The Cellar Door, Bukit Timah

We came upon this place (619 Bukit Timah Road S269720, tel:64635296) by happenstance while in the vicinity looking for lunch. Originally, we wanted  to check out Karma Kettle and Rhapsody or the recently opened gourmet burger outlet Relish down in Cluny Court. Didn't feel like the former location and the latter was fully occupied; didn't feel like waiting either. Just past Culina, I noticed the Cellar Door and it wasn't until I had entered and sat down that I remembered that Bottomless Pit had made mention of this place before about their burger. A don't particularly remember seeing a burger on the menu, but there was a lamb burger that was listed under their Specials on the board. That alone was good enough to pique my interest. Happenstance decided that I would have my burger after all.


I kinda liked the place form the start. Interior was cosy and armed with a crew of polite staff that apart from being a friendly, actually knew enough of the menu to answer questions on about their food. The small space and knowledgeable wait staff reminded of Wine Garage. Along with the bottles of wines that line the wall. We went with a cheese board. Speaking of cheeses, the portions here were generous and a bit more exotic than what we were used to. This will probably be my first and last encounter with Iron Gate. Lol.

cheese board ($28)

The selection of the day featured a few cheeses which I've never heard of. Feeling adventurous, we picked five of the stronger sounding options out of six. The platter was served with with dried apricots, black seedless grapes, some walnuts, rice or wheat crackers. There was also some Rutherford & Meyer quince paste and Kato roasted peach chutney. The peach chutney had an unexpected ginger flavour. On the whole, the cheeses were enjoyable apart from the Te Mata Iron Gate which was the one with shrivelled looking sides beside the walnuts. The pungence of could almost be described as out of this world. Here I had thought myself capable of meeting almost any challenge of the fromage kind. Notable mention goes to the Awa Blue which was different from other blue cheeses I've had. This was infused with a spicy and heady aroma of an almost ethereal quality. Swirled up from the tongue into the nose and I was more than a little surprised at spicy blue cheese. I'm pretty sure I'll be remembering this one.

lamb burger ($19)

"one all lamb special seasoning no lettuce no cheese cucumber relish tomatoes in a buttered and toasted super sesame seed bun!"

I have good things to say about this lamb burger. One of the better burgers that I've had around. The texture of the heavyweight patty was uncannily similar to the Ultimate Beef Burger from Marmalade Pantry with two main differences. This was lamb and that the taste of the marinade was Middle Eastern-ish. Which kinda made it unique. Topped on the juicy lamb patty was a cucumber relish which added a lightness to the lamb flavour of the lamb. Lamb patty was enclosed in a buttered and toasted bun that was absolutely studded with sesame seeds. Had a nice sesame aroma. The crinkle cut fries had a nice salty seasoning. Not over fried as well. Definitely wouldn't mind returning for this again.

turkey and cranberry pie ($19)

The turkey and cranberry pie was something also on the specials. Haven't made it a habit to order pies unless it is recommended. Most of them I've had were just filled root vegetables soaked in a unidentifiable yet generic starchy gravy which I'm not a fan of. The exceptions were the chicken pies from M Hotel (a great chunky chicken filled potato-less pie here!!) and Don's Pies. This one was pretty decent pie filled with chunky pieces of turkey and some carrots without potatoes; swimming in a hot and light creamy sauce with cranberry flavour. We were told the pies rotate through the weeks. Each order was a 20 minute wait as they were made to order.

green apple sorbet ($3)

The green apple sorbet didn't taste as refreshing as I was hoping. They were are the slick and sweet. Too sweet for my liking.