When you have a reputation of good food and great ambiance, you will always be on the minds of gourmands. There are many good steakhouses in Singapore. Finding the right one for the occasion is the challenge.

We wanted to go Jones the Grocer, but someone told us that after the takeover by LVMH, the place has gone upmarket without improving the menu to justify the price hike. After a last minute change of place to eat, we went to something familiar and reliable – Bistecca Tuscan Steakhouse.

After you placed the order, the toasty foccaccia bread is served with a pesto made with sun-dried tomatoes.

Starter

Salumi Platter

prosciutto di parma, lonza, finocchiona sausage, smoked coppa, olives

The salumi platter is a great starter featuring the best cured meat on offer.

Insalata Mista

chopped salad, cabbage, finocchiona sausage, figs, pecans, scamorza cheese

The crispy salad is like coleslaw with a crunch and packed with complex flavours from the finocchiona, dried figs and pecans. Finocchiona is a salami from the Tuscan region characterised by the use of fennel in the filling. You can choose to do a full vegetarian version, but the finocchiona added a lot of flavours to the salad. Highly recommended as a side to the steaks, but be warned, it is a small side.

Pasta

Risotto

crispy purple artichokes, slow cooked tomatoes, salsa verde

This is surprising delicious. The artichokes were coated with flour and deep fried but there’s none of the grease. The risotto was cooked slightly softer than al dente, which is good, and the salsa verde was not overpowering. It was a small dish but the taste was very good. 

Steaks

“Bistecca” is steak in Italian, so the steaks here must be their signature offering. They are the first to bring in the wagyu T-bone to the local steakhouse scene, so we have to order the Florentina to share.

Bistecca alla Florentina

1.1 kg signature T-bone, F1 kuroge washu bred wagyu & tajima cattle bloodline, thick cut in traditional tuscan manner 420+ days grain-fed, marble score 6 (MB6) from Australia

The loverly thing about T-bone is that you get to enjoy both the tenderloin and sirloin at the same time. Their signature dish, and namesake, is the Bistecca alla Fiorentina — a thick cut, char-grilled T-bone steak to share.

This Australian Wagyu-cross beef cut is exclusively exported to Bistecca Tuscan steakhouse only, and is grain-fed for 420 days as well as dry-aged in-house for a more intense flavour profile. Prepared in traditional Tuscan style over a high temperature wood-fired grill to produce a charred crust yet tender and juicy centre, medium rare is too red for most, but perfect for me. Be prepared for an indulgent steak experience.

Rib-eye

400g black angus 200-day grain-fed, MBS 3/4, Australia

Great marbling, full taste enhanced by in-house dry-ageing of Black Angus rubbed with herb mix and wood-fire grilled perfectly.

We brought a bottle of 2005 Shiraz Reserve from Wild Duck Creek Estate. It has mellowed with age and perfect with the steaks. The complex flavours of the aged beef paired well with the wine.

Mains

Maiale

400g iberico pork chop, sweet onion jam, black olive & anchovy puree

Tasty pork chop with medium doneness with a nice, savoury olive and anchovy puree. Was a bit dry, could do with a bit more those sweet caramelised onion sauce.

Condimenti

They gave us all their condiments the our steaks with pink Himalayan salt with dried herbs. I like the red wine sauce especially.

• Horseradish cream 
• Salsa verde – parsley, basil, olive oil
• Salsa Bernese – hollandaise, tarragon 
• Bordolese – red wine, shallots 

Contorni

Fritte

steak fries, sea salt, herbs

Not outstanding, we got lured to order it because the next table had this. But it was a rather weak fries by the standard of their other dishes.

Asparagi

char-grilled asparagus, salsa bernese

Grilled on their open fire and topped with bernaise, the asparagus was smokey and delicious.

Funghi

roasted wild mushroom, parsley, egg yolk

A mix of different mushrooms skilfully grilled with olive oil and tossed with dried parsley flakes and parmegianno, finished with a raw egg yolk. Very creamy and satisfying.

Dolci

I skipped desserts as I am restricting my own sugar consumption. But the dinner companions loved the desserts, especially the pistachio cake which they all commented to be the best of the evening.

Tiramisu

Mascarpone, Espresso, Fresh Berries, Chocolate Dust

Panna Cotta

Vanilla, Berry Compote, Pistacchio Crumb 

Pistacchio Cake

Poached Pear, Marsala Reduction, Honey Gelato

Mohd Sultan Road

Mohamed Sultan Road was a favourite haunt of ours during our youthful days – the reverent Wong-san and Mdn Wong, the artsy Next Page, the first table dancing after GCK said it’s OK. Now, the place has lost its raw energy and becomes a place for haute dining and expat concave.

Bistecca Tuscan Steakhouse first came to the scene in 2012, and immediately had people talking about their novel 1.1kg charcoal-grilled Bistecca alla Fiorentina Wagyu T-Bone Steaks. Five years on and they’ve spruced up and moved – only next door to a century-old heritage building with a darker, modern chic interiors and a few new dishes added to their menu.

The food for the evening was good, but they were trying to turn the tables so we were rushed through desserts and after dinner drinks. Understandable since they have a hard stop at 10.30pm to stop serving any alcohol under the current laws, and most restaurants will take last orders at 9.30pm. I amt thankful we have a nice place to have dinner and catch up after WFH.

Bistecca Tuscan Steakhouse
26 Mohamed Sultan Road, Singapore 238970
Tel : 6735 6739

Date Visited : Aug 2020