – 4 pieces for $140. Is it worth it? Meh. Again, caviar is overrated. The potato is amazing when eaten as is. However, when eaten with the beef tartare, lobster and caviar, the potato kinda overwhelms whatever flavor the other components had. Also, the beef tartare is too salty. Unless the purpose of the dish is to highlight the frites, otherwise I would rather have a plain toast or cracker act as a canvas so that I can taste the other ingredients instead.
4. White Pepper Chicken Neck ($8) – Am I at an izakaya? That’s one amazing piece of chicken!
5. Jamaican Chicken and Crema ($10) – Too salty. To be fair, the server did warn us that the chicken was brined this way to preserve the juiciness. When eaten with the tangy crema, it is not bad, but maybe hold back on the salt next time?
6. Eggplant Miso ($12) – What’s with that thick doughy batter O.o The miso mayo is amazing though, as are the small pieces of dried chili.
7. Lamb Taco ($12) – I really wanted to love this dish since it is a taco! The topping of salsa verde/chimichurri is the star of the dish – the perfect balance of salt, fat and acid. However, the lamb tastes more like a failed attempt to introduce moisture back into a piece of overcooked meat i.e. dry and grainy. It didn’t help that the hummus added to the grainy mouthfeel.
8. Pork and Mustard ($14) – Who knew mustard and honey pair so well together (Oh right, there is such a thing called honey mustard). The pork took backseat flavor-wise, but overall, it is a delicious bite of an open-face sandwich.
9. Leek ($16) – A ‘simple’ vegetable dish that is far from simple. The leek is paired with an excellent combination of hazelnut, chopped capers (it reminds me of mei gan cai) and brown butter. Minor suggestion, I would swap out some of the butter for the amazing miso mayo from the eggplant dish instead.
10. Salt and Pepper pork ribs ($22) – Ooo, so so good. The pork is cooked with the right amount of char. It might not be as tender as wagyu, but it is nevertheless hearty, juicy, and packed full of porky goodness. Afraid the dish is too heavy? The scallion salad that comes with it is dressed with a beautiful vinaigrette to round out the flavors.
11. Garlic Shoot ($12) – This is my first time seeing 4 pieces of veg served on such a large plate. The shoot has a mild acrid bite that’s somewhat similar to garlic and I quite like it. The garlic aioli is also really good. The dish could do with less oil though since the aioli has more than enough fat and all the grease on the garlic shoot just makes it difficult for the aioli to adhere to it.
12. Half King Crab and Garlic + Sourdough ($47.50) – The greatest sin when preparing crab is to overcook it (followed by boiling crab in water). Thankfully, the crab leg we had was cooked to perfection. The meat is sweet, juicy and slightly smoky from the grill. The caper dressing (similar to the leek dish) makes a welcomed second appearance here. For some reason, the crab meat was stuck to the shell, so what was supposed to be an easy-to-eat dish quickly became a pretty messy affair despite my best efforts. Nevertheless, I would gladly order it again because it is that good.
13. Blackmores Striploin ($66.50) – That’s for 95g of tender striploin. I have had my share of good steak, so I wasn’t wowed by the striploin. That said, it is cooked to a perfect medium-rare with the tenderness you would expect from a good piece of beef. Given that steaks function like a litmus test of a chef’s skill, that’s reassuring. I noticed that other tables had a sauce to go with the steak which we didn’t. I wonder why…
14. Tart 12 ($12) – So good… The crust is crispy and crumbly, the berries are sweet and tart, and the dollop of cream provided that extra bit of moisture. Now, is it worth ordering the full tart for $95…
15. Marshmallow ($4) – I’m not a fan of marshmallows in general…. For those interested, the marshmallow is scented with orange and it has a thin sugar shell on the outside.

Overall, I enjoyed the meal even if there are some misses. I must say, the chefs at Burnt Ends are experts at making sauces and emulsions. The garlic aioli, crema, miso mayo, salad vinaigrette, caper dressing, taramasalata, mustard and salsa verde are all excellent accompaniments. One area the restaurant could work on is balance. The frites need to be reworked in my opinion, Jamaican chicken could do with less salt, the leek and garlic shoots are a little too greasy, the pork and mustard sandwich tasted more like mustard sandwich with a hint of pork. This is one occasion where I think wine is justified because most dishes are quite heavy on salt and fat.

As for value proposition, assuming the dishes from tasting menu are also available on the ala-carte menu, I would recommend going for the latter instead. The caviar bites are average at best, but they cost almost one third the price of the full meal, so I would avoid those dishes. For the same budget of ~$200 per person, you get to try a lot more food. Also, I didn’t get to try their meat dishes like the ribeye with marrow, the aged pigeon, the suckling pig, the roasted pork chop, and the beef ribs. Burnt Ends, are you an Australian BBQ restaurant? Where are my BBQ MEATS?!?! Having visited their facebook page, I’m sure I missed out on a lot of really good food as well. I’m looking forward to my next visit if I’m able to get a reservation for the counter seats.

Note to self: Ala carte experience is only available at counter seats. Good luck booking it! Check out my previous visit here.