Saturday, September 13, 2014

Japan's Shabu Shabu On-Yasai in Singapore

Shabu Shabu

I was really looking forward to this. See, it was a chain from Japan that had landed over at CHIJMES (30 Victoria Street #01 - 03/04, 6336-4002), and it's been a while since I've had some proper Japanese shabu shabu. So I was a bit shocked after being seated here and seeing a Gyu-Kaku logo on the menu. Oh no - were these guys related to Gyu-Kaku?? They were.

See, I don't like Gyu-Kaku. I've been wanting to like it, trying it a few times to give it as many chances as possible, but I just haven't liked it, mainly because they tend to emphasize seasonings over the natural taste of the food itself. And unfortunately, this shop did too. Both of the broths that we had were sweet and unappealing. And the staff was so eager to please that they kept interrupting our conversations, just as they did at Gyu-Kaku.

That's too bad, as the quality of the raw ingredients themselves was fine. Maybe we should have just gone for Sichuan hot pot at Shi Li Fang or Xian La Dao. Or if we had wanted to stick to Japanese shabu shabu, then we could have just gone to Ohsumi, even if that place has changed a bit too. Well, at least I tried it. I just don't think I'm going back.

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