CUT by Wolfgang Puck
California Contemporary Steakhouse expanded to Singapore
The original CUT steakhouse opened in 2006 in Beverly Hills, California. Wolfgang Puck founded it as part of his Fine Dining Group. The menu began as a contemporary take on a classic steakhouse, with prime beef cuts from the U.S., Japan, and other regions, plus seafood and shellfish. It has evolved to add more vegetable-focused items, local California ingredients, and Japanese influences in fish and flavors, but stayed true to high-end steaks without big shifts. The steakhouse was a big hit, and began an international expansion shortly afterwards. The Singapore location opened in November 2010 as the brand’s first Asian outpost.
Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck was born in 1949, in Sankt Veit an der Glan, Austria. He started cooking young, helping his mother in the kitchen, then began formal training at 14. He apprenticed in top French spots: L’Oustau de Baumanière in Provence, Hôtel de Paris in Monaco, Maxim’s in Paris. At 24 he moved to the US in 1973, first cooking at La Tour in Indianapolis for two years, then heading to Los Angeles in 1975 as chef and part-owner of Ma Maison, where he drew Hollywood crowds.
In 1981 he published his first cookbook, Modern French Cooking for the American Kitchen, based on Ma Maison dishes. The next year he opened Spago on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, blending California ingredients with European techniques and helping define California cuisine. Spago moved to Beverly Hills in 1997 and stayed a flagship.
He followed with Chinois on Main in Santa Monica in 1983 (Asian-fusion), then built out more concepts: Granita in Malibu (1991), and later CUT steakhouse in Beverly Hills (2006), which earned a Michelin star quickly and quickly spawned locations worldwide.
Chef Greg Bess runs the Singapore outpost of CUT as executive chef. He trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena, spent time as sous chef at Spago Beverly Hills, and came to Singapore right at the 2010 opening. He’s stayed in the role since, shaping the menu with a focus on premium cuts and seafood additions.
The setup follows the core Cut approach: modern American steakhouse with high-end beef from places like the US, Japan, and other sources, plus strong seafood options. It earned one Michelin star in the first Singapore Michelin Guide in 2016 and has held it every year since.
Located in the Marina Bay Sands mall, CUT sits nearby the food court beside a variety of luxury fashion stores.
There’s a bar immediately upon entrance, and I was greeted by the staff, who brought me into the main dining room.
I was greeted with a pink fir apple consommé (that tasted basically like apple cider) with a salted rim. Neat, but that’s a lot of fancy words to describe a shot of apple cider.
Some classic cheese puffs were brought out, before a variety of breads (a pretzel loaf, onion focaccia, French loaf, long parmesan-dusted breadsticks), served with French butter, and a beef tallow compound butter. The real standout here was the pretzel loaf, which was absolutely delicious, and I ended up finishing, even though I promised I’d leave room for the main event.
Asking the waiter for his recommendation, I wasn’t famished, and wanted a small, but fatty steak. He recommended the American Wagyu - less fatty than the Japanese Wagyu, but beefier in flavour. I decided to go with my favourite cut - the ribeye, and of course, done medium rare.
The next difficult choice was the sides. I knew I couldn’t order too many, but they had all the classics - mac and cheese, onion rings, potato mash, creamed spinach, brussel sprouts, fries. I ended up going with two classics - the onion rings and the creamed spinach. Thank goodness I only ordered two, because the serving sizes were massive.
The onion rings were some of the lightest, fluffy I’ve ever had, done in a Japanese tempura batter instead of a thicker cut and thicker batter I’ve often seen in other restaurants. Classic creamed spinach with a fried egg on top, absolutely delicious.
The steak was accompanied by a variety of mustards - grape and wholegrain mustards, both of which leaned a bit more sour in flavour and English/Dijon mustards that were especially pungent.
With the size of the steak and the sides, I was pretty glad I didn’t order any appetizers either. I barely managed to finish the steak and a bit of the sides.
I was pretty surprised when dessert came - I didn’t even need to order anything. A Passionfruit guava sorbet on a bed of blueberries and toasted sliced almonds. A bit of texture along with a tart and sweet sorbet.
Finally, the petit four - a chocolate truffle and a some sort of jelly. By this time I was stuffed, so unfortunately, I left them untouched on the table.
It’s often hard to compare steakhouses. Realistically, there’s only so much you can do to a steak, and the differences between high end restaurants are pretty marginal. You can work on sourcing, aging, or a unique preparation, but it can be difficult to differentiate. I wasn’t super impressed by the American wagyu, although that may be my own fault. I probably shouldn’t gotten a smaller, fattier steak. Gone with the Japanese instead of the American.
The sides were pretty killer though. I only wish they had a smaller size so I could’ve tried a few other ones. Good meal, but for the price paid, could probably find better elsewhere.
Total damage: 280 SGD/1 person