Shashlik

This pseudo-​Russian restaurant has been around for 29 years. I’d been here before once but since it’s closing at the end of November I decided to swing by again twice.
Why do I call this place pseudo-​Russian?
Simply, it dates from the era where Hainanese-​style Western Food was widely accepted as an accurate representation of «Western» food. So you have many items that seem Russian at first glance but are really (presumably) a Hainanese’s idea of what Russian food would be. On my first visit, I’d judged that maybe 5% of the menu seemed Russian. There are dishes such as steak a la russe (which just seems to be steak with mushroom sauce), shrimp cocktail (an Anglo dish) and Chicken a La King (another Anglo dish).
For the bread we got one roll each. Except that these weren’t even the mini imitation baguette kind of roll but rather a totally soft, slightly glazed and sweet Chinese-​style soft bread. Served with SCS butter.
The Borscht soup was one of the highlights of this place. I’ve had red borscht whose colour came from beetroot. I’ve had pink Lithuanian borscht. Hell, I’ve even had the Hong Kong borscht which lacks beetroot but is at least red. This was a dark brown colour, which research reveals does not seem to correspond to any known borscht variant. That said there was a robust beef taste, and there was a large piece of beef and another of potato, as well as chunks of green pepper in it, with a generous dollop of sour cream.
The onion soup is really good — rich, strong and oniony. But the bread on top had the diameter of the Communion host. And was not much thicker to boot. It was like a token piece of toast with some powder.
The egg millionaire was not very nice (egg and bacon). And I was apprehensive about eating it because it was served in eggshells. The eggshells had a similar colour to the bacon, and I saw fragments of eggshell about to come out on the edges. Luckily I didn’t eat any. I think. It was served on tomato, cucumber and shredded pickles, which looked really sad (though the pickles were not bad — crunchy and a little sweet)
They had mushrooms stuffed with smetana. The mushrooms were topped with a rather dry minced meat and were served with a creamy sauce. However they lacked flavour, and even the sauce didn’t help much.
I’ve also tried the beef and pork shashliks. They were reasonable cuts of meat served on a hot plate and wasn’t bad, being quite juicy. However all the pictures of Russian shashlik I can find online show chunks of meat on a skewer — as opposed to the long pieces of meat I saw (it comes on a skewer but is slid off it before serving).
The shashlik was served with «Russian salad». Which turned out to be slices of boiled egg, tomato, cucumber and onion, with small scoops of pickles and potato salad. All these ingredients were separate instead of being mixed together as a salad.
Pozharsky chicken was interesting — pan-​fried chicken with a sour butter sauce. It was only slightly warm and not very crispy. We waited a while so perhaps they forgot about it for a while. The wedges it was served with were not freshly fried also.
There was also mushroom stroganoff which tasted okay. Nothing special, either way.
The steak a la russe was a normal steak with mushroom sauce. It was quite tender.
One aspect where Shashlik stands out is tableside service for some dishes, which is a nice novelty. We experienced this with our Cherry Jubilee: a waitress put butter in a saucepan, added in whipped cream and pitted cherries, and poured in liquor to light the pan. Everything was served with vanilla ais krim (cheap Malaysian-​style palm oil ice cream). Cheap ice cream aside this dish was actually pretty good — the rich butter complemented the cherries and their liquid well.
The second time I came the Baked Alaska was out (boo) so I had brandy butter pancakes, which was also prepared by the table. They were alright.
For the Borscht, the mushrooms, a pork shashlik, 2 mushroom stroganoffs, a steak a la russe and a Cherry Jubilee, I paid $ 174.20, which wasn’t cheap. Especially given that the portions were not big.
The restaurant was also rather hot, but the premises are quite old (and so is the shopping centre) so that is not unexpected. And the elevator music that played at night was irritating.
Basically, just come here for the nostalgia, table service or if you can’t stomach full blown Russian food. Or the desserts (there’s a reason the menu asks you to order a main course and not just have soup and desserts). If you want real Russian food, go to Buyan at Duxton Hill. Though of course it is even more expensive.

No, just no. Borsh was ok, though not as flavored as the «authentic» one. And I’m not pretentious about food usually. I would have expected some Russian clients, as is common in good Russian restaurants, but here it was 100% asian, apart my table. The food was ok, but just not Russian. The service though was surprisingly Russian at times (when you are treated with the «sufficiency» only Russian waiters can show you).

