Steak on a Budget at Aston's Specialities (Changi T1)

Aston's is perhaps one of Singapore's most famous names in the business of making steak. Not because they're the best, but because they're (perhaps) the cheapest. I mean sure, you'd probably be able to get cheap meat in some random food court somewhere, but not in a nice, comfortable air-conditioned joint.


We're trying the Changi Airport T1 outlet. It's cool, nicely decorated, pleasant - and the service sucks. Both of us asked for warm water, but we were served only one glass. I mean, does it take a fine dining restaurant waitress to realize that two people should have two glasses?

Later on in the night we also asked for tomato ketchup from a different waiter ... which never arrived.

Anyhow, the Mushroom Soup (SGD3.50) was rather ... mediocre. All cream taste with just a few bits of mushroom floating around. To top it off, the starch wasn't even dissolved properly, with small lumps of it floating around.


The Lemon Lime Chicken (SGD6.50) tasted pretty good. Despite what the name says, that sauce is more of a plum sauce rather than lemon and/or lime. Coleslaw and Onion Rings were just "OK."


Each main course comes with a choice of two side dishes - there's about a dozen different ones to choose from. I ordered my Prime Rib Eye (SGD13.90) with garden greens and mashed potato, both of which were also just "OK."


The rib-eye itself, however, was atrocious. Is it too much to ask for some salt and pepper on the meat? It was also very chewy, and the thicker half of the steak was nowhere near the medium-rare that I ordered.

Don't take my word for it though ... see for yourself: would this qualify as medium rare?


Perhaps it was just an off day for the chef, but for a restaurant that specializes in steak, such a mistake is hardly acceptable. The only reason I didn't bother sending it back to the kitchen, was because it was so bland and tough anyways.

Having tried Aston's I still maintain that for steak on a budget, doing it yourself is still the way to go. You won't get the "charred" taste using a grill pan at home, but you'll be surprised how good it actually tastes.

Aston's is Non-Halal.