Emporium Shokuhin's GYUU+ Yakiniku (焼肉) in Marina Square!

Unless you've been living under a rock, you'll undoubtedly have heard about Emporium Shokuhin. It's a huge, 34-thousand-square-feet-of-mall-space area housing a Japanese grocer with all manner of Japanese goodies, a seafood market both frozen and fresh (lots of premium choices like Japanese Hairy Crab and King Crab), a dry-aged meat butcher, and eight different dining concepts.

Of the eight different restaurants, GYUU+ is the Yakiniku (焼肉) eatery, serving up grilled seafood and various meats (some more premium than others). It's a tad bit disappointing that GYUU+ opted to go with gas-powered flame grills instead of Japanese binchotan charcoals; nevertheless we take our seats and start with some orders of salted pork belly ($15), scallops ($16 for a pair) and salmon fillet ($12).


When the Japanese eat Yakiniku, they typically "eat their way across a cow," trying different cuts of meat from different parts - including more exotic bits like the tongue and tripe (stomach). GYUU+, probably recognizing that Singaporeans aren't quite as adventurous, stick firmly to safer waters; for example these cubes of Miyazaki Wagyu ($23/100gm). The menu doesn't list where these cubes are cut from (or what the quality/marble score is), so one can only assume that they're from a less desirable part of the cow.


We also had an order of US Prime Striploin ($26/100gm) which, impressively enough, seems to hold its own against the Japanese beef in the marbling department.


Let's eat! We mentioned earlier that we would have preferred charcoal: It burns hotter (flame is technically hotter, but it doesn't transfer radiant heat to food well), thus you can get a nicer sear on your meat. Plus, as the fat drips off it hits the coals and vaporizes into flames which impart an aroma that you simply don't get over flame.


Flame, however, is still plenty good enough. We were quite impressed with the hot plates / grill that GYUU+ employs: It's non-stick and the gaps are small enough so we're never worried about losing a piece of meat.


Strangely, we ended up liking the USDA Prime more than the Miyazaki Wagyu. We thoroughly enjoyed the beefy flavours in the Sirloin more than the additional fattiness of the Wagyu. Don't get us wrong, though, both cuts of beef were delicious. The rest of the items (pork and seafood) were perhaps a tad bit pedestrian in comparison.


After adding in rice ($3/bowl), napkins, water and other taxes and fees, we ended up paying $61 per person - which we think is quite acceptable considering the ingredients used.

GYUU+ is located within the Emporium Shokuhin area in Marina Square, and is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner. Reservations +65 6224 3433 (probably not really required). Non-halal.