I Heart Morton's

Double cut fillet mignon, $79.

Tattinger Sparkling Wine, $160.

Tuxedo-ed maitre d speaking Singlish, priceless.

I luurrrvveee Morton's Steakhouse. It serves handsdown the BEST steak in Singapore. Seriously. I think I ate a piece (or many pieces) of heaven last night. Plus, the service was impeccable, save for that one shock of hearing the maitre d speak Singlish to my Dad. It was so shockingly out of place that I had to stifle a giggle because our server of the evening was a Malay girl who spoke flawless English with a slight British accent, and yet the maitre d was a backslapping, laugh-out-loud Singlish speaking Chinese dude who seemed more at home in a Chinese restuarant.

My family had dinner at Morton's last night to celebrate Cheryl's promotion. She was treating, hence I had no qualms about eating well. Hey, how often do you get to indulge in decadent steak?

Cheryl and I wisely decided to share a double cut fillet mignon because the portions are insanely big. When the steak first arrived, I sniggered slightly at the seemingly small steak. After halving it, it looked even more pathetic. Well, looks are deceiving. While it may be small in size, it's thickness more than overwhelmed me.

But my first bit into the steak has made me a lifelong devotee of Morton's steak. Morton's is famous for its aged beef, hence its steak is incredibly tender and moist. Never have I tasted steak that is so incredibly tender that it seemingly dissolves after a few light chews, and yet retain enough texture so that you don't feel like you're eating air. Lightly charred on the outside, but beautifully pink and juicy on the inside. A light sauce accompanies the steak, but seriously, the steak in all its wonderfully beefy juices was more than adequate flavouring.

Geraldine devoured a prime rib steak by herself, Dad ate a steak and king crab legs combo till he became slightly sick from all the food, and Mum delicately polished off a fantastic pan-seared peppercorn tuna steak. That too, was amazing, and my one single bite afforded me a peppery, substantial tuna that was still beautifully raw in the middle.

The steaks are served without any side dishes, so we ordered a couple. Even the side dishes are deserving of worship. The sauteed mushrooms and onions (I know, I know, onions) exploded with amazing flavours. The potato skins were tasty, but disappointingly pedestrian.

And the desserts. Oh god, the desserts. We were all really stuffed, but hey, what's a meal without desserts right? And people, we always have stomach for desserts.

Morton's Legendary Hot Chocolate Cake deserves all the accolades. Lovingly warm in the centre with gooey chocolate oozing out, the crust is crunchy and not overpoweringly sweet. We also ate the creme brulee that felt like a gazillion calories with every bite, but oh so worth it. A crispy, torchblown sugar crust hid a deliciously light whipped cream bottom.

Sparkling wine throughout the meal complemented a great meal. Oh god, I love Morton's so much. And more importantly, I love my crazy family. A lot of people may think that we are very rich and extravagant, but it's not true. We stay in a HDB flat, my family doesn't own a car, Cheryl has one but it's so embarrassingly banged up that it's heading for the scrapyard (boy, was that embarrassingly when we passed the car to Oriental's valet), and I wear clothes from Far East Plaza and Bugis.

But we love our food, man do we love our food. We have no qualms about spending big on food; it's our one biggest vice and pleasure. Food is the source of life. We truly, truly appreciate gastronomic delights and experience. So Amen for that attitude and I can only imagine better things to come.