Unlike its rooftop competitors, Sear bears neither the view nor the food that does justice to its 45th-floor perch in the Singapore Land Tower. The panorama of the city is blocked by a waist-high parapet that reveals only a sliver of building tops and sky – so you’d think the food must be worth the elevator ride.
Sadly, no. A seafood platter for two, a 300-gram platter of three steaks, duck fat-fried wedges and a side of creamed spinach were ‘more than enough’ for our party of three, advised our server. The rumble of our stomachs after proved this false.
Mercifully, the platter ($68/ two-$238/five or six) comes with enough meaty prawns, king crab legs, raw oysters and scallop ceviche for three appetiser portions, although there was nothing – not even napkins – to clean our hands with.
Like a true steakhouse, Sear fires a list of pedigreed beef like Canadian Western Countries Cross Angus ($66/180g- 78/250g), grain-fed and dry-aged Wakanui from New Zealand ($55- $88), Australian Jacks Creek 450- day grain-fed wagyu ($70-$282) and certified Kobe ($340/250g) in a Spanish-imported charcoal oven. The latter is also served, baller-style, with 300g of Sturia Vintage Caviar ($6,000).
More affordable is the tasting of Wakanui, Jacks Creek and certified Kobe ($149), though if you’re unlucky as we were, you’ll get a cut with more fat than meat. The steaks – apparently 100 grams each – are tender, but not supple enough for the butter cutters our waiters insisted are steak knives. The eight soggy potato wedges, misclassified in the ‘sharing’ menu category, came up to $16. That’s a plate of chicken rice per piece. And the creamed spinach ($15), served on a cold plate, did nothing to redeem this searingly painful – and expensive – experience.
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