Cook & Brew

Cook & Brew is one of the four dining venues at The Westin Singapore. It is located at level 33, which is one level above the main lobby. It is a gastro-​bar which overlooks Marina Bay and is an ideal spot to chill out after work for the nearby working crowd. The bar offers an extensive selection of fine wines and craft beers from around the world. There is both indoor and outdoor dining area, surrounding with comforty seats around with flat screen television, showing sport channel. Most enjoy dining in the outdoor with the cool wind blowing and a nice view of the busy port.
HEIRLOOM TOMATOES & PLUMS ($ 17)
Buttermilk and gorgonzola cheese dressing, butter curd, pecan brittle
Best enjoyed with La Chouffe beer
The strong taste of the butter curd was strangely balanced by the sweet honeyed pecan brittle. It quite peaked up one’s appetite.
WHIPPED BUFFALO MILK RICOTTA ($ 12)
Truffle honey, grilled bread
Best enjoyed with Peroni Nastro Azzurro beer
The bread was soft and buttery, having been drizzled with olive oil. Spread on with slightly sweet and milky spread, it offered another taste on the simple bread.
POLENTA & DUTCH VEAL BRISKET ($ 42)
Milk braised veal breast, kale, glazed turnips
Best enjoyed with BrewDog Hardcore Beer
The veal was very tender and juicy, accompanied by the milky creamy polenta and the crunchy turnips.
THE MONTREAL BURGER ($ 34)
Packs a punch with its copious amounts of house-​smoked Montréal meat, made by curing beef brisket with cracked peppercorns, coriander, garlic and mustard seed over 21 days, beef patty and red onions, served with fries with Rosemary and shaved Parmesan, and Canadian mustard.
Best enjoyed with Borealis Rare Iceberg Beer
This burger was the chef’s signature, but I could tell that it is a meat lover’s dream with so much meat in it. As for me, I preferred the fries which I felt was better than the fries that served with the two other burgers. The fries was lightly flavoured with rosemary and topped with shaved paramesan. It smelt nice and more appetizing in taste.
BROCCOLI & BACON CHEESE BURGER ($ 29)
A treat robust flavours; beef patty topped with creamed broccoli, double thick house-​smoked maple-​glazed bacon and American cheddar.
Best enjoyed with Grolsch Beer
Never had a burger with creamed broccoli. I felt that it made the burger less dry and easier to eat, when comparing to the other two burgers.
HAWKER BURGER ($ 32)
Well-​marinated char siew-​style pork jowl that is sweet, slightly moist on the inside and charred on the outside, crispy pork belly, served atop a juicy beef patty, served with sambal mayonnaise, sliced green pickled chillies, and fries tossed in chilli.
Best enjoyed with Tiger Beer
It was my first time of having a burger served with pickled chilli. The burger was the chef’s version of localized burger. It was quite a combination in the mouth with fatty pork belly, the slightly sweet char siew, and the spicy mayonnaise spread on the bun. Interesting explosive flavours.
Rum and Raisin ice cream
Served with oreo crumbles
A simple but delightful finish to a heavy meal.
Hot Chocolate ($ 8)
A well made drink although I wished that it could be richer in taste.
Overall the food was huge in serving and tasted great, although my jaws felt tired after all the chewing of the burger. The place was relaxing and quiet, with nice view outside. Service was fast and efficient.

