Restaurant Report: Burnt Ends in Singapore

New restaurants are a dime a dozen in Singapore, but novel concepts are still a rarity - which probably explains why Burnt Ends, a gourmet barbecue joint, has been packed since it debuted last May.

At the heart of its shophouse roost near Chinatown is a four-ton, double-cavity wood-burning brick kiln that fires the small plates of grilled delights by David Pynt, the chef, who co-owns the place with culinary heavyweights including Andre Chiang and Loh Lik Peng. The custom-made oven, which Mr. Pynt said heats to over 1,700 degrees, is modeled after one he hand-built for an extended pop-up barbecue event in London. The Australian native grew up on a weekly diet of barbecue fare. 'Every house we moved to had a wood fire oven built,' he said.

But don't come to Burnt Ends expecting all-American barbecue classics. Some of the top-selling dishes from his London pop-up (like pork sangar, a pulled-pork sandwich with chipotle aioli and coleslaw) anchor the menu, though Mr. Pynt said his Singapore outpost is 'more refined and rounded.' Proof is both on the menu and in the décor, which includes a burned rain-tree-wood counter overhung with charcoal-hued pendant lamps.

Diners who book the reservations-only six-seat table are encouraged to use a banquet menu that follows fixtures like smoked quail's eggs with seasonal items like a fork-tender grilled version of a short rib steak known as Jacob's Ladder. For smaller groups, the 18-seat counter (no reservations except for 6 and 6:30 p.m.) offers views of the open kitchen.

At a recent dinner, the daily-changing à la carte menu teemed with small plates that included burned leek stripped down to its sweet tender stem, served in an intoxicating brown butter sauce and topped with a medley of capers, parsley and chopped hazelnuts. Though a slab of kingfish collar arrived with an unflatteringly charred exterior, the flesh was moist and rich with the umami flavors of its soy and mirin marinade. (Mr. Pynt said the dish was his favorite on the menu.)

See if they are serving the grilled Norwegian king crab; a bite of its plump and luscious flesh fragranced with garlic-flecked butter sauce is all it took to convince one that the spot deserves its place on Zagat's 2014 '10 hottest restaurants in the world' list.