Burnt Ends
“One star, a four tonne oven and counter seats worth the fight. Book it for the birthday that wants fire.”
About Burnt Ends
Dave Pynt learned fire under Victor Arguinzoniz at Asador Etxebarri, opened Burnt Ends in a Chinatown shophouse in 2013, and has held a Michelin star since 2018 for what is essentially barbecue argued at fine dining pitch. In 2022 the restaurant moved to a bigger home at 7 Dempsey Road built around the same idea scaled up: a four tonne, dual cavity brick kiln, four elevation grills and a menu written fresh every day.
The register runs from a S$20 sanger, a pulled pork brioche that outsells everything, to king crab under garlic brown butter and steaks cut from whatever aged beef the kiln favours that week. Snacks like the beef marmite eclair and the smoked quail egg with caviar became fixtures by popular demand. You order a la carte, spend about S$200 a head, and let the counter chefs steer; the daily menu means the best plate today did not exist yesterday.
The move to Dempsey traded Chinatown intimacy for space without losing the counter, which remains the seat worth fighting for: the kiln radiates, the brigade works an arm's length away and the pacing is yours to set. Asia's 50 Best keeps the restaurant on its list a decade in, No.38 in 2025, and the world list at No.93 agrees. Booking runs through the restaurant's site and prime slots go weeks out, though lunch and odd hours reward the flexible.
The Room
A big, handsome Dempsey room of timber, brass and open fire, loud in the good way, with counter seats wrapping the kitchen and proper tables behind. This is fine dining in its shirtsleeves: no tablecloths, no hush, serious glassware. Dress is genuinely casual smart; the smoke is the perfume.
Why book it, occasion by occasion
Every great room has evenings it serves and evenings it wastes. Burnt Ends divides cleanly.
For the birthday that wants fire, not foam
Barbecue is celebration food at any budget; Burnt Ends just runs it through a Michelin kitchen. The counter turns a birthday dinner into entertainment, plates land for sharing, and the sanger arriving mid meal gets a bigger cheer than most cakes. Book the counter for groups up to four and a table beyond that, warn the team about the occasion, and let dessert come off the grill too.
For a first date with its sleeves rolled up
Tasting menus interrogate a new couple; the counter lets one breathe. You order in rounds and read the evening as it goes, extending if it sparks or wrapping cleanly if it does not. The fire gives you something to watch through any lull, the wine list drinks well by the glass, and nobody has ever regretted introducing someone to the eclair. Book counter seats side by side rather than a table.
For the solo seat every chef takes
Ask cooks where they eat alone in Singapore and this counter keeps coming up: a la carte freedom, a front row seat to the kiln, staff who talk fire without a script. A solo diner can eat three snacks and one steak and leave complete, or settle in for the full spread. Single counter seats also appear at short notice more often than any other great booking in town.
What to order
Everything is a la carte and the menu changes daily, so strategy beats a shopping list. These are the standing calls.
- The sanger
Pulled pork, slaw and chipotle in a brioche bun for about S$20. The most famous single bite in Singapore; order one each, not one to share.
- The beef marmite eclair
A one bite fixture the regulars made permanent. Start here while the kiln works on your mains.
- Whatever the blackboard names
The menu is written daily around what the fire suits. The unfamiliar cut listed today is the kitchen's actual recommendation.
- Counter over table
The kiln is the show and the chefs are the narrators. Take the counter for two to four, tables only for bigger parties.
Practical
- Address
- 7 Dempsey Road, Dempsey Hill, Singapore
- Reservations
- Restaurant website · prime slots go weeks out
- Spend
- About S$200 a head with drinks
- Format
- A la carte, written daily, sharing encouraged
- Seats
- Counter around the kitchen plus dining room tables
- Dress
- Casual smart
- Dietary
- Limited vegetarian range · flag ahead
- Getting there
- Ten minutes by taxi from Orchard
Questions diners ask
Is Burnt Ends worth it?
Yes, and it is the most fun a Michelin star buys in Singapore. The star has held since 2018, Asia's 50 Best ranked it No.38 in 2025, and about S$200 a head lands well under the city's tasting menu tier while sending you out happier than most of it. Counter seats make the experience; prioritise them.
How do I get a table at Burnt Ends?
Book through the restaurant's website as far ahead as the calendar allows; prime dinner slots go weeks out. Lunch, early dinner and solo counter seats are the reliable gaps, and cancellations surface often enough to reward checking the week of. Groups above four should take a table and order for the middle.
How much does Burnt Ends cost?
It is a la carte, so the bill is yours to steer: snacks run S$20 to S$40, mains and steaks more, and about S$200 a person with drinks is the realistic average. A restrained lunch of the sanger, a snack and a glass can land under S$100.
What should I order at Burnt Ends?
The sanger and the beef marmite eclair are compulsory first orders, then hand the decision to the blackboard: the menu is written daily around the kiln, and the day's unfamiliar cut or fish is usually the kitchen's true recommendation. Save room for a dessert off the grill.