Botak Jones: Not for the weak-hearted

When half the country has been raving about a place, you don't just sit at home and think about it. At least make a trip down once to try the food, even if finding 1 branch (out of 5) that is located near the east is harder than striking lottery. Yup, the five branches of Botak Jones are at Tuas, AMK, Toa Payoh, Depot Lane and Clementi. The new branch that just opened at Depot Lane two months ago made things better, since two of us are working around Redhill/Queenstown area. The dinner crowd at the Depot branch is relatively slow, one of the guys at Botak tells us, so it's good to visit the Depot one for dinner. Avoid AMK and Clementi at all costs, or subject to waiting for 1hr for your food to arrive. That's easy for me, I wouldn't have been able to make my way to those two branches even if u had given me a map.

So when we arrived, we were handed a yellow menu (which can be found on their webbie) with lotsa descriptions of the food. Alvin found it a tad confusing, and suggested that they should add pictures to the menu. But the guy told us that the lack of pictures actually tied in with them not wanting customers to have visual images of the food b4 they try it, as it might change their expectations (cuz signboards usually display gorgeous photos that sometimes turn out quite differently from what is in front of you). As such, they will be able to over-deliver. Actually, they do have pictures - on their website. And with so much talk about Botak Jones, i'm sure ppl have high standards for the place, even without pictures on the menu. We did. And we were not let down. But it was not all a bed of roses. I ordered the fish and chips, Daniel had the cajun chicken, Alvin ordered the rosemary lamb chop and we had a triple cheese beef burger to share.

Before the food is served, you'll be given a whole range of condiments. We loved the selection - there was mustard, horseradish, chilli sauce, tomato ketchup, malt vinegar and hp sauce (the last two are our favs, although i cant figure out what hp stands for). First up was the fish and chips. I ordered the regular ($6), which consisted of two pieces of fish (don't go expecting 2 pcs, they actually go by the weight), a whole lot of their mmm-melicious seasoned fries, huge serving of coleslaw and homemade tartar sauce. Portion is quite big, so i was wondering what their large ($10) would look like. The fries are addictive i tell u..amazing seasoning with the right amount of salt and spice. Dip them in malt vinegar to enjoy fish and chips in true London fashion. The coleslaw was pleasantly creamy and easy to down. There was only cabbage in it, no carrots, so it lacked the crunchy bite. But i liked it, cuz you kinda eat it without realising you're eating it - note to self: that's bad for the calorie intake. I enjoyed their tartar sauce. It's different from your filet-o-fish types with the pickles, and there is only a very subtle tinge of vinegar. It was time to try the fish. First bite resulted in total disappointment. I could pick up a filet from the supermarket and fry it myself. No needa comment on the freshness, 'fresh' is hardly associated with frozen fish. I don't know why i read so many raving comments about the fish & chips. What was everyone thinking? Have u not eaten fish and chips b4? Good fish and chips should be made with a thicker, fluffier fresh dory fried in batter that evokes a buttery yet crispy sensation. I ended up just dipping the fish into malt vinegar and hp sauce to improve the taste. The pictures look good though (click to see larger view) - as the Cantonese may say "ho tai m ho sek" or the Hokkien "hor kua bor hor jia". I think i totally got both the sayings wrong, not a very dialect person..haha..but you noe what i mean. Anw the guy looked quite scared when he saw me taking pictures of the food - he thought i was a reporter...
Next up was Alvin's rosemary lamb chop, cooked to a nice medium. he opted for the 300gm order, which came up to $14.50, definitely reasonable for lamb. The 200gm portion costs $11, and i think that would result in two pieces of lamb chop. Same generous serving of fries and coleslaw (comes with every plate set). The lamb chop was covered in mushroom gravy and on the side, mint sauce was included which i felt was rather special because sometimes even at restaurants they dont provide mint sauce. The lamb was very tasty, and cooked to a nice heat. I loved that you could taste the lovely char-grilled flavor of the lamb. It was a little tough to cut, but wonderful to chew on. Lamb goes really well with mint - perhaps if mint leaves were added during the grilling the taste would be even better.

The cajun chicken ($7.50 for regular, $12.50 for large) i thought was not too bad. It is grilled with mozerella cheese and topped with their own spicy cajun sauce. Definitely one of the better and higher quality grilled chicken breasts (if they used the chicken thigh it would have tasted more tender, but will def cost more) you can find in a coffee shop setting. The sauce is very special, but i felt that it was not spicy and generous enough. And the cheese tends to coagulate after awhile, so it loses the nice melt kinda feeling. But overall, it's not sth you will regret ordering.



