The Burning Oak

The Burning Oak
348 Bedok Road
#02-16 Simpang Bedok Market Place

http://www.theburningoak.sg/

Skewers - Cherry Tomato, Quail Eggs, Chicken Meatball (Tsukune), Chicken Thigh (Negima), Pork Shoulder, Beef Short Rib (SGD $15.20)

Charcoal Grilled, Gourmet Yakitori

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 7
Ambience & Setting: 6
Food & Beverage: 8
Service: 6
Value for Money: 8
Spent about SGD $15 per person.


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A passion for Japanese cuisine and quality grilled meat led Chef Jeremy Han to open The Burning Oak in March 2015, as part of the revamped Simpang Bedok Market Place. Specialising in premium Japanese style kushiyaki (known to some as yakitori), or grilled skewers, The Burning Oak uses Binchotan / Japanese charcoal to grill all their skewers. This use of this high quality charcoal made from Japanese oak wood, results in skewers with an even caramelized browning on the outside, while the inside remains moist and succulent.

Ambience at The Burning Oak is similar to the rest of the stalls here, on account of the shared casual seating, and clean, bright atmosphere. The stall itself is decked in an understated black, with clean, straight lines. The open kitchen allows one to watch Chef Jeremy Han working the sous vide machine, or grilling skewers over the charcoal grill while flames leap from time to time. You can also sit at the high bar stools which are available in front of the stall.

Service at The Burning Oak is completely self-service, with ordering, payment, and collection of orders done over the counter. A buzzer is provided to alert you when your order is ready. Waiting time for order fulfillment is pretty short, about 10 minutes or so, considering that everything is grilled to order!

Food at The Burning Oak is Japanese style grilled items, mostly meat (chicken, beef, pork), along with several vegetables items. I find quality and taste of items to generally be excellent, each individual skewer is grilled to order, and contains good flavour on its own. You can taste the smoky flavour imparted by the flames, yet without any burnt parts! Portions are sized for individuals, and prices are affordable, budget about SGD $10 per person for a meal here.

Beginning today (5th January 2016), Chef Jeremy Han is expanding his menu! Over the next few weeks, he'll be introducing new items into his menu, gradually changing The Burning Oak from a pure kushiyaki stall, to a sharing platter concept stall. He's still retaining all the items on his old menu though, which is good news!


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The Burning Oak Facade

The Burning Oak Menu

Of the vegetable items, the Cherry Tomato Skewer features juicy cherry tomatoes, which burst with sweet, fruity flavour in the mouth. It has a hint of smoky aroma, and pairs well with the savoury meat items. The Quail Eggs Skewer is decent, with a slight sweetness from the teriyaki sauce glaze, and a eggy, earthy taste, but is ultimately the most unremarkable skewer offered here.

Of the meat items, the Chicken Thigh (Negima) Skewer features savoury, tender, moist chunks of chicken thigh, alongside crunchy leeks. The Pork Shoulder Skewer has a thick yet moist cut of pork shoulder, savoury and sweet, with a good amount of fat, and a beautiful smoky caramelisation. With the Beef Short Rib Skewer, you get a thick yet tender and moist beef short rib, marinated / sous vide for 72 hours along with red wine, until the meat tastes sweet, savoury, and earthy, with a slight hint of tannin!

The Chicken Meatball (Tsukune) Skewer has tightly packed, chicken meatballs that are juicy within, with an intense savoury salty flavour that is rather pleasing. Overall, the skewers were all well executed, incredibly tasty, and very satisfiying. Total price for all these skewers is SGD $15.20. Highly recommended!

Skewers - Cherry Tomato, Quail Eggs, Chicken Meatball (Tsukune), Chicken Thigh (Negima), Pork Shoulder, Beef Short Rib (SGD $15.20)

Skewers - Cherry Tomato, Quail Eggs, Chicken Meatball (Tsukune), Chicken Thigh (Negima), Pork Shoulder, Beef Short Rib

Starting today (5th January 2016), a new menu is being rolled out! Among the changes; their bento sets are now available for both lunch and dinner (previously only available at lunch), and they have new options of bento sets as well, like this Bento Set Wagyu Beef Rump Cap & Iberico Pork Cheeks (SGD $15). A combination of their 2 most popular grilled meat items, the bento set comes with sticky Japanese rice as its base, garnished with a soft boiled egg, pickled daikon radish, and pickled ginger. The accompanying miso soup is too thin in texture, and forgettable in taste. But the egg mixes wonderfully with the rice and grilled meats, and overall, this bento set is both tasty and value for money!

Bento Set Wagyu Beef Rump Cap & Iberico Pork Cheeks (SGD $15)

Bento Set Wagyu Beef Rump Cap & Iberico Pork Cheeks

Bento Set Wagyu Beef Rump Cap & Iberico Pork Cheeks

Iberico Pork Cheeks

Wagyu Beef Rump Cap

The savoury sweet with a slight gamey taste Iberico Pork Cheeks Plate (SGD $12) are slow cooked for 10 hours, resulting in one of the most tender pieces of pork I've ever eaten! To say it's fork tender and falls apart is an understatement, this beautifully grilled meat just sort of melts away in the mouth. Excellent!

The savoury and juicy Wagyu Beef Rump Cap Plate (SGD $13) is graded 4 / 5 for marbling, perfectly grilled to a medium pink doneness, with a medium tender texture that has a slight chew. Flavour of the beef is pronounced, but it's not as intensely beefy or meaty in taste, compared to other higher quality cuts elsewhere. For this price though, it's great!

Iberico Pork Cheeks Plate (SGD $12)

Iberico Pork Cheeks Plate

Wagyu Beef Rump Cap Plate (SGD $13)

Wagyu Beef Rump Cap Plate

The Le Foie Gyu (SGD $20) is a decadent donburi / rice bowl. Features a base of fluffy soft Japanese white rice, topped with tender slices of moist, savoury wagyu beef strips, sour sharp pickled ginger, thick slices of sweet sour pickled daikon radish, a runny soft boiled egg, and a thick slab of creamy, oily, savoury salty foie gras. Finished with fresh spring onions and fruikake, this luxurious bowl is rich in flavour and feels like a reward.

Le Foie Gyu (SGD $20)

Le Foie Gyu

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Update Aug-2021: More than 5 years on, and The Burning Oak is still doing well. They're one of the few remaining original stalls at Simpang Bedok Market Place, with most of the other stalls having changed hands several times through the years. Even despite the COVID-19 pandemic, The Burning Oak is still drawing in queues daily. The ambience remains shared casual, the service is still self-service and friendly, and the food quality is still excellent, grilled with care. Prices remain about the same too. However, the menu options are vastly different, gone are the skewers, they now focus on rice bowls instead.

The Wagyu Beef Rump Cap & Iberico Pork Cheeks Rice Bowl (SGD $17.10) still features the 10-hour slow cooked tender succulent juicy Iberico pork cheeks with enticing smoky sweet savoury salty flavour, and the perfectly grilled to medium doneness Wagyu beef rump cap with a juicy tender chew and bold smoky meaty savoury salty flavour. The base of fluffy sticky Japanese white rice with grainy sweet flavour, wobbly soft onsen egg with flowy golden yolk and lovely eggy sweet flavour, and crunchy pickled daikon radish with sharp vegetal sour sweet flavour completes. Served with a side of miso soup with bold earthy savoury flavour. Highly recommended!

Wagyu Beef Rump Cap & Iberico Pork Cheeks Rice Bowl (SGD $17.10)

Wagyu Beef Rump Cap & Iberico Pork Cheeks Rice Bowl

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