Ranch Steakhouse by Astons – New restaurant by Astons go upmarket in Clarke Quay

Affordable steakhouse Astons has come a long way since its humble beginnings in 2005 from a coffeeshop along East Coast Road. The Ranch Steakhouse by Astons in Clarke Quay is a beautiful restaurant. It seems like the start of a new line of luxurious offerings from Astons. The launch of Lexus LS 400 separating the brand from the humble Toyota Corolla comes to mind.  At our lunch at The Ranch Steakhouse,  most of the right boxes were ticked and one particular aspect of the restaurant stood out.

The Ranch Steakhouse by Astons looks the part. It has all the outward qualities associated with a serious steakhouse. A dim, serious atmosphere. Large chillers for dry aging beef. Heavy wood and leather furniture. Big shelves laden with bottles of wine. It looks very different from other Astons restaurants that we have been to. Read for example – Andes by Astons – new steakhouse in Joo Chiat.

But the thing that most impressed us the most was the service. The two servers at our table – a young lady and the gentleman serving the meat were two of the most pleasant and helpful people we have met in recent restaurant visits.

The Ranch Steakhouse by Astons

Here are pictures of the Ranch Steakhouse by Astons menu and the drinks menu.  We tried two types of ribeye steaks for comparison, a burger and some other items.

First impressions were good – the nice welcome and then this nicely presented basket of warm bread.

The crab cake ($18) and the lobster bisque ($16). The crab cake was excellent with good tasting crab meat packed into a burger pattie sized portion. The lobster bisque was not bad but would have been better with a less starchy texture and a deeper seafood taste.

The Ranch Burger ($28) was very good. The minced beef, sauteed mushrooms and onions combined very well. The cornmeal bun was better than the typical burger bun.

Now we move to the main event at The Ranch Steakhouse by Astons – the steaks. We ordered two kinds of ribeye for comparison. The Australian 240 Days Grain-Fed  Black Angus Ribeye ($49) was a seriously flavourful piece of beef.  The price was higher than what we are used to for Astons restaurants. But we think it is good value in Singapore for 350g of beef of this quality.

A side order of asparagus ($8) provided a break from the meat.

The highlight at The Ranch was the Signature USDA Prime 30 days dry aged beef. They were sold by weight. We decided on the Bone-In Ribeye ($18 per 100g). Our piece of meat was 577g ($104). The meat made its grand entrance in a wagon wheeled in by the server. The meat was separated from the bones and cut into manageable sizes. We were glad that the bone content was low and we were paying mostly for edible meat.

In terms of flavour, we thought that there was no clear winner as both had very good flavours. What was better about the dry aged beef was its texture. The aging had softened the meat. The texture was smoother and less fibrous. Perhaps the easy chewing made it a more enjoyable dish.

The coffee ($5 each) at The Ranch Steakhouse was good. All in all, the new restaurant in the Astons chain of steak restaurants performed above our expectations.

Good beef and red wine is a classic food combination. Of course The Ranch offers a good range of wines on their wine list.  We were glad to see that they have BYOB days on Tuesdays and Sundays when no corkage fee is charged. We arrived unprepared but made our way to the Medi-ya supermarket in the next block to find a bottle of suitable wine. We decided on a cheap and cheerful Cotes du Rhone 2014 by E.Guigal. This is what jancisrobinson.com says about this wine: “What did you get for Christmas? Hungover? Argumentative? Hysterical? Then you need something guaranteed to put things right, to give you the bottled equivalent of a nice warm cuddle, and Guigal’s red Côtes du Rhône does exactly that. It’s the Holy Trinity of wine: crowd-pleasing, widely available and superb value. “

Ratings:
Food: 4
Service: 5
Value: 4
Atmosphere: 4
Overall Rating: 4 TOPs 

The Ranch Steakhouse by Astons
Clarke Quay, Block B, #01-15
(Near Clarke Quay Taxi Stand)
3 River Valley Road
Singapore 179021

Tel:  +65 6256 0334

Opening Hours:
Lunch: 12:00PM – 3:00PM(Last Order: 2:00PM)

Dinner
Sunday to Thursday: 5:00PM – 12:00AM (Last Food Order: 10:00PM)
Friday & Saturday: 5:00PM – 12:00AM (Last Food Order: 11:00PM)

Nearby MRT Stations: Fort Canning, Clarke Quay

Website

The Ordinary Patrons | Real Dining Experience of Ordinary People
an independent Singapore food blog