Don’t get me wrong I love Singlish, which is generally an amusingly succinct and economical way of talking out here in Singapore, but I have issue with a word I keep hearing waiters use over and over again in restaurants: done-ness. Actually, what am I saying? Done-ness is not even a word, just an incredibly lazy way of saying ‘how would you like it cooked?’  I like to think that this is the real reason the phenomenal burgers at ‘&Made’ are only served one way (medium rare*).

The result of a collaboration with the French, Michelin star studded chef Bruno Menard ‘&Made’ is a tongue in cheek reference to the way almost all French people – certainly the ones I know, anyway – pronounce the word ‘handmade’; as well as a happy reminder that everything you eat in here has been made by hand.

Singapore has such a glut of super high end restaurants contrasted with hawker-awesomeness at the opposite end of the spectrum that there is little, I think, of real foodie merit lying somewhere in between the two, serving genuinely wonderful food that at the same time manages to represent value for money.  Cue &Made.

Rather than open up yet another uber resto, like the one in Tokyo where he was recently working when he won his three stars,  Menard seems to have more imagination than that and has gone mid market. This burger bar (ostensibly that’s what this place is) is such a refreshing break from where he’s come from yet, at the same time, manages to be resolutely uncompromising on the standard of the food.

If you are going to eat it, it’s got to be worth the calories: the $19 burger, called the B Burger (above left), is encased in a sweet-ish, soft, seeded bun and is bloody (literally) good.  I would absolutely, definitely be back here in a heartbeat to eat this all over again, even though I am off carbs.  It. Was. That. Good.

The decor is also pretty cool too:

Pudding was a made to order waffle on a stick, just for fun, served with three types of dipping sauces. The warm batter was still gooey and slightly salty – rather than too sweet which always ruins it for me – which unfortunately (for la ligne) means I’ll most definitely have to order it again next time.

Found on at the bottom of Claymore Hill, the road that runs down the side of the Shaw Centre, opposite Les Amis, &Made is actually on the ground floor of Pacific Plaza on Scotts but it has it’s own entrance and doesn’t at any point make you feel like you’re eating inside a monolithic mall. Just make sure you leave time to pop upstairs to buy some Louboutin-esque shoes from Muse, which is worth a visit and in the same building.

*Their unrelenting inflexibility on this point is born out of the fact that the burgers are cooked in a special slow cooking style (sous-vide) designed to bring out the very best flavour of the meat. This method removes the option of how long it’s cooked for; the time is fixed. For anyone who usually eats their burgers medium well, like me,  just go with it because it’s seriously good, they’ve thought this through and they know more than you do about what makes a good burger.

For more burger brilliant-ness, also read about my trip to De Burg as well as the new kid on the block, Omakase Burger which just may have toppled &Made from its pedestal…