Shashlik - One-of-a-Kind Russian-Hainanese Restaurant

There are restaurants with theatrical flourishes, and then there is Shashlik — where the fire is not the garnish, it is the point. Tucked away on the sixth floor of Far East Shopping Centre on Orchard Road, this singular institution has been performing the same tableside ritual since 1986: dark rum poured, match struck, blue flame unfurling across your dinner before a single word of small talk. The story behind it goes back even further — to 1963, when a cohort of Hainanese chefs at the now-defunct Troika Restaurant first translated Russian culinary traditions into something unmistakably their own. When Troika shuttered, nine of those chefs pooled their life savings and opened Shashlik, carrying the recipes — and the fire — with them. Now recognised as a Singapore Heritage Business, Shashlik remains the only place in the country where you can watch your dessert get set alight and still feel like you’re in the most comforting, grandmotherly dining room imaginable.

The meal begins before anyone has ordered a thing. Warm, pillowy dinner rolls arrive with softened butter, and they are, by many accounts, the unsung heroes of the table. There is something quietly genius about starting the evening this way — unhurried, generous, old-school — and it sets the tone for everything that follows.

Egg Millionaire ($18++)

Few dishes make as strong a first impression as the Egg Millionaire, Shashlik’s signature starter. Finely diced boiled egg is packed back into eggshell goblets, topped with crispy bacon bits and parmesan cheese gratin, and served piping hot. It is pure retro brilliance — a 1960s supper club appetiser that has aged so well it feels almost avant-garde. Diners consistently single it out as a must-order, charmed as much by its presentation as by how good it actually tastes.

Borshch Soup ($10++)

Shashlik’s Borshch takes a different path from the beetroot-forward Eastern European original, building its base from tomatoes instead. The result is lighter and tangier, punctuated by tender beef shanks and slow-cooked vegetables, finished with a dollop of sour cream that melts slowly into the broth. It reads closer to a particularly heartful minestrone than anything you’d find in St. Petersburg — and that, entirely, is the Hainanese edit at work.

Blue Fire Ribs ($40++ full slab)

This is the dish that earns its name every single time it leaves the kitchen. A full slab of pork loin ribs is glazed in Ah Kor’s Hainanese Sweet and Sour sauce — a recipe that belongs entirely to this restaurant and no one else — and then a generous pour of dark rum is introduced tableside and set alight. The blue flame catches and holds, licking over the surface of the ribs and leaving behind a faintly smoky char on the glaze. The ribs themselves are tender enough to require minimal effort, falling cleanly away from the bone. The sweet-tangy sauce, tempered by the rum’s warmth, is a flavour profile that exists nowhere else in Singapore. Order this one, and keep your camera ready.

Shashlik of Beef ($32++)

The restaurant’s namesake dish is a lesson in restraint and patience. Tenderloin is marinated for a full 24 hours before being threaded onto skewers and grilled, then presented at the table where the waiter removes the skewer and plates the meat onto a sizzling hot plate. The extended marinade does exactly what it promises — the beef is deeply flavoured all the way through, with a tenderness that belies how simple the cooking method appears. Available also in pork, chicken, and lamb for those who want to vary their order across the table.

Oxtail Stew (Wednesdays and Weekends)

Not a dish you can simply decide to order on a whim — the Oxtail Stew earns its limited schedule. The meat is slow-cooked for 36 hours, giving the connective tissue enough time to surrender completely, producing flesh so soft it barely needs a fork. The gravy is rich, deeply beefy, and purpose-built for mopping up with crusty bread. It is available on Wednesdays and weekends only, and regulars plan their visits around it.

Baked Alaska ($24++ for two)

When the serving trolley rolls to your table, conversation stops. A meringue-cloaked dome of vanilla ice cream and sponge cake sits waiting while dark rum is poured over it and lit, the flame racing across the meringue and caramelising the surface into a barely-there char. Beneath it, the ice cream holds firm — the contrast between the warm, slightly crisp exterior and the cold, creamy core is precisely the point. Shashlik serves it for two at $24++, though portions are generous enough that four can share the larger format comfortably.

Cherry Jubilee ($26++)

If the Baked Alaska is Shashlik’s showstopper, the Cherry Jubilee is its quieter, more elegant counterpart — and for many regulars, the one they always come back for. The dish has genuine pedigree: cherries sautéed tableside in butter, then flambéed in brandy until the flames climb high enough to make the whole table pay attention, before being plated with scoops of vanilla ice cream. The combination works because it is perfectly calibrated — the warm, slightly boozy cherries cutting through the richness of the butter with their natural acidity, the cool ice cream softening everything on the palate. There is also a royal origin story attached: the dessert was reputedly created by Auguste Escoffier at The Savoy to honour Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, her well-known love of cherries the inspiration behind it. At Shashlik, that lineage feels entirely at home.

Shashlik is not a restaurant that tries to be modern, and that is precisely why it has endured. In a dining landscape that cycles trends like seasons, this sixth-floor room with its mustard-yellow tablecloths, bow-tied staff, and unshakeable commitment to setting things on fire at your table represents something increasingly rare — a place that knows exactly what it is and has never wavered. Whether you are returning after years away or arriving for the first time, dinner here feels like remembering something you didn’t know you’d missed.

Address: 545 Orchard Road, #06-19 Far East Shopping Centre, Singapore 238882
Contact: +65 6732 6401 | [email protected]
Operating Hours: Tuesday – Sunday, 12pm – 2:15pm & 6pm – 9:15pm | Closed on Mondays
Social Media: @shashliksg (Instagram) | facebook.com/shashliksg