Unique Dining Experience

There is this place called Sizzling Rock situated at Boat Quay just by the Singapore River. The restaurant is different in that customers have to cook the main dishes themselves, whereas the side dishes will be prepared and served separately from the main dish. The main dish will be put on a hot stone slab and served, sizzling, to the customer.

K had a one-for-one dining voucher for the place, so we went there for dinner last night. He ordered salmon and sirloin while I had chicken and tenderloin. When the hot plates appeared in front of us, all the pieces of meat were still raw, and oil splattered around. So all we needed to do was wait until the meat cooked.

How to determine if the meat was cooked? Just lift up the meat and look at the colour at the bottom. If it is of a decent colour (cannot really say what colour since it differs from meat to meat), then turn it over and start cooking the other side. Another way is to stab the fork in and feel the texture, but this normally works only when both sides of the meat are cooked.

One good thing about this is that you get to control exactly how you want your steak to be, whether rare, medium or well-done. One disadvantage is that for people who cannot cook so cannot tell when the meat is cooked, they may end up either eating half-cooked food or food burnt to a crisp, in which case both may later upset their bowel movements.

But it was enjoyable, looking at the meat, seeing the oil bubbling, then making sure the colour was just right before turning the meat over and start cooking the other side. My chicken was just right, not too hard and not too soft, and the tenderloin steak was a perfect medium-well. I must say, I am a good cook! ;-p

I had to help my friend out a little as he could not tell whether his was cooked. But sirloin steak tends to take a little longer to cook than tenderloin, as the texture and size differs. His salmon was good though, at least it was cooked to a perfect colour.

Dessert was chocolate fondue! I was telling K the origins of the original cheese fondue, where it was partaken only at orgies and balls (as in, those massive extravagant big parties thrown by the rich and famous people in the past, not the other meaning). The chocolate fondue was just right, although he thought it a bit thick. At least it was better than the previous one I took, where the chocolate was so bland.

Those who know me are surprised when I told them I can cook, as they are always under the impression that I cannot. Now, why would they think that? I went through the Singapore education system where I had to take Home Economics in school. Of course I can at least cook and bake a little. No doubt I never had the chance to fiddle with pots and pans or do any form of domestic work since I have a maid all my life, but that does not mean I am totally incompetent in that area.

Overall, it was an interesting dining experience. Considering the food was cooked by ourselves, I must say it was pretty good, at least for a non-professional and non-expert standard. Better than some of those restaurants where the food does not taste good at all, despite supposedly to be cooked by professionals.