Yakinikutei Ao-Chan

While I have been a fan of solo-dining-themed Japanese BBQ restaurants as of late (love you Yakiniku-like), I still appreciate a good old-school Japanese BBQ Restaurant. And here comes my recent visit to Yakinikutei Ao-Chan to celebrate my meat-loving dad’s birthday. A bit of a splurge, the Japanese Wagyu Assorted ($66/ 170g) came with the option of salted or sauce and we went with the former to get the natural beefy flavours. They were indeed well-marbled, robust and cooked pretty quickly on the grill. However, for an affordable (more satisfying) cut, the beef Belly Tender Prime ($22.80) came recommended by the staff. With better value, the rather fatty, (wee bit) thicker cuts arrived nicely seasoned with sauce. We also had the thinly sliced Ox Tongue Prime with Salt and Pepper ($22). I have tried Ox tongue less than a handful of times and generally don’t like it for its usual chewiness but theirs was one of the better ones as the mild-tasting cut was surprisingly melty and succulent. Lastly, we had the Iberian Pork Assorted ($50 / 300g) with cuts of secreto, ton toro and ton toro karubi. They were decadently fatty, moreish and offered up more varied textural bites.

Their garlic rice ($7) was really good & cheap compared to other japanese restaurants. Although the total bill came out to be a bit hefty, the whole experience was worrh it. There was 5 different type of beef to try. Great to try out their different cuts.

This. Literally. Melted. In. My. Mouth. It doesn’t taste like beef at all because it melted the moment it was in my mouth. It was $38 for 8 slices of beef but i would say it is definitely worth trying since you can’t travel to Japan right now. SO GOOD.

Clean, a bit more flavour than it seems, and the oxtail was very tender

The ume was hard and so difficult to eat, but it does a nice job or perfuming the rice with a citrusy fragrance to cut thru the fattiness of the meat

Tell me that doesn't look like A5. Totally melts in your mouth, really lucky to get such a marbled piece despite it being supposedly A4. Flame the exterior, rest it as the fat renders more, and enjoy. Gets jelak so don't order too many of this first