Il Toro Woodfire Grill Blackmore Steak

Post by Chiefeater Luke Soon

Another new exciting concept has opened at Gemmill Lane after La Vache!, where I checked out Il Toro Woodfire Grill by AC Concepts, touted as a modern Italian woodfire grill with a distinct Australian soul helmed by Chef Drew Nocente. This is also the same group behind restaurants like Cenzo, Chicco Pasta Bar and Nomada. The name Il Toro (“The Bull” in Italian) is inspired by Chef Drew’s family farm in Australia.

Il Toro’s interiors take on a warm and intimate setting denominated by dark wood panels, exposed brick walls, textured concrete finishes, leather seating, and preserved original columns. It is an open kitchen concept with a very sexy stove for grilling made from Australian ironbark wood. There is also a private dining room for up to 8 guests.

The Food

The concept here is cooking over flame where 90% of the cooking is done over the woodfire grill. The menu is designed around a series of starters and the meats where you can expect prime cuts of beef to seafood and sides. You can choose to do ala carte orders or opt for the Chefs Feast (S$118) which features a selection of dishes & cuts.

The beverage program complements the fire-led menu with cocktails built around rum, whisky, and gin, while the wine list highlights low-intervention producers from Italy and Australia.

My meal started with the Focaccia, beef fat candle (S$8) which is not a typical bread course as it comes with a burning candle. Dip the fresh and crisp focaccia into the melted beef fat and it is amazing.

I also like the Coffin Bay Oysters with yuzu koshu & smoked beef fat (S$6/piece), a delicious and fresh flavour of the oysters here.

The Chickpea chips with herb emulsion & ikura (S$5/piece) is an interesting starter inspired from Chef’s Salted and Hung days. I am not a big fan of chickpea so I am quite neutral about this dish.

Next up was the Octopus, Nduja, burnt chive butter & miso corn (S$36), which I highly recommend. Lovely texture of the octopus here along with the Nduja sauce, and needless to say, I enjoyed the burnt corns.

I also highly recommend the Tiger Prawns, garlic chilli (S$32/4pcs) where the garlic chilli sauce really complements it well.

From the charcoal grilled meats, no regrets going for the Stone Axe Wagyu MS9 Ribeye 300g (S$120) where the glorious beef was beautifully cooked to medium-rare.
The highlight for the wood fired meats = Blackmore wagyu ms9+ tri tip , which is unique to Il Toro Woodfire Grill.

Definitely worth a repeat – overall 7.5/10. If the prices weren’t so steep this would be an 8/10.

Business Hours
Monday to Saturday
12:00 pm to 02:30 pm
05:30 pm to 10:30 pm

Closed on Sunday