Shashlik Restaurant

Interesting menu. Russian food isn’t so common in Singapore but this has a distinctive local twist. My beef stroganoff came with chicken rice! Beef was very tender. The borscht was good too - my fave dish of the night. It’s a nice, quiet place to come to for dinner. I also enjoyed looking at the newspaper clippings and memorabilia mounted on the walls. This place has been around for a long time so the nostalgia factor is high. The service staff add to the nostalgia. Very friendly and attentive aunties who genuinely seem to enjoy working here.

Had a gathering with my friends here and had a really enjoyable time and dinner. For appetizers, we had the upside down crab, Portobello mushroom and smoked duck salad. Everything was so tasty. For mains, we had shaslik beef (my friends were raving about it), blue fire ribs (with flambe) and halibut fish wrapped in paper. And we finished it up with the dessert baked alaska, also flambe. All were amazing and everything was done right. It's the first time i tried the halibut in paper and i thought it was done really nice. That left a deep impression. We had really great service by Apple, who also took amazing photos of the group!

Yes, nice, neat and clean interior. Like an old-school coffee house. It's good. Comfortable and the tables are nicely spaced apart from one another. Around $50-60 per person. Good food. Went there today. Better than my memory of eating there about 2 decades ago.

The restaurant has been newly renovated, so the atmosphere is fine. The service is friendly, though somewhat curt and unpolished especially when trying to ask us what dessert or drinks to order. Chased us several times to leave at 2.50pm, as they need to rest from 3pm onwards. Most disappointingly, the food did not meet expectations. The blue fire ribs were very tough and dry. The meat stuffing on the stuffed portobello was very rough and the cheese sauce was a bit coy. The stuffed crab shell was also plainly seasoned and the thick bread crumbs on top distracted us from the crab taste. Spent $200 for 2 pax for lunch, even though we ordered only 1 drink. The starters are $25-30 each. Poor value for money. Overall it is expensive for the quality of food.

The atmosphere and service were excellent, very nostalgic and cozy. However, some of the food was not as high quality as I would have expected for the price point. The shashlik beef was extremely tough, likely due to the cut of meat used, and i did not find the hot plate was sufficient to cook it to tenderness. The eggs millionaire seemed a little overcooked. The borscht soup was nice and the bone marrow was excellent, though! I particularly enjoyed the soft rolls served with the soup, especially when eaten with butter.

Lovely service! Very friendly and personable. Lots of flambé items too that add to that drama which is lovely. Food was great overall: we had the crab, escargot and bone marrow for starters, and all were delectable. For mains we had the shashlik beef, tender and yummy. The ribs were delicious too. Unfortunately the chicken Kiev was a bit dry. Desserts here deserve an honourable mention. We had the banana split which was nice and nostalgic. The baked Alaska however, was excellent. The torching at table side made it a dramatic experience. We also had the cherries which were prepared table side, and Aunty Apple was a chirpy and lovely lady who prepared it for us. Overall a fun and exciting dining experience. One for the memories.

fourth time visiting and i’ve enjoyed every single meal here. staff are friendly, helpful and go to lengths to clarify on our orders and clear the table between courses for our comfort. personal favorites include the soups and chicken kiev, though of course the beef is also delicious. prices are on par with other fancy dinner places in the area and very much worth the cost in my opinion. a clean and tidy place with a stylish vibe, quiet and far more enjoyable to enjoy a meal at than many other establishments in the area. def would recommend!

Russian food with a taste of Hainanese style. I ordered their lunch set menu which comes with a choice of soup and coffee or tea at only $22. I ordered the Kurobuta Pork and French onion soup. The kurobuta pork came with a fried chicken rice ball and chicken rice chilli which came to me as a surprise ! The pork was juicy and tender. Also ordered the Caviar and Bliini at $20 with their house made sour cream and pancake. However I do find the sour cream overpowering the caviar. The French onion soup was very flavorful and good as a starter. It's a restaurant with close to 40 years of history. Very affordable prices. Worth a visit !

