Coalesce's signature dish is their Ground Beef Rendang ($24++), which is essentially a piquant portion of ground beef that's been fried in a redolent rendang that everyone will relish. It's all loaded into a behemoth of a bowl that's filled to about halfway before it's sealed beneath a layer of buttery, addictive puff pastry.

The rendang itself is thick and less on the gravy-like side, and it cocoons every single element of the beef rendang, from the ground beef to the chunks of potatoes. The inclusion of arugula leaves within was a brilliant play, as the peppery flavor of the arugula counterbalanced the rich, heavy flavors of the beef rendang. Of course, the buttery, flaky puff pastry just made everything just so much better.

However, Jin, the manager, explained to us that while experimenting with their dish, the team at Coalesce decided their dish just felt lacking in satisfaction somehow. The immediate solution was the addition of the potatoes into the luscious mixture. After chowing down on this bowl of beef rendang, I can quite confidently identify the fault. The replacement of the traditional, stewed-till-tender hunks of bovine with ground beef resulted in a lack of bite and character to the dish, and as such, satisfaction levels plummeted.

It really is quite unfortunate, because this dish is flawless in terms of taste. Perhaps Coalesce could look into replacing the ground beef with cubes/slices of beef instead.

This was a hosted Eatup, courtesy of the good folks at Coalesce and Burpple!