Wagyu Shabu at Azuma

This shabu shabu place interestingly opened just a couple doors away from Ohsumi, one of my favorite spots in Singapore. I was actually at Ohsumi last night, but things had changed a bit since the last time I was there: the staff's attempts to keep you serviced were excessive, the physical menu and logo had been altered, and it was really crowded (the manager was very defensively unfriendly when I asked if the owner had changed or something - and he adamantly denied that anything had changed). Well, the food was still of very good quality, but then I started to wonder if all of those changes were because of the pressure that Azuma was giving it next door. So tonight I went to Azuma to find out (Cuppage Plaza #03-01/02, 6738-9395).

Azuma turned out to be the single-serving bar-style that the old Kiraku back on the second floor used to be like. The chef prepares all the ingredients in front of you, starting from the salad to the slicing of the meat, and on to cleaning some of the shabu shabu pot for you. The only beef selection was the wagyu beef though, so it was a bit pricey, but of course that money goes into the soft tenderness and tastiness of the meat. The portions were smaller than Ohsumi's, so I nearly reached for the menu to try to order more. Fortunately I didn't. He finished off the meal with a rice-and-egg mixture using all the remaining broth in the pot, which was quite a nice touch.

So is it better than Ohsumi? Yes, but it was more so because of the wagyu beef, which you had to pay more for...nearly twice as much. Ohsumi's quality is still really really good (and I like their sesame sauce better), so my choice is still to go back to Ohsumi (especially since it looks like they have started to offer an "all-you can eat" version, including beer and sake). Still, I plan to come back to Azuma to try out their sushi one of these days. They've split the restaurant in two, and the other half is a sushi bar. I'm still on a quest to try to find good sushi in Singapore.