Saturday 20 April 2013

Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ Restaurant



Have heard alot about this BBQ restaurant but did not get to try it till now.  It uses the traditional charcoal grill unlike alot of BBQ which using electric hot plate.  I tried the branch at UE square, no reservations are required even on a Saturday evening, probably because it is not very wallet friendly.



We decided to go for the Fuku Set which have a variety of meat, sides and dessert.  The Fuku set cost 179 for 2 person excluding taxes and service charge.  It is quite a good deal as compared to ordering ala-carte.


After ordering the staff will setup the charcoal for you, as you wait for arrival of the meat the salad is served.


The wakame salad is very nice, the sauce complements it perfectly and the vegetables does not have the raw taste.  If you are wondering what is the black cloth like thing beside, its the apron for you to keep your clothes clean during the BBQ and while indulging in the meat.


Hence comes the meat, all the meat are of very high quality hence I feel its worth the price.


Both of us do not have experience cooking with charcoal and our meat get burnt during the first try.  Although charcoal grill produces very flavourful meat but you need to watch your meat and really cook with care.  DO NOT place your meat right in the centre where the flame is burning furiously.  Ask for help if you are not sure how to do it, the staff are quite friendly and offer their help when they see us 'burning' the meat.


BBQ assorted mushroom, I have never been a fan of mushrooms but I must say that this really taste good, it brings out a flavour which you normally do not get with the normal pan fried mushrooms at home.  The staff helped us cook this as we are not sure how long we need to cook them.


Cooking more meat, sorry no pictures of cooked meat as it went straight into our mouth after it is cooked.  As you can see we are still putting the meat at the centre so we can get to eat it faster, haha.  But you have to watch it real diligently.


Next is the Ishiyaki Mentaiko, a very well balanced rice dish cook in hot stone.  Not sure what seasoning is in it but there is definitely mentaiko and some garnishes.  The rice is very well done and abit salty, I can really eat it on its own for a meal.  This is the last main dish, there is also another dish which I did not capture: Gindara Miso (Cod fish in miso sauce).

And finally completing our meal with desserts.  We chose the Gyu Kaku ice cream and the matcha ice cream.  Its quality ice-cream but nothing special, I still prefer my Haagen Daz ice cream.

Overall the meal is very good, if you are looking for quality meat, charcoal grill and good service, I will recommend this place.  They have branches at Anchor Point and Millenia Walk as well.

81 Clemenceau Avenue
#01-18/19 UE Square
Daily: 11.30-14.30, 18.00-23.30

Sunday 14 April 2013

QSFB: Quay Side Fish Bar & Bistro

QSFB is located at the Quayside Isle inside the Sentosa Cove Village.  To get here you can take Bus 3 from Sentosa Beach Station and alight at Sentosa Cove Village and walk towards Quayside Isle (about 5 mins away).  For those driving here you will need to pay the Sentosa admission to enter the island, there are ample parking here rates (correct at time of publishing) as follows:

7.00am - 12.59am: S$3.50 per entry
1.00am - 6.59am: S$1.50 per entry


Quayside Isle is still a fairly new place, most of my friends are not aware of this place although it opened around mid December last year (2012).  I like the setting here, it gives me a very carefree feel away from the busy and fast paced city life.  There are people strolling with dogs, kids playing, lovers just admiring the scenary.  Hope this place doesn't get crowded and noisy like the city.


There are quite a number of restaurants here and its a good place to chill.  But in this post I will be blogging about QSFB.


Initially I had wanted to try the restaurants at the start of the stretch but the dining tables are all reserved, the manager offered some sofa seats but they are just uncomfortable for eating with low lying tables.  It turns out to be a blessing in disguise as I chance upon QSFB which isn't crowded and has a cosy feel so I decided to give it a try.


A look inside the restaurant.  They have quite a selection of wine and cocktail.


The seafood listed on the blackboard.


The menu has some standard dishes but they also have fresh seafood and it changes depending on the catch they have which I think is good as this means I can try different dishes when I am here.  These fresh seafood are listed on the blackboard and you can choose the type of cooking method you want for your dishes.  However do note that a S$25 cooking charge is added to each fresh item you ordered from the blackboard and it comes with 1 side dish.  I find the selection of side dishes a bit limited, would be good if they can have like 10 side dishes(5 cold and 5 hot) to choose from.


There is quite a selection of fresh fishes.  If you are curious like me the right most fish is the Alfonsino, we ordered the 2nd fish from the right, any idea what fish is it?  No prizes for guessing correctly though, its the red grouper, think I am addicted to the grouper after the Batam trip.  The staff is also very help and patient in explaining to me what fish there are and the type of cooking method that compliment each type of fish.


Here are the oysters and Boston lobster.  We ordered both of them.

The crab legs and Canada crayfish.


Here comes our first dish. The 3 types of oyster (Canadian, Irish, US Kumamoto), there is a minimum order of half a dozen but you can mix and match the different types of oyster.  The biggest and most juicy one is the one in focus at the front of the photo, the Canadian Oyster.  The right one is the US Kumamoto and the one at the back is the Irish oyster.  I still prefer Canadian oyster.


This is the pan-seared red grouper, I find the seasoning a bit salty but the fish is very fresh and goes will with the cooking method.  It is about 600grams.  I chose the sautéed vegetables as the side dish (not in photo).


The herb crusted Boston lobster.  The meat is very juicy and 'bouncy', actually I didn't expect so much meat so its quite worth it.  Oh ya the claws has alot of meat as well.  It weighs 560grams.  The sides for this is truffles fries, which I think is quite good which right proportion of truffle.

A very satisfying meal indeed, the total bill comes to around S$200+, which I find reasonable.  Will definitely come back again.

31 Ocean Way
#01-11 Quayside Isle
Sun - Thu: 12:00 - 00:00
Fri - Sat: 12:00 - 01:00