Canadian Thanksgiving is Monday October 12. We celebrated this weekend by looking for turkey. Been frequenting Cook & Brew, the gastro-​bar at the top of The Westin Singapore. There are some outstanding dishes and some hits (more) and misses (less) but what drew me back was their version of poutine. That’s the only reason needed to visit this place. They have a pulled pork, gravy & cheese version that is wonderful.
So we sought out poutine, which is quintesentially Canadian, as our anchor for giving thanks. Turns out there’s way more to the menu that we first thought. The ExecChef, Aaron Foster, is Canadian! He put together modern interpretations of classic bar dishes as well as local food. The atmosphere is modern, uptempo’d tracks in the background, and great for drinks and snacks as well they stay open til late.
Unfortunately, no turkey so we went with turkey balls! Meatballs, that is. Not a big fan of meatballs and these were pretty big. Served with a tomato sauce.
Another dished called ‘fancy fish & chips’ had beer battered Nova Scotia lobster. Since this was an all Canadian affair, decided to order that as well. $ 46 is a bit pricey in my opinion, but you’re shipping these lobsters from the Atlantic! Unfortunately, lobster is best served without being battered. It is a waste of a lovely ingredient as the richness and flavor is lost in the coating. Been there, done it.
We had the previously mentioned poutine which is a full plate by itself. This pared with the wild arugula salad is all the food groups you need. =)
For dessert we tried the smoked bacon caramel chocolate bar. You need to have a serious sugar tooth for this dish as it is very heavy and rich. The hazelnut, while plentiful was soft. Topped with a piece of smoked bacon that could’ve used a bit more crispness. I could only take a piece and then stopped. Again been there, done it.
Stick with the Bailey’s cake. It is topped with whiskey and coffee ice cream. So I have a reserved recommendation. I’m going back and trying dishes until I find the tried and true. It is a 3.5star if I could give it.

Good drinks list, nice venue (with somewhat of a view), ok food. If you count this as a pub, 5 stars…

Would have given this place a 4 star if the desserts were good. Unfortunately it is down right terrible. The sticky pudding was soggy and poorly executed. Strawberry/​Lemon short cake was not a cake at all. Otherwise appetizers like the buffalo ricotta was nice so does the trout and sausage. The fish (lobster) & chip was nice too as the batter was crispy. The fries though was a little soggy. Ambience and vibe overall was good.

I had the hand made sausage and it was Awesome!!! The casing was tender and the sausage was really delicious. They served it with sautéed onions and a tomato jam that rocked!!! If your a sausage fan I definitely recommend this dish.

great place for drinks with a view! both here and the bar up the stairs are great. their cocktails are not really well mixed, but if you order the right thing (think scotch on rocks, or simple mixers) then it’s great.
dat view!

New bar in town for after work drinks. I think we know the drill with these joints so I’ll just note down the surprising elements:
— Very classy, mod «cigar room» feel to the décor. The furniture in the bar area is set up to be like a lounge so much so that there’s actually too much empty space! I never thought I’d say that in Singapore but going by the groups of people standing in bits and bobs around the room because they couldn’t a table (not even a standing one), I think C&B could make a lot more money by filling up said space.
— The view, though slightly blocked by the high terrace walls, is stunning. 1-​Alt, Zaff, Lvl 33 and KDT, make some room…
— There’s something very relaxing about sitting outdoors, cold pint in hand, watching ships parked on the bay. It’s so breezy that even though I was surrounded by smokers (gross), I didn’t get smoked out.
— Fried calamari is very, very good. Sea salt, fried crisp, skip the dip. Same can’t be said about the fried soft shell crab with wedges = fail pub grub.
— There’s a pretty energetic vibe indoors, with a little bit of the hey who’s at the next table air but not too much to be pretentious. Then again, that could be me with slight beer goggles on the way to the bathroom. Oh and I think they serve free finger food inside.
Not so important and maybe negative bits:
— Cocktails are weak as heck. Friend had a whiskey sour that tasted like lemonade (??)
— Usual CBD prices and given that alcohol tax is going to be 25% higher, doesn’t make this joint any easier on the wallet. I did find the beer selection affordable and diverse and will stick to that. I attended a work related event here 2 month’s ago, which means this is on the sell side radar/​price point (see my review of Lucho Luca for what this entails).
— If you come early, you can get a seat without much fuss. They also take reservations. However, if you just roll on in with everyone else craving a beer at 7pm, it gets full really quick and we saw people literally standing in little circles with their bags on the shoulder/​floor. I would just turn round, head downstairs to one of the other bars.
To conclude, refreshing new bar in the vicinity. Would come by again but not shouting over the rooftops about it. They should hire a new cocktail dude pronto. Oh and the servers, though a little stressed at times, were quite on the ball and efficient. Props!