Escargot and Bomb Alaska! Memories of days gone by. Eating dinner with my family in this Russian restaurant that has been around for decades was a treat. The decor was warm and felt familiar. "We just had a soft renovation. We have the place a fresh coat of paint and took a few tables out so that guests don't feel so crowded." The manager, Alex came to check in us since our party had made reservations with the help of FB. The staff was friendly and kept our water carafe filled. Our party shares a bottle of Italian red that was low in sulfide and very drinkable. For appetizers, we enjoyed the very garlicky and buttery escargot. The snails were savory and nicely chewy. The stuffed mushrooms were okay. The goulash had a nice stew-like broth thickened with cream. Great broth and tender veggies, but the meat was tough and tasted like it was previously frozen. The warm rolls with better were nice and brown. The wait staff was pleasant about our party sharing meals. The Shashlik, beef tenderloin on a skewer came in sizzling on a hot plate. It looked delicious and was confirmed by the recipient. The fish and chips was well coated and fried and was heartily consumed. Nice and flakey. The disappointing part of the meal was the chicken Kiev. This dish was and is one of my favorite things to eat. The crust was on the hard side. There wasn't enough herb butter and so the chicken breast was dry. The salad was under-dressed although the greens were nice. The large Texas Toasts were tasty, but there wasn't enough sauce to soak up. Dessert was a fun course en flambé. The Bomb Alaska was larger than I remembered. It was ice-cream wrapped with cake and meringue, topped with maraschino cherries and canned pears. The cherries jubilee was nice and boozie, so was the Suzette crepes. Desserts were prepared table-side and brought out the child in me. This was a nice trip down memory lane. The service was pleasant. The food was okay. It was on a pricy side.

The restaurant was very old school, offering western dishes. The restaurant was changed hand and went through upgrading. It reopened with a refresh in the classical look. The place was still served by mostly elderly staffs, who now use ipad to take orders. For weekdays, there was lunch set at $16.80++ which consisted of the main of the day, soup and a choice of soft drink, coffee or tea. Borshch (a la carte $7) classic Russian broth with a Hainanese twist, served with chunks of beef shank, slow cooked to perfection It was served with sour cream. The soup was very rich and creamy with pieces of meats in it, unlike the watery stuff which one usually found in the cha chaan teng cafes. Although butter was served, there was no bun served with it. Not sure what was the butter served for? For Wednesday, the main course was Oxtail Stew (a la carte S$32, only available on weekends). Hearty Hainanese Heaven. Enjoy the melt in your mouth experience with each chunk of the 36 hour slow braised oxtail. The dish was served with boiled carrots, broccoli and potato. The oxtail was very tender and flavourful. The serving was huge. I ended the meal with a cup of coffee (a la carte S$4), which was strong and bitter. It just brought one back to a coffee shop. None of the modern cafe style taste.

This pseudo-Russian restaurant has been around for 29 years. I'd been here before once but since it's closing at the end of November I decided to swing by again twice. Why do I call this place pseudo-Russian? Simply, it dates from the era where Hainanese-style Western Food was widely accepted as an accurate representation of "Western" food. So you have many items that seem Russian at first glance but are really (presumably) a Hainanese's idea of what Russian food would be. On my first visit, I'd judged that maybe 5% of the menu seemed Russian. There are dishes such as steak a la russe (which just seems to be steak with mushroom sauce), shrimp cocktail (an Anglo dish) and Chicken a La King (another Anglo dish). For the bread we got one roll each. Except that these weren't even the mini imitation baguette kind of roll but rather a totally soft, slightly glazed and sweet Chinese-style soft bread. Served with SCS butter. The Borscht soup was one of the highlights of this place. I've had red borscht whose colour came from beetroot. I've had pink Lithuanian borscht. Hell, I've even had the Hong Kong borscht which lacks beetroot but is at least red. This was a dark brown colour, which research reveals does not seem to correspond to any known borscht variant. That said there was a robust beef taste, and there was a large piece of beef and another of potato, as well as chunks of green pepper in it, with a generous dollop of sour cream. The onion soup is really good - rich, strong and oniony. But the bread on top had the diameter of the Communion host. And was not much thicker to boot. It was like a token piece of toast with some powder. The egg millionaire was not very nice (egg and bacon). And I was apprehensive about eating it because it was served in eggshells. The eggshells had a similar colour to the bacon, and I saw fragments of eggshell about to come out on the edges. Luckily I didn't eat any. I think. It was served on tomato, cucumber and shredded pickles, which looked really sad (though the pickles were not bad - crunchy and a little sweet) They had mushrooms stuffed with smetana. The mushrooms were topped with a rather dry minced meat and were served with a creamy sauce. However they lacked flavour, and even the sauce didn't help much. I've also tried the beef and pork shashliks. They were reasonable cuts of meat served on a hot plate and wasn't bad, being quite juicy. However all the pictures of Russian shashlik I can find online show chunks of meat on a skewer - as opposed to the long pieces of meat I saw (it comes on a skewer but is slid off it before serving). The shashlik was served with "Russian salad". Which turned out to be slices of boiled egg, tomato, cucumber and onion, with small scoops of pickles and potato salad. All these ingredients were separate instead of being mixed together as a salad. Pozharsky chicken was interesting - pan-fried chicken with a sour butter sauce. It was only slightly warm and not very crispy. We waited a while so perhaps they forgot about it for a while. The wedges it was served with were not freshly fried also. There was also mushroom stroganoff which tasted okay. Nothing special, either way. The steak a la russe was a normal steak with mushroom sauce. It was quite tender. One aspect where Shashlik stands out is tableside service for some dishes, which is a nice novelty. We experienced this with our Cherry Jubilee: a waitress put butter in a saucepan, added in whipped cream and pitted cherries, and poured in liquor to light the pan. Everything was served with vanilla ais krim (cheap Malaysian-style palm oil ice cream). Cheap ice cream aside this dish was actually pretty good - the rich butter complemented the cherries and their liquid well. The second time I came the Baked Alaska was out (boo) so I had brandy butter pancakes, which was also prepared by the table. They were alright. For the Borscht, the mushrooms, a pork shashlik, 2 mushroom stroganoffs, a steak a la russe and a Cherry Jubilee, I paid $174.20, which wasn't cheap. Especially given that the portions were not big. The restaurant was also rather hot, but the premises are quite old (and so is the shopping centre) so that is not unexpected. And the elevator music that played at night was irritating. Basically, just come here for the nostalgia, table service or if you can't stomach full blown Russian food. Or the desserts (there's a reason the menu asks you to order a main course and not just have soup and desserts). If you want real Russian food, go to Buyan at Duxton Hill. Though of course it is even more expensive.

