[CLOSED] Aburiya (Boat Quay)

@aburiyasg at Boat Quay has recently launched their SAKE ELITE CLUB membership, whereby members are entitled to a special price (up to 30% OFF) for more than 20 varieties of sake! Points and other membership promos are included too.😄

To complement your chosen sake, there’s a carefully curated Sake Special Appetizer Set (for Sake members only) going for just SGD10! Giving you plenty of bang for your buck, the set includes:
👉Namuru Mori
👉Wagyu Roast Beef
👉Nikomi (Japanese Stew)
👉Edamame
Note that each item may change seasonally.

Now for the main highlight, here’s the sake we enjoyed:
👉 Kamoshibito Kuheiji Junmai Daiginjo (720ml) - SGD85
Usual Price: SGD110 for non Sake members

Contains various flavour profiles of fruits like melons & peaches, with spices like cumin and small hints of lychee, wood leaf & Japanese cypress. I highly recommend this!👍

Swipe left👈 to check out their full list of sake🍶(currently 25)

❗️Click the link in @aburiyasg bio to make a reservation online now
‼️For more info on the SAKE ELITE CLUB membership, access the URL below:
🌐https://bit.ly/SakeEliteClub

💌Thank you @aburiyasg for the warm hospitality!☺️

📍Aburiya @ Boat Quay
79 Boat Quay, S049867
🚇#widRafflesPlace #widClarkeQuay
☎️6532 0365 / 8499 6064

We went to this restaurant to celebrate his birthday in Feb, after seeing many good reviews by previous customers. The food lived up to its reputation, we ordered the different tiers of Wagyu Beef Karubi (Short Plate) and some other Wagyu Beef portions to try, those were delicious and they really melted in the mouths. However, our favorite was still the Karubi, it was just so much more fragrant, regardless of the tiers. The environment was fully air conditioned, and there was no smokey smell even after the meal. The restaurant was nice enough too, to give us free matcha ice cream as a token of appreciation, since it was a birthday celebration. Overall, it was a very enjoyable dining experience, highly recommended for a special day!

As believers of the “nose to tail” philosophy, @aburiyasg respectfully ensure that they use all cuts of the Japanese Wagyu Beef to minimize any wastage and also to showcase the various unique cuts of beef to us. Offering a complete yakiniku experience, you get to grill the Japanese Wagyu meats over “bincho” yourselves. Meaning if you overcooked it, it’s your fault liao arh…😂

👉Tokusen Kazoku Mori - SGD88
Selection of 3 Premium Wagyu, Outside Skirt, Wagyu Finger Rib, Pork Belly, Chicken, Sausage, Vegetables
👉Garlic Chahan - SGD13
Fried Rice with Garlic & Beef

Since they didn’t bother to introduce the mori, I wasn’t exactly sure about (as in which part of the cow, etc) the 3 different Tokusen Wagyu cuts that were served to us. Nevertheless, these premium wagyu cuts come with a melt-in-your-mouth texture🤤 and didn’t disappoint at all.

Sadly, we didn’t enjoy the rest of the random beef cuts. Probably due to its connective tissues, the Wagyu Finger Rib was pretty chewy and tough. The Outside Skirt was slightly more tender but it didn’t have that beefy flavour we desire.

Lastly, there was nothing much to shout about for the pork belly, chicken, sausage & vegetables since they were pretty standard stuff.

Special mention goes out to the tasty fried rice, which kept their distinct grains and had hints of smokiness from the flames.

❗️Just go for their Tokusen Wagyu series. It’s their best cuts of meat available😉

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

📍Aburiya
1️⃣78 & 79 Boat Quay, S049886
2️⃣60 Robertson Quay 01-03, S238252

Smaller portions available, calculate which is the most worth it(it's not the same) before you order

If you come here, I highly recommend getting this. It's like getting the whole cow cos u get to taste the shavings from many different parts. There's a variety of textures and flavours to go around, and there's one especially prominent flavour that's different from the rest which is very enjoyable.

Caveat: because of the weird shapes, it's a challenge to cook. Make sure one of the diners is skilled or else it won't be as enjoyable. Very often one piece is much thicker at one end than the other, requiring some problem solving to cook well. Another caveat is that some pieces are almost 90% fat, which might not be ok w some people(it's wagyu fat tho which is worth a lot anyway lol), but no worries these pieces are few and far between, and they remind you before you order this

Overall
Be reminded this is a casual yakiniku place, we paid 70 per pax and we were filled to the brim. The wagyu is not the best, it's obviously authentic wagyu and the umami from the fats is clear, but the texture has some chew. Not the melt in your mouth stuff. Idk about the jokarubi tho, the best cut that day was karubi and that still has chew. we didn't get the insanely good cuts which should fare better

Abit disappointed cos we thought we're getting different cuts but all 3 were from the shoulder. It's called rare because there literally isn't much of it on the cow, not because it's rarely served. Taste was ok, it's average A4.

Tokusen Mori:
Forgot to take pic of tokusen Mori but please please please ask them what's the cut of the day before ordering. It's not very satisfying at all, we had 2 good pieces I think and we even got MOMO(thigh) which wasn't very good at all

Rant/Overall/service
This place isn't top tier, let's be clear about that. It satisfies yakiniku cravings but really have to adjust expectations. When the first person came in the charcoal came(could be because they timed our reservation), and so we sat around the heat for a good 20mins before the first meat was ordered and served. And maybe because it was burning away aimlessly for so long, but when we grilled the meat the heat wasn't nearly hot enough. There isn't as much sear as I expect.
Also, they're pretty handwavy about explanations of cuts of meat. Little effort, some of them don't know what's going on, and those that do just say the name in Japanese without explaining further. Either they somehow found out I spoke Japanese or they just anyhow mention to all diners(after prompting no less)

They're nice people though, bringing paper towels for us after we came through the rain

Awesome and Value Set meal for 2pax. Came with a selection of meat, salad, rice, soup, veg, kimchi and beef tongue. The raw Wagyu Tataki was really good starter that we added on with no regrets.