I think my favorite food from this place is the Borscht soup with a generous dollop of cream and warm soft sweet bun slathered with SCS butter.
The steak is really average and the rest of the food is about the same. Stuck in the era where Western food was not common and eating it would be a treat. I like the place for its nostalgic feel and the fact that the servers are seniors (read in the papers many years back that some have shares or co-​own the restaurant) and there is a bit of family feel to the place. It is similar to The Ship, two of the last surviving mid-​priced Western restaurants which are still around. The service is no fuss and quick, they are nice «aunties and uncles».
It is also the only or one of the few places which actually still serve Baked Alaska. Peach Melba is also available. None of your fancy common dessert like salted caramel anything or lava cake is sold here.
I have heard Oxtail stew is served on Wednesday and that is usually when you will want to make reservations as it gets crowded.
There is a weekday lunch set menu for $ 12++. A simple one with soup, main (only 2 types to choose from) and dessert and coffee/​tea. You can change to sirloin steak and Borscht soup with cash top-​up for $ 2 and $ 1 respectively.
For a piece of history and a serving of nostalgia, dine at Shashlik and keep it alive for more years to come.

Located hidden up on one of the top floors of the far east plaza… after you take the zig zagging escalators up… this where the second and third generation of locals go for a hit and miss special steak — most steak houses offer a tender aged piece of beef while Shaslik tends to offer you a steak that in some ways seemed like it was aged in some sections of the steak (I think a little gristle won’t hurt you but some like the chewy center of a cheaper cut of steak to chew on) — like maybe its from a cow with a few tough spots in it. Not bad steak but sometimes hit and miss depending on the cut you get. Some like the chewy portions that run through the steaks sometimes like the Singapore river… but i prefer the entire steak being tender without the chewy river portion…
A part of history in Singapore as generations of locals continue to keep this place alive as it serve the steak with just the right amount of fat marbling and that sometimes chewy piece in the center of it… and the borsch… and the oxtail soup…
Total old school steak house… just the age of the waiters and the ambiance will transport you back in time on this one. Where in Singapore can you get baked Alaska or a dessert still flam bayed table side by an uncle that’s probably older than your uncles.
But all good — a little musky smelling at first but i guess that is part of the history. Service is a little iffy as I guess some of the waiters and waitresses might have not had their afternoon naps… but it is still worth the visit for the history and nostalgia.

Still serves the best oxtail stew on Wednesdays… my mom took me to this restaurant when I was a kid… somehow they moved and by chance I rediscovered the restaurant at Far East shopping after 25 years. Its like meeting an old long lost friend.

A blast from the past. Old fashioned restaurant.
My mom used to take me here when she wanted to give me a treat. I just went along but I think I woudl have much rather get a ninja turtle figure. Hahaha!
The star on the menu for me, is the Ox tail stew. That’s what I keep going back for as an adult. Ox tail soup, in and out… easy stuff. Do call and check if they are serving the dish on the day… It’s not available daily!
Not the best of places to celebrate a birthday, my friends and I had a bad experience celebrating a birthday. It was a friday night and they were packed. Long story short, service was super slow, food took more than an hour to arive and the birthday cake went missing.
Still, I go back now and again for the ox tail soup but at non peak days and hours.

A visit to Shaslik will make you feel as though you’ve gone back in time to the good ol’ days when food was food and not a Picasso piece.
One of its most charming elements that draws its customers back is the fact that it maintains a very elderly service crew, which for one makes you very reluctant to complain (should you have any), and also makes you feel good for basically supporting and encouraging elderly in the work force — a very odd plus point I guess. Don’t expect great service — I’ve often found them to be fairly slow and curt, but I guess that this, coupled with the fairly dark ambience of the place makes the whole experience just that bit more Russian.
Moving on to the food: I think most would feel compelled to order the Beef Shashlik, and why not? It is after all their signature dish, and it just about delivers. It is served on a hot plate, so for those who tend to order their beef medium-​well, you may want to adjust to take into account the fact that the beef will carry on cooking for a bit even after served. The beef is tender, though none of that melt-​in-​your-​mouthy goodness I was hoping for.
I have also had their Steal a la Russe, which is a beef steak with mushroom sauce. This was a little disappointing because it was nothing particularly special, and fairly overpriced for what was ultimately a pretty average piece of steak.
The jewel in the crown for me is their Baked Alaska, which is an absolute MUST to order here. The presentation will immediately win you over — a sizable Ayers Rock shaped cake SET ON FIRE. The meringue that on top will then burn and caramelise, and mixes so very well with the whole dessert. A good size for sharing between 2 – 4 people, depending on how hungry you still are after the meal.