Gyukaku

Gyukaku is a Japanese chain of Korean BBQ restaurants which has over 800 branches in Japan and a smattering of branches elsewhere. There are 2 in Singapore, one at Chijmes and the other at UE Square. Have been there about 5 times in the past year.

The last time there was for lunch (better value) and the 2 of us ordered a Wagyu set for 2 which costs $36++. For that each person gets about 5 slices of lightly seasoned beef (wish I had photos), each 4cm x 5 cm x 1 cm, 3 wagyu cubes, 1 small saucer of kimchi, some cabbage salad, a bowl of Bibimba (rice with mince meat and vegetables, and a small fruit.

Each table is equipped with a device that fans the charcoal briquettes and removes the fumes.

As we sat down, first thing that struck me in the UE branch was "it's cold here". When the preheated charcoal arrived, things became more comfy.

The bibimba rice was pretty tasty and both of us liked it (2nd time for me).

The meat itself was from 3 different Australian wagyu cuts, total quantity probably about 100g per person, so if you really carnivorous, you can always add the $4 chicken teriyaki or $5 buta karubi (pork belly) optional extra to top up. The beef was all nicely marbled so I was thankful for the small quantity cos I was thinking of my arteries - "quality not quantity". Grilled over the charcoal, it was really nice. But with every visit, the novelty seems to wear a bit and I couldn't help thinking "this is not quite as good as the last time" so maybe I should abstain for a few months.

The rest of the food was not really worth talking about - not bad but nothing fantastic.

Total damage was about S$45 for the 2 of us. (The previous visit, we ordered a la carte and spent about S$70 with about 500g of meat but no premium cuts)

My only wish is that they would price it like in Japan, where you can "eat all you can" for under 2000 yen (S$27) - but I suppose my arteries my protest.

No MSG added.