Another Botak Jones guy came to our table to check our receipt and see if we had anything else that was not served. Throughout the meal, they constantly came over to ask how the food was, if we were enjoying it, etc. True American Style. thumbs up for the service at Botak Jones. He saw that we still had a triple burger on the line, then he looked at us and asked "are you guys that hungry?" I told him that we came all the way from the east to try the food so no choice, must order everything. And how can we miss out on the star of the show? Actually, we asked them and they feel that their steak is the best on the menu. I think Daniel was hitting himself on the head cuz he actually wanted to go for the steak. Maybe next time. Prices for the steak are definitely steeper, but still value for money. Anw he was v happy that easterners came all the way to Depot, plus he is an eastie himself, so he said "like that i must give you a slice of cake". Alritttee! I know Botak Jones only serves cheesecake, and I've been cravin for cheesecake for sometime now. So what better dessert can I ask for? ;) Another thumb up (i'm running out of thumbs -__-) for the good service.

At this point, i must say that the food arrived pretty quickly cuz I asked the counter guy how long we had to wait and he said 15min. But my fish & chips came in about 1/2 the time. Finally, our triple burger (known as U-CRAZY-WHAT?! on the menu - $12 for the set) arrived. Yea man, really crazy. It's not manageable for one person for sure, so good thing we shared. Anw, just to note, the beef patties do not come wrapped in cheese like you see in their website. You have to add-on cheddar cheese (2 slices at $1 for each patty) or other add-ons like garlic sauteed shitake mushrooms and bacon (the whole list is in the menu) if you want. I suggested to the guy that they should add a portobello mushroom on their single Botak burger as a fixed ingredient..hopefully we'll see it soon. The juice of the mushroom will marinate the beef very well. Maybe next time i'll try the single Botak with the mushrooms, cheese, onions, bacon and a fried egg. ;) When i asked the guys if they wanted cheese, they looked at me as if i was crazy. "YA LA!" was their reaction... ....so anw I took the top patty (couldn't wait any longer) which was beautifully coated in cheddar. The first bite was absolute bliss. It was sensational. We all had the same reaction with the first bite. Alvin decided that Botak Jones is so much better for the red meat than the white. Not the best burger around (have you tried Aston's?), but good enough. Its one of the better ones (although i thought they should have grilled the bun..it was quite soggy..but then again with the triple deck u hardly have any room left for the bun - with the single patty the bun should def be grilled with a little butter), and you dont get such hand-made burgers in Singapore readily. Each patty is a generous 150gm of handformed beef. With melted cheddar on top, you cant really go wrong with such a combination. Yes, heaven DOES exist.
Last but not least, we had to try the complimentary cheesecake (priced at $4/slice). He gave us a slice of chocolate cheesecake to share and I couldn't stop man. 1/4 way through, Alvin gave up. But I was still going strong. So bloated yet so uncontrollable. I felt that the cheese flavor was not strong enough, but the chocolate was just right. Not too sweet nor bitter. The crust at the bottom i really liked. But try to share, as it tends to get a little dry. All in all a great end to the meal.
So should you try this place? DEFINITELY, but leave the fish and chips out. It's still their most popular item on the menu, so maybe if you visit a different branch, you might wanna 'not listen to my advice'. But easties, dun count on them locating in the East just yet. At least not this year. The boss (Jones) actually had (and still has i think) restaurants opened in the East b4 Botak Jones, so the easterners alr know what the food is like. Thus he wants to venture to other parts of the island. The next branch that is opening soon will be at Woodlands... (why? tell me why??). So, if you wanna try the food, choose toa payoh (opened everyday of the week) or depot lane. We also found out that the toa payoh branch (located near SPH) comes with their own bar. Dang, should have gone to that one. The food would have been nice with a beer, if we weren't so full. The meal was very satisfying albeit the fish fiasco, so much so that i'm still full this morning.

Blk 118 Depot Lane
#01-02 Stall 10
Singapore 109754
Phone / Fax: 6272-3-225
Tuesday - Sunday 11:00 am-10:00 pm
Closed on Mondays
http://www.botakjones.com/

P.S.: Been trying alot of food this week and blogging quite regularly, so my health plan and exercise regime has been put on hold cuz i usually end up too full at night to run *shakes head*. All plans will resume tonight - 7km brisk walk/run and 3hrs gym each on sat & sun. But i doubt that my regular 6hours weekend gym routine is enough to get all that Botak Jones goodness off me. Argh.. the contradictions in life..the trials and tribulations that we hafta face.. detox here i come..