Big Bern's American Grill

Big Bern's American Grill - Closed
~~978 Toa Payoh North #02-01~~

https://www.facebook.com/BigBernsAmericanGrill/

Philly Cheesesteak / Louisiana Po' boy With Cheese Baked Potato & Baked Beans (SGD $17.90)

The Return Of 'Botak Jones'

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 6
Ambience & Setting: 5
Food & Beverage: 6
Service: 6
Value for Money: 6
Spent about SGD $24 per person.

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Many of us would have fond memories of Botak Jones. In 2003, the husband & wife team of Bernard "Bernie" Allen Utchenik and Fauziah "Zee" founded the Botak Jones chain, offering hearty, tasty American style western food in heartland coffeeshops. At their height, they had 13 outlets across the island. However, a string of bad business decisions and disagreements with their partners and investors led to them exiting the business in 2012. After a short break to reflect and recover, the enterprising couple bounced back and opened Big Bern's American Grill in January 2014. They still serve hearty, tasty American food, but have decided to keep the operations small and controlled this time, in order to maintain quality.

Ambience at Big Bern's American Grill shares the atmosphere of the air-conditioned food court it's located in. The brightly lit place is clean and spacious, with modern functional benches. While they have handheld booklet menus, the stall facade has an appetizing display of photographs of their food. Because of it's out-of-the-way location, the place is usually quiet, except during lunch office hours on weekdays. The food court also has a television which screens the cable movie channels. Decent enough.

Service at Big Bern's American Grill is completely self-service, where you order, make payment, and collect your orders over the counter. Staff are friendly, and will greet you, as well as offer helpful recommendations if needed. Orders are typically fulfilled within 10 minutes, short waiting time. Clearing of empty / dirty tables is performed efficiently by the food court cleaners, who are also relatively friendly, and will engage you in casual conversation.

Food at Big Bern's American Grill is American cuisine / Western cuisine, featuring more of the same food that made their original brand famous. They're a no pork, no lard, majority muslim owned and operated kitchen. Generally, I find taste of their dishes to be slightly above average in taste, though heavy on sweet sour flavours. Portions are large and hearty, usually more than sufficient. Prices are relatively higher than elsewhere though. Budget about SGD $24 per person for a meal here.

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Big Bern's American Grill Facade

The drinks stall at this foodcourt sells beer. The Beer Hofbräu München Original (SGD $9.50) is brewed by Hofbräuhaus München in the city of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany. It has a clear, light golden colour, with aromas of corn, wheat, malt, and herbs. The body is crisp, medium creamy, and smooth, with good carbonation and a subtle metallic astringency. Tastes of bread, hops, toffee, and grass, with a bitter sweet flavour that has soft edges. Finish is short and dry.

The Beer Hofbräu München Hefe Weizen (SGD $9.50) is brewed by Hofbräuhaus München in the city of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany. It has a hazy golden orange colour, with aromas of malt, bread, banana, and lemons. The body is medium creamy, smooth, and well-rounded, with an even carbonation and a subtle metallic astringency. Tastes of cloves, honey, wheat, and vanilla, with a sweet fruity grainy flavour. Finish has notes of skunk and steel, short and dry.

Beer Hofbräu München Original (SGD $9.50)

Beer Hofbräu München Hefe Weizen (SGD $9.50)

The Philly Cheesesteak / Louisiana Po' boy With Cheese Baked Potato & Baked Beans (SGD $17.90) here is very good, though it differs from the traditional version found in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Of America. It's done Louisiana Po' boy style instead. The cheesesteak features thinly sliced strips of beef rump, marinated in a house secret blend of herbs and spices. Nicely grilled, it's generously piled on a crisp buttered baguette bread, along with sauteed onions, bell peppers / capsicum, and cheddar cheese. Finished with a house pepper mushroom gravy. Love the bold, robust, savoury sweet earthy flavours, completely satisfiying.

The sides are decent. The baked beans are warmed, having a thick earthy sweetness. The cheese baked potato resembles an American mac & cheese, the potato having a chunky gooey texture with a delicious cheesy savoury flavour. Overall, an above average dish. Good!

Philly Cheesesteak / Louisiana Po' boy With Cheese Baked Potato & Baked Beans (SGD $17.90)

Philly Cheesesteak / Louisiana Po' boy With Cheese Baked Potato & Baked Beans

Philly Cheesesteak / Louisiana Po' boy With Cheese Baked Potato & Baked Beans

The Grain-Fed Ribeye Steak With Garden Salad & Pasta Salad (SGD $28.90) was excellent. The large cut of beef ribeye is perfectly grilled with beautiful char marks. The meat is tender, moist, and easy to slice, having a fatty savoury salty flavour that is just beautiful. The garden salad features a medley of fresh, crunchy vegetables (tomatoes, cucumber, onions, black olives, cabbage, purple cabbage, spinach), which I enjoyed. However, I felt the pasta salad was rather one-note and unbalanced in taste, having a strong sour flavour.

Grain-Fed Ribeye Steak With Garden Salad & Pasta Salad (SGD $28.90)

Grain-Fed Ribeye Steak With Garden Salad & Pasta Salad

Grain-Fed Ribeye Steak With Garden Salad & Pasta Salad

Loved the giant sized, filling Double Beef Cheese Burger With Coleslaw & Cajun Fries (SGD $16.90). Only 100% beef meat is used, no binders or fillers. These thick, hand-formed beef meat patties are semi-tight / semi-loose but hold together well. Char-grilled till the meat takes on a nice smoky flavour, while still being juicy within, with a nice bouncy chew to texture, and having a savoury sweet flavour. Sandwiched with fresh slices of tomatoes, onions, and lettuce, along with gooey melted cheese, within 2 large, soft, fluffy burger buns. The coleslaw has a crunchy texture, with a sweet sour flavour, while the cajun fries are intensely spiced, having a fragrant savoury salty spicy flavour.