One look can see that this won't be a filling dish. But I realized there's mash potato underneath the chicken chop after I moved it a bit. Taste okay. The meat is still easily cut but the mash potato isn't good. Doesn't have any potato taste. Oh! They actually give everyone a bread on table first before our order are ready. Customer service wise is good. But the food are just meh I guess. Not worth to visit again for the price.

I think my favorite food from this place is the Borscht soup with a generous dollop of cream and warm soft sweet bun slathered with SCS butter. The steak is really average and the rest of the food is about the same. Stuck in the era where Western food was not common and eating it would be a treat. I like the place for its nostalgic feel and the fact that the servers are seniors (read in the papers many years back that some have shares or co-own the restaurant) and there is a bit of family feel to the place. It is similar to The Ship, two of the last surviving mid-priced Western restaurants which are still around. The service is no fuss and quick, they are nice "aunties and uncles". It is also the only or one of the few places which actually still serve Baked Alaska. Peach Melba is also available. None of your fancy common dessert like salted caramel anything or lava cake is sold here. I have heard Oxtail stew is served on Wednesday and that is usually when you will want to make reservations as it gets crowded. There is a weekday lunch set menu for $12++. A simple one with soup, main (only 2 types to choose from) and dessert and coffee/tea. You can change to sirloin steak and Borscht soup with cash top-up for $2 and $1 respectively. For a piece of history and a serving of nostalgia, dine at Shashlik and keep it alive for more years to come.

Located hidden up on one of the top floors of the far east plaza...after you take the zig zagging escalators up.....this where the second and third generation of locals go for a hit and miss special steak - most steak houses offer a tender aged piece of beef while Shaslik tends to offer you a steak that in some ways seemed like it was aged in some sections of the steak (I think a little gristle won't hurt you but some like the chewy center of a cheaper cut of steak to chew on) - like maybe its from a cow with a few tough spots in it. Not bad steak but sometimes hit and miss depending on the cut you get. Some like the chewy portions that run through the steaks sometimes like the Singapore river....but i prefer the entire steak being tender without the chewy river portion.... A part of history in Singapore as generations of locals continue to keep this place alive as it serve the steak with just the right amount of fat marbling and that sometimes chewy piece in the center of it....and the borsch....and the oxtail soup... Total old school steak house...just the age of the waiters and the ambiance will transport you back in time on this one. Where in Singapore can you get baked Alaska or a dessert still flam bayed table side by an uncle that's probably older than your uncles. But all good - a little musky smelling at first but i guess that is part of the history. Service is a little iffy as I guess some of the waiters and waitresses might have not had their afternoon naps.....but it is still worth the visit for the history and nostalgia.

President Putin, who is in town on a state visit, would be shocked if he came to this 'Hainanese Russian' restaurant. For the food is hardly Russian, even the dishes that purport to be, like Bortsch, or chicken Kiev. The food is not bad, and the service endearing, but Slavic it ain't. The lunch set menu is excellent value at $16.90++.

