Well it was supposed to be a quiet little Italian birthday dinner tucked away in some obscure part of Bukit Timah the day before. But I had a craving for beef and was feeling particularly carnivorous.
And so instead of popping down to our usual
Ko at The Intercontinental for their insanely expensive Wagyu that you cook yourself on hotstones (oolala!), we checked out Aburiya at Roberston Quay instead. Turned out to be a fabulous place for Sumiyaki or the Japanese traditional charcoal grill.
You know Robertson Quay is Singapore's own veritable little
Shinjuku Central. OK
sans the schoolgirl bars and seedy salary-men watering holes lah =)) The sheer number of nice little Japanese eateries and restaurants here is simply amazing. We're also always at Miharu down the street at the Gallery Hotel for their Hokkaido Ramen. But I tell you the Quay is really a nice place to live in. What with all the swanky serviced-apartments and stylish wine boutiques in the same neighbourhood. And yet its still quiet and serene. Maybe we were there on a Monday evening =)) But I could really live here, seriously =P
Aburiya is not a big place. Inside, in air-conditioned comfort, it sits about, say, 25 tops. And outside (no smoking hor!!) roughly another 25. Its not a buffet so expect to choose from the
a la carte menu, which by the way is very beef-biased. Fine by me! =)) And so you have the top-of-the-line
Wagyu Ribeye Saikoro (cube-cuts),
Wagyu Jo Karubi (prime short-rib),
Hire (tenderloin),
Harami (outside skirt) to stuff like tripe, intestines, tongue and get this, the cow's fourth stomach =/
The grill is small but intense. Probably due to the good-quality charcoal that they use. Not the usual smelly, smokey BBQ that makes your hair stink even 5 hours after a shampoo and shower.
Clockwise from left, we had the
Tontoro (fatty pork cheek slices that you grill to a crisp.
Sedap!), some pork sausage slices with cheese,
Onigiri (traditional Japanese rice balls), a couple of
Wagyu Jo Karubi slices and finally a sliver of garlic sausage. As I write this I am starting to drip again..=))
Ahhh and yes, the
Wagyu Ribeye that sizzles beautifully and melts in your mouth. Got me Mooo-ing uncontrollably =))
I had a Sapporo and K, a
Shochu Grapefruit. Notice that you are required to squeeze the citrus fruit yourself and pour the juice into your glass of potent 'ice-water'. For the uninitiated,
Shochu is not
Sake. Its an alcoholic beverage which is not brewed (like
Sake) but distilled and comes from a variety of raw materials like potato, buckwheat (soba) and barley, apart from rice.
Shochu, it seems, is fast gaining popularity over its traditional
Sake rival in Japan.
After dinner we popped by Bar Opiume (next door to
Indochine Waterfront) at the Asian Civilizations Museum along the other Quay, Boat Quay, for some after-dinner jazz and cocktails. A nice quartet which churned out old Harry Connick Jr, Nat King Cole and Diana Krall favorites served to help settle the cattle romp we had earlier =))
Can't remember the names of the 2 cocktails we ordered. Suffice to say they were supposed to be old
Indochine favorites. One had tequila as the base liquor and the other was a blended margarita I think =))
Good food, splendid drinks and great company. What more could I ask for.