The last time we visited 13% Wine Bistro was during the Autumn 2023 edition of Singapore Restaurant Week. We went in with few expectations, but left thoroughly impressed.
So much so that we made reservations for their Saturday Tapas Brunch, and invited a couple of old friends to introduce them to the place.
Starting from 11:30am and ending at 4:00pm, the plan was to camp out there and see how much food and wine we could consume over a span of four hours.
We’re not big eaters but I figured that we stood a fairly decent chance of trying every single dish on their compact 20 item menu.
Except for a live carving station featuring raclette cheese and roast meat, everything else would be ordered à la carte and prepared à la minute. Significantly better arrangement than picking pre-cooked food off a buffet line.
It was billed as a “tapas brunch” and there were indeed several Spanish dishes like pluma Iberico, Padron peppers, gambas al ajillo and Catalonian coca.
But other European cuisines were also represented. Including raclette from Switzerland, gnocchi from Italy, schnitzel from Germany, beef tartare from France and fish & chips from the UK.
We started with some Roast Leg of Lamb from the live carving station. Being responsible adults, we also picked out a plate of vegetables to ensure sufficient fibre intake.
A blob of mustard was served with the meat, together with a green sauce that was, surprisingly, not mint. I felt that the lamb could have been slightly more rare, but The Wife and our friends seemed to like how it was done.
We told Steven, the friendly restaurant GM, that we planned to try everything and left it to him and the kitchen on when to serve what.
First to arrive were freshly-shucked Raw Oysters, served with mignonette sauce and lemon wedges. Unfortunately, they looked anemic and tasted slight fishy, which we promptly fed back to an apologetic Steven.
The Oysters Rockefeller were similarly small, but the cooking process plus the addition of bacon bits masked any unpleasant flavour. Further reinforcing my long-held belief that adding bacon to any dish always makes it better.
It wasn’t the best start to our meal, but the next dish more than made up for the sub-par shellfish.
A voluptuous blob of Burrata was served on a bed of greens, with sun-dried tomatoes and thin lashings of balsamic vinegar. Sitting on top was a heaping spoonful of what appeared to be caviar.
We found out that it was indeed “caviar”, but instead of brined fish eggs, they were actually spheres of balsamic vinegar made using molecular gastronomy.
I’m not a fan of fancy schmancy culinary techniques, and prefer simple down-to-earth cooking. But even I had to grudgingly admit that it was actually a good idea.
The burst of concentrated flavour released by the spheres as they popped accentuated the taste of the milky cheese. Similar to how ikura works when eaten together with uni in the same bite.
But it wasn’t just the unexpectedly futuristic garnish that made it special. The burrata itself was fantastic.
Our friend SL is quite the foodie, and she generally avoids them in Singapore. Mainly because they’re almost always just balls of chewy mozzarella and not genuine Italian burrata. This, on the other hand, was the real deal.
Encased in the stretchy mozzarella skin was soft and creamy stracciatella. Exactly like what she remembered having in Italy. I was tempted to order another plate, but quickly remembered that we were only at the start of our marathon.
A steady procession of dishes arrived on our table, starting with all three flavours of Catalonian Coca (tomato, figs and ham) and a cylindrical mound of Beef Tartare. Followed by four bite-sized pieces of Buffalo Spicy Drummets and some freshly-melted Raclette Cheese on baby potatoes.
All of them were good, especially the spicy drummets that were coated with rich and umami-laden sauce and grilled to the just the right level of juiciness.
I made a mental note to add it to our repeat order list, after we had successfully completed a tour of the entire menu, that is.
Seafood was next, in the form of Gambas Al Ajillo and Green Shell Mussels. I was expecting the prawns to be sautéed with only olive oil and garlic chips, but a red romesco-like sauce was added. They were fresh, sweet, crunchy and paired well with the sauce.
The mussels were plump, juicy and were steamed in a white wine-infused broth. They were tossed with generous amounts of basil pesto, and were lovely with a squeeze of fresh lemon.
We had some slices of bread left over from the tartare, which SL used to eagerly mop up every last drop. It was a strong testament to how delicious it was, and another dish was added to the growing “repeat order” list.
Vegetables made a comeback, in the form of Roasted Cauliflower and blistered Padron Peppers. Both provided a respite from the heavy flavours of our previous dishes, and contributed to a healthy fibre quota.
