Lawry's

prime rib (diamond jim brady cut) - 8.5/10

i went to lawry's one day for lunch at paragon with the parents. i've been wanting to try lawry's for quite some time and compare it to morton's. since two of the supposedly best steakhouses in sg are morton's and lawry's, i naturally wanted to see which i prefered.

we came into the restaurant on a sunday afternoon. we were walking around paragon and decided to get something to eat. lawry's is conveniently located in paragon, so it was a pretty easy to just walk to the second floor to eat. brian and i both ordered the diamond jim brady cut, which was the largest cut at about 500g if i'm not mistaken. prices for the prime rib ranged from $79 to $99, which is about the same as morton's. however, the prime rib dinner at lawry's includes the famous original spinning bowl salad, yorkshire pudding, and idaho mashed potatoes, along with whipped cream horseradish to go with it. therefore, in that sense, its cheaper than morton's because morton's doesn't come with any sides, and each side can cost $15-20, which is incredibly expensive.

once you order your prime rib (otherwise why else would you be at lawry's), they'll serve you the spinning bowl salad. the waitress comes to your table with a big glass bowl with salad, then she spins the bowl around and then pours all sorts of sauces and spices inside. its pretty cool to watch. then she serves you the salad on individual plates. verdict: honestly, the salad is way overrated. i've had much better salads in my lifetime, although i must say the performance was rather captivating. after you're done with your salad, they push a giant covered cart to your table. the waitperson then flips open the lid to reveal a giant slab of prime rib. he'll then slice you a chunk according to how much you ordered. if you prefer it slightly more done he has a really hot pot of au jus to further "cook" it in. he'll then dump some mashed potatoes on your plate and drizzle everything with gravy. another waitress will come around the table simultaneously, serving you your yorkshire pudding (pictured far back on the left).

i bit into yorkshire pudding that was damp with gravy. mmmm.. absolutely marvelous. its soft and tender, a puffy and golden little pudding that goes perfectly with the steak. best part, you get an unlimited amount of it. i had quite a few. the mash was pretty good. not spectacular, but not bad. above average is all i can say. the steak is good, but thats only if you like huge chunks of prime rib. otherwise the jim brady cut may be wayy too big for anyone, even me. i think its a much better idea to ask them to divide your order up into smaller slices, instead of one huge chunk of meat. i heard they'll gladly do that for you. the meat is very soft and tender, easily recognized from the hours of marinating and cooking. medium rare might be a little too red for most, so unless you truly are a badass carnivore, you might want to stick to medium or medium well. we had a side of creamed spinach as well, which was nowhere near excellent. after having the one at morton's you won't touch the creamed spinach anywhere else. the cheese fries, on the other hand, wasn't too bad. but then again i'm not really a fries kinda guy. my dad, who is the self proclaimed fries expert, says the fries were downright lousy. but he does know his fries. so i wouldn't really doubt him.

now, onto the comparison. lawry's steak is very soft and wet all around. to me, it gets a little boring after awhile. its like munching on a salty wet chunk of meat. the initial 300g or so is ok, but after that, taste runs abit flat. morton's, on the other hand, is different. the reason why i prefer morton's is because they can do your steak cowboy style, meaning after they cut that giant slab, they put it on the hot grill for you until the outside becomes slightly charred. this makes the slightly burnt outside super tasty (because of all the juices), especially when you eat it with the soft and tender inner flesh. therefore the result to me is much more satisfying. brian however, much prefers lawry's. he said that he doesn't like the burnt stuff at morton's as much. but i'd rather go to morton's. they have great creamed spinach, plus they have the most fantastic morton's famous chocolate cake, which is to die for. so i guess you'll just have to try them both out and decide for yourself.

you can find the menu here:

http://www.lawrys.com.sg/acdinner.asp?location=menu