When I first heard about this yakiniku chain from Kumamoto, I was interested, and yet somehow never got so excited that I would go to ION Orchard for it (92 Orchard Turn #04-11A, 6634-1411). But a couple of months ago, I was told about how the grade of wagyu here was comparable to some of the best in Japan, so we came down here tonight to finally give it a try.
The menu took a while to navigate. Yes, they had the usual yakiniku grill in the center of each table, but I tried to veer toward the items that seemed the most unique, including a steak baked in Himalayan rock salt, as well as something that they claimed to be their "original signature dish," yakishabu. Unfortunately, both were letdowns. The former used a very lean rump cut that, while tender, just wasn't the fatty wagyu that we were expecting. And the yakishabu, described on the menu as thinly sliced meat that is "lightly boiled like shabu shabu then barbecued," had no broth to speak of to shabu shabu first like it suggested. It was just thinly sliced shabu shabu meat that went directly onto the grill.
It was only after tacking on that ribeye above did we finally get the marbling that we were after, and even then I'd argue that Yazawa is better. Oddly, the thing that we liked the most tonight was the rather unappealingly named "salted cabbage salad," which was fresh cabbage coated in a super fragrant sesame oil and seasoned with a delicious salt and hijiki combination. Well, there was an interesting weekday special featuring handmade pasta that might be interesting to come back for. But as far as the meat goes, it may be best to stick to the traditional yakiniku.
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