Despite pacing ourselves, we were starting to feel the effects of the volume of food we had ingested. It may not look like a lot of food, but bear in mind that we are old people, and old people have low metabolic rates.
We requested a short pause on the food, but continued enjoying the free flow wine. They source their wines directly from vineyards in Europe, and bring in bottles that are usually not seen in Singapore.
The selection at 13% Wine Bistro was really good for the price that they charged (S$49++ for 3 hours of unlimited drinks). There was a sparkling Cremant de Bourgogne blanc de blanc, a rosé as well as several red and white wines.
Of all the wines that we drank that day, our unanimous favourite was the Le Paradou Grenache from the Rhone region of France. It was fruity, full-bodied and a delight to drink, especially with food.
I checked their online retail shop, and was pleasantly surprised to see it listed for only S$28. Once my alcohol inventory at home runs down, I can definitely see myself buying several bottles.
Throughout the brunch, the servers were generous with their pours and given my limited alcohol capacity, I even had to restrain them from filling my glass several times.
JM, on the other hand, didn’t face the same constraint. He happily drank whatever they served, whenever they served.
I had made a bet with The Wife the night before, and guessed that he would finish eight glasses over the course of the entire meal. The Wife disagreed and confidently stated that it would easily be more than that.
His final tally was 10 glasses, which co-incidentally was the same amount that both The Wife and I drank, combined. Good thing we were there to help average down, giving 13% a fighting chance to make some margin on the free-flow alcohol.
Once our stomachs had settled down somewhat, we unpressed the pause button on the food. The next item that arrived was the Pulled Duck Gnocchi, looking like something from a fine dining restaurant.
Served in a spotless white deep plate and topped with a fancy tuile de fromage, it was creamy and unctuous. We polished it off in no time, and it immediately secured a spot on the encore list.
It was followed by a plate of Picanha Steak, served medium with a side of blue cheese sauce. Picanha is a lesser known cut in Singapore and is not commonly served in restaurants. Which is a pity because it’s full of beefy flavour but tastes less cloying rich than other more marbled cuts.
The Pluma Iberico arrived soon after, looking like a complete meal in itself. There was a pickle of mandolin-sliced cucumber, a small stack of sweet potato fries and even some grilled pineapple chunks.
Iberian black pigs are supposedly raised on a diet of acorns and allowed to roam freely. This translates to a distinctive, almost nutty, flavour and a firmer, more muscular, texture than your average factory-farmed pig.
Of all the dishes we had so far, this was The Wife’s favourite. And, of course, it found a place on the re-order list.
We still hadn’t tried the last three items on the menu, i.e. Chicken Schnitzel, Bangers & Mash and Fish & Chips. And despite Steven’s eager encouragement, we had reached our physical limits and had to call it a day.
Of course, this also meant that we eventually weren’t able to order seconds of our favourite items.
Next time, we’ll have to be a bit more strategic and start with the greatest hits first. Specifically, the Burrata, Buffalo Spicy Drummets, Green Shell Mussels, Pulled Duck Gnocchi and Pluma Iberico.
To aid in our digestion, we asked if it was possible to just get the Grilled Pineapple that was served with the pork. The kitchen was happy to oblige.
We finished at around 3.30pm, after a marathon four hours of wining and dining. It was a great way to enjoy a Saturday afternoon, and it didn’t even feel like that much time had actually passed.
The food was great (except for the raw oysters), the wines were nice and the service was fantastic. I’m frankly surprised that it’s taken us this long to discover 13% Wine Bistro, especially since it’s been around for more than a decade.
It’s even more amazing when you consider how tiny their kitchen is. All the food we had was made in a space that’s about the same size as a kitchen in a small apartment.
By the time you read this, their Saturday Tapas Brunch sessions for 2023 would have already ended. However, Steven did tell us that they’re planning to continue offering it in 2024.
If you’re interested, I’d suggest contacting them directly via WhatsApp at +65 9231 2401 to get specific dates and availability.
Oh, in case you’re wondering, this is not a sponsored post and we paid for our own meal.
I’m just a satisfied customer who’s happy to have found a great place. My hope is that they can continue to do what they do, for as long as they can.
