Superb cheap charcoal Yakiniku (焼肉) at Aburiya, Boat Quay!

👍 A great balance between cheap off-cuts and pricey premium ones.
👎 Our charcoal pit started losing heat 2/3 way through dinner.

What, to you, is needed for a good Yakiniku (焼肉)? For us, it's these criteria ...
✓ A Charcoal Grill
✓ Good selection of highly marbled meats
✓ A wallet-friendly price

... of which, of course, most places normally only meet two out of three.

We then heard that Aburiya over at Boat Quay might be able to check all three boxes, though, so we headed over on a Friday night to check it out!


The main reason we're here is for their Aburiya Kiriotoshi Tokumori which, at about $16/100gm, is remarkably cheap. Naturally there's a catch: these are the assorted cut-off ends of all the various other types (and cuts) of meat served in the restaurant, so you don't get to choose what cuts you want, and you don't get perfect, artfully arranged slices.


That's okay, though, because these are slices of proper yakiniku Wagyu and Tokachi* beef, and are almost as good as the pretty cuts!

* "Tokachi beef" is a brand of beef from the Tokachi region in Hokkaido. The Tokachi beef served in Aburiya are from a cross breed between Kuroge (黒毛) and Holstein cattle.


Aburiya does serve up a wide variety of more premium cuts and meats too, though! We added on an order of Wagyu Jo Karubi ($16; higher grade available at $26) ...


... and an order of Atsugiri Tongue ($20; other grades available at $16 and $25).


Surprisingly, Aburiya serves the Jo Karubi in (relatively) thick, chunky slices - around 1.5cm rather than the 0.5cm or so that's typical for yakiniku. We like this quite a lot - the thicker slice means you can get a far better char on the edges while still maintaining a juicy, fatty, medium/medium-rare inside.


The tongue was also really good. We like the beefy flavour of yakiniku'ed beef tongue, but if it's not prepared properly it can be really tough. No such problems with this particular tongue!


Oh, we also ordered an obligatory Yasai Mori (assorted vegetables, $13), which turned out to be just so-so. If you want to keep a balanced diet, you'd probably be better off ordering something else like salad, or kimchi, or specific vegetables to throw onto the grill.


After adding on a couple of $5 soft drinks, a bowl of $3 rice, and taxes and service charge, the final bill came to $120.06 (for two people). So perhaps not so wallet friendly after all after adding on all the more premium extras. Nevertheless it's still a pretty good value, in our opinion, and totally worth a return visit.

Aburiya is at 79 Boat Quay (it's closer to Clarke Quay rather