Continuing with our American Express Platinum offer exploration, we decided to give Mason’s a go.
A quick check was made on Google and the ratings weren’t fantastic. The reviews are either from people who loved or hated the food / service.
Public Service Announcement:
After we were done, all we can say is that to give this place a miss. You may read on to find out about our experience.
Luxury Black Pepper Beef
$28
It is supposed to be sliced ribeye but with that overdose of sweet black sauce, they could have used a lower grade beef and you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. There were only 2 major flavours (sweet and peppery spicy) and not much texture.
Personally, it was a waste of supposedly good beef to go overboard with the sauce.
Bourbon Smoked Ribs
$40
Listed as highly recommended on the menu and it didn’t say how much ribs we’ll be getting, so we decided to wing it.
Taste wise it wasn’t bad, nor was it good to justify paying $40 for it. You are better off getting A FULL SLAB OF RIBS at speciality restaurants like Morganfield’s or Tony Roma’s at around that price.
Wings With Prawn Paste
$18
Har Cheong Gai with not much punch. Really mild version, felt more like eating chicken wings from kopitiam Western food stalls.
Crispy Seaweed
$6
Really nothing special about it
Singapore Noodles
$14
Basically your catering standard beehoon with some seafood to justify the price increase. You can get better tasting beehoon from Jurong West 502 Market.
How’s the service?
Google reviewers weren’t kind with their reviews of Masons service crew. Personally I don’t think its an issue unless they forget my order for 1hr.
They were preparing the place for an event the next day, so only outdoor seating was available. So the guys were all doing all the muscle work and it seemed like only 2 people were serving everyone else. Not like there was a crowd anyway.
Judging from the body language of the servers, it seems like 90% are part timers. This isn’t a complaint, just an observation. They needed to see the item numbers even though we told them the orders clearly, probably a procedure to reduce chances of cockups.
Overall, this place has a nice quiet ambience suitable for private events due to more than adequate parking lots because no one goes to Gillman Barracks anyway (Friday night was a ghost town).
However we don’t recommend it if you are looking for a good meal. But if you’ve got cash to burn then go for it. Otherwise you’re better off cooking a better meal at home.
Masons (Gillman Barracks)
Website
https://masons.sg/
Address
8 Lock Road, Singapore 108936
Opening Hours
Daily, 1130am – 11pm
Parking Rates
Monday to Friday:
7am – 5pm (1st Hour Free Parking then $0.50 per 30 minutes)
5pm – 7am (Free exit within 10 minutes then $2:00 per entry)
Saturday, Sunday & Public Holiday:
Free Parking