Definitely a three star average restaurant considering how normal the dishes are. I would say this restaurant serves a fusion of local Chinese and Eastern Europe dishes. It's however, pretty much skewed towards Chinese style. Had their signature breaded fried chicken that comes with side salad. It's very 'normal' in taste, surprisingly hard and stiff considering how interesting it looks. The taste is a little like ur road side fried chicken from Taiwan street stalls. Wouldn't quite recommend this. The portion is huge though! Ordered a beef stew which according to the description on menu is a Russian and Hainanese styled stew. It was great! Taste like traditional Chinese New Year dish that my grandma often cooks except that the colour is reddish instead of yellowish (cabbage colour). The Hainan taste is quite evident in this dish. Go for this slightly soured appetising soup for the start! Had another grilled beef dish, it was a HUGE tendon served sizzling on the hot plate. It was quite nice, but wouldn't say outstanding. Realised this restaurant tends to serve really huge and uncut portions of food, it may appear a little crude but on a hindsight, it makes the dining experience more 'hands on' since u'd be cutting them up most of the dining time haha. Service is really good. The crew was accommodating to our needs even though we came in 15 minutes before their break time. They even extended their kitchen operating hours for us. Thumbs up on the quality of service and attitude. Observed that majority of the kitchen and service crews are elderlys and locals. This may explain why the food and restaurant culture feels so local! ;) An ironic viewpoint: I'm not too sure why but I get this feeling this restaurant has similarities likened to that of a zichar stall even though the interior is entirely western and slightly 'upscale' in its own sense. It's intriguing!

Went here for a Christmas dinner with a set menu so had limited oversight or choices but thought the food was very good and the service excellent! The borscht was good, an appetiser sampler (that included escargot and caviar) was very tasty and I had the signature beef dish as a main (as did my wife). The tenderloin was very tasty as were the other courses but for me the meal was made my the quality of service. We had our two young children along and found the entire service staff to be warm, friendly and very engaging. The best example of quality came when my wife's meat was served. She cut into it and it was underdone (she had ordered medium). Literally out of no where the manger comes over and asks if she would like it cooked a bit longer. She was dumbfounded and looked at me and asked if I had called him over (I had not). My only guess is that he was watching the table and suspected it from her response (which was frankly pretty subtle) - they are on it. We will go back - because the food is good and service and family atmosphere are excellent.

A visit to Shaslik will make you feel as though you've gone back in time to the good ol' days when food was food and not a Picasso piece. One of its most charming elements that draws its customers back is the fact that it maintains a very elderly service crew, which for one makes you very reluctant to complain (should you have any), and also makes you feel good for basically supporting and encouraging elderly in the work force - a very odd plus point I guess. Don't expect great service - I've often found them to be fairly slow and curt, but I guess that this, coupled with the fairly dark ambience of the place makes the whole experience just that bit more Russian. Moving on to the food: I think most would feel compelled to order the Beef Shashlik, and why not? It is after all their signature dish, and it just about delivers. It is served on a hot plate, so for those who tend to order their beef medium-well, you may want to adjust to take into account the fact that the beef will carry on cooking for a bit even after served. The beef is tender, though none of that melt-in-your-mouthy goodness I was hoping for. I have also had their Steal a la Russe, which is a beef steak with mushroom sauce. This was a little disappointing because it was nothing particularly special, and fairly overpriced for what was ultimately a pretty average piece of steak. The jewel in the crown for me is their Baked Alaska, which is an absolute MUST to order here. The presentation will immediately win you over - a sizable Ayers Rock shaped cake SET ON FIRE. The meringue that on top will then burn and caramelise, and mixes so very well with the whole dessert. A good size for sharing between 2-4 people, depending on how hungry you still are after the meal.

One of the best places for steak. I go there to celebrate with my family sometimes and from experience, it is better to make a reservation before going there. Attire: Formal, no sandals/slippers or they might not let u in :P.

No, just no. Borsh was ok, though not as flavored as the "authentic" one. And I'm not pretentious about food usually. I would have expected some Russian clients, as is common in good Russian restaurants, but here it was 100% asian, apart my table. The food was ok, but just not Russian. The service though was surprisingly Russian at times (when you are treated with the "sufficiency" only Russian waiters can show you).

Still serves the best oxtail stew on Wednesdays...my mom took me to this restaurant when I was a kid ....somehow they moved and by chance I rediscovered the restaurant at Far East shopping after 25 years. Its like meeting an old long lost friend.