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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

(CLOSED) East 8 New York Fusion Tapas + Bar

The name East 8, represents the 8th Street of East Village in New York.

East 8 is the brainchild of 2 talented graphic designers, Emil and Steven, who resided in New York for about 5 years. Having fallen in love with everything in the City of Dreams, they decided to bring New York to Singapore. Armed with impressive skills in designing, you won't be surprised how delicately intricate East 8's design is. Every single detail was carefully thought of and creatively constructed.

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The Mezzanine area. 

Located at Grand Park Hotel City Hall, and sitting conveniently near the main road and directly opposite the Armenian Church, East 8 is not difficult to locate at all. Parking is readily available in the shopping malls surrounding the Hotel and beside the Peranakan Museum. 

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This is the alfresco area, which is designed to resemble the Highline Park in New York. That's why there's like a lawn here!

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Can you see the pretty lights? They're supposed to resemble the birds that perch up high. The lights are of different shapes and sizes.

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This photo does not fully capture the metal bars across the ceiling but it's supposed to resemble the Manhattan Bridge and gives diners a sense of dining under it!

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The indoor seating is designed such that diners will feel like they are in a New York City loft looking out the windows

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Needless to say, X and I were wowed over by how much effort was put into the design of this 50-seater restaurant. Cleverly juxtaposing different textures and materials, East 8 is a charming composition of vintage and modernity.

We met Monica, who told us all about East 8 and recommended the dishes that we should try!

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The menus come in 3 different designs and even the menus carry a taste of New York.

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East 8 is an Asian fusion restaurant which only serves tapas at night. They do have a lunch menu which consists of burgers and such but when night falls, their tapas are allowed to shine.

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East Village Cocktail (A pair) - $18
Sparkling Jelly Sake

East 8's focus is not a wide range of alcoholic beverages but a few signature cocktails, making sure they are all perfect. Being an Asian-fusion restaurant, East 8 uses much sake in their alcoholic beverages.

The East Village cocktail was sweet, sparkling and full of chewy jelly. It didn't carry much of the harsh taste of sake, but instead was a playful mix of textures and flavours. I really liked it! Do note that this is not meant to be a shot! It's supposed to be savoured slowly!

It's Ladies Night on every Wednesday, and ladies can get 1 for 1 cocktails! Also, Sake Bomb night is on Fridays and Sake Bombs will be going at $10 instead of the usual $18! How awesome is that!

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Buffalo Cheese and Prosciutto - $18
Mozzarella cheese, prosciutto ham, topped with truffle mayo

To be honest, I'm not a fan of cheese. I'm afraid of the overwhelming and lingering taste and I do find cheese stinky. However, this kinda turned my life around. Savory large pieces of ham drizzled with smooth truffle mayo, and complemented with chewy buffalo mozzarella. Yum. I was really skeptical about the cheese but I'm glad I gave it a shot! The ham was very salty but the cheese kinda evens the taste out! They go really well together! This was X's favourite dish!

To emphasize on the Asian element in the dining experience here, diners are given chopsticks instead of forks and spoons. But fret not if you aren't able to use chopsticks, because they have forks and spoons too haha

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Soy Yuzu Beef - $20
Soy yuzu infused torched Argentine Ribeye

When I was asked which was my favourite dish, I had a really hard time choosing because honestly, everything was so good. And this was probably the first time that we praised every single dish. HAHA. Totally not exaggerating here.

But anyway, I love love love beef so I decided that this was my favourite! The slices of Argentine beef were of fantastic quality. They were just lightly torched and seasoned afterwards. The beef was absolutely tender, succulent, and bursting with flavours. As X said "what's not to like?" It's so true. There was a reservation for a huge gathering the same evening we were there and the table had ordered like 7 plates of this!

Really, really good. 

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Hamachi & Caviar - $15
Fresh yellowtail with sesame, soy dressing and black caviar

X and I love raw fish so we were really excited about this! It surely did not disappoint. The hamachi was super fresh, tender and the soy dressing really brought out the taste of the hamachi. The black caviar added a hint of saltiness to the hamachi and this dish really won our hearts!

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Chilean Seabass - $23
Marinated seabass in miso and wine

The most popular item in the house. The famous Chilean Seabass that diners cannot get enough of. Many returning customers head back for this dish. Monica told us that she's not a fish person and most people actually prefer meat to fish but this was her favourite out of the lot. I couldn't agree more. I'm a meat person too. And after hearing what she said about the seabass, I couldn't help but expect it to be really good. And trust me, it was!

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The fish was so soft and so juicy and it really melted in our mouths! It was so well-cooked and the fish was so fresh! The mushrooms were a delight too! I was secretly smiling when I savoured the first bite of the fish. I expected it to be good, but not THAT good. I could totally understand why people would come back just for this!

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Chocolate Pot - $12
Rich chocolate and macerated berries

The Chocolate Pot is a must-try for chocolate lovers. Unlike your usual chocolate desserts, the chocolate is not overly thick or rich and it does not make you sick of it. It's quite a huge portion and X and I thought it would be ideal for 4 to share but Monica told us that it is usually shared and finished by 2 people! Well, X and I finished it too and it can certainly be done!

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I'm quite amazed at how it's chocolately but not overwhelmingly so. X usually does not finish his chocolate if the portion is too big haha. But I guess the taste of smooth chocolate melting in his mouth, brightened by the taste of berries won him over haha

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Salted Caramel Brownies
The brownies are gluten free and are made of rice flour and different gluten-free flours. They are incredibly soft, moist and topped with a thin crunchy layer. The caramel was salty, and it was not too thick or sticky. Quite the ideal brownie!

East 8 has a tea-time promotion on weekdays from 3-5 pm where diners can enjoy the selection of Cakes Of The Day for just $4 or $8.80 with a cup of gourmet coffee!

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As night fell, the amber lights came to life.

East 8 is a place where you can chill out, have good food and alcohol and really enjoy yourselves. For a restaurant that's only 1.5 months old, they have really earned a reputation! They have special promotions every night and be sure to check them out! There's student special and yakitori night etc! You can also hold your parties and events here!


X and I have never been to New York, but we are sure that people who have will definitely appreciate East 8 alot more that we do!

Also, East 8 emphasizes alot on great service. Their staff are not only friendly but are really warm and cheerful too! Don't be surprised if they strike up a conversation with you!


10 Coleman Street
#01-21/22
Mon - Fri: 12:00 - 00:00
Sat: 18:00 - 00:00
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Love, K 

K's rating of East 8 : 8.5/10

1 comment:

  1. Wow, great menu! Creative fusion of flavors, it would be nice to pair them with the best tasting wine. hmmm..

    ReplyDelete