Cuisine: Russian / Chinese
Address: 545 Orchard Road #06-19 Far East Shopping Centre Singapore (238883)
Nearest MRT: Orchard Station (North-South line)

Shashlik refers to a dish of skewered and grilled cubes of meat, which is common in Russia and other parts of Central Asia. At Shashlik, it’s the comforting flavours that have kept customers returning over the years, starting with the pillowy dinner rolls and butter that greet you at the table, and following through to entrees like French Onion Soup, a meaty beef broth enriched with caramelized onions and a crusty cheese croute, or endearingly 60s appetizers like Egg Millionaire. There’s even Blinis & Caviar, served with sour cream, if you’re feeling especially indulgent before having your main course.

For over 30 years, Shashlik has been serving generations of diners with its Russian and Continental inspired cuisine, featuring time-honoured recipes by Hainanese chefs. The Russo-Hainanese heritage was born from the legendary Troika Restaurant in 1963, where Hainanese chefs first interpreted the timeless recipes of Russian Chef, Mamochka Liber. While there are indeed some Russian dishes on the menu, I would say that the typical Russian dish of dumplings – vareniki is definitely missing from the menu. The restaurant has an old-school decor which hasn’t seen newer days. It is not decorated in the style of a Soviet canteen with the propaganda posters as I had imagined. Instead there were some posters around the restaurant about Russian culture and featuring some of their popular dishes.

For appetizers, we ordered the French onion soup ($8) and the Borshch ($10). The former is a consommé of beef and herb-sautéed onions, while the latter is a hearty classic Russian broth with Angus beef brisket, slow cooked to perfection. For the French onion soup, you can even top up $2 to add a dash of Brandy on the side.

The Borshch soup is freshly made using beetroot, angus beef, bay leaves, onion, cabbage, celery and beetroot. It was simmered overnight so the taste of the soup is very rich. The waitress added a dollop of sour cream by the side, which is stirred in and eaten with the soup.

After having the soup, we were served the other appetizers. The Egg Millionaire ($18) is made up of chopped boiled egg, bacon bits, and parmesan gratin served in little egg cups. We were fascinated with the little egg cups, and how the shell did not crack at all.

The Stuffed Portobello Mushroom ($18) was also good for sharing. It was made of gratin portobello mushroom stuffed with minced chicken and served with a milk sauce. The mushrooms were bursting with flavour and its juiciness leaked out with every bite.

There’s the classic Shashlik of Beef, juicy tenderloin rich with the flavours of a 24-hour marinade, as well as pork, chicken, and lamb. If you like your meat cooked more conventionally, there’s also grilled steaks. But one of our favourite ways of eating meat here is in one of Shashlik’s classic old-world stews: hearty, rustic Oxtail Stew and creamy Beef Stroganoff, perfect with some crusty bread or rice, and a heart full of nostalgia. However, we went with other main courses instead.

Since there were 5 of us sharing, we chose the Ribeye steak ($45) for 300g. It was medium done and we chose the pepper sauce as accompaniment. The steak was pretty normal, and some parts of the steak were too well done. Looking at the thick slab of meat, I would think it is quite hard to ensure that it is evenly cooked or that it can achieve the same texture throughout.

Under the roasts and chops section, we also ordered a Crusted rack of Lamb ($68) which took at least 30 minutes to prepare. The roasted lamb rack marinated with herbs, served with roasted sweet corn, bell peppers and cherry tomatoes. It was my favourite meat dish of the night because the lamb meat was tender and full of flavour.

Lastly, we had a full slab of Blue Fire Ribs ($40). Fall-off-the-bone pork loin ribs, glazed with Ah Kor’s Hainanese Sweet & Sour sauce, flambéed with dark rum at tableside. As you can see, the ribs are slightly on fire with a blue flame and this left the surface of the ribs with a slightly charred texture. While this is definitely not a sauce made in Russian style, the ribs were easy to eat and fell off the rib without much effort. The exciting thing was watching the waitress pour the flambeed rum over the meat, setting it on fire.

Last but not least, for dessert: Baked Alaska (regular size at $28, which serves up to 4 pax), no question. It is a wellington of ice cream and sponge cake, covered with meringue, flambéed with dark rum. Again, we had fun watching them pour the rum over the cake and setting it on fire. However, some parts of the meringue were too burnt and some people may not like the taste. The ice cream cake was good and as the rum had evaporated, there was not much of an alcohol taste.

The food here may seem a little too quaint for the 21st century, but really that’s part of the charm, and a rapidly disappearing one at that. So book a table while you can! They are especially packed during weekends, so it is better to book in advance. Take note that if you are looking for authentic Russian cuisine, this restaurant probably only lives up to half of its name. Do check out Dumplings.ru which is a proper Russian restaurant that I have been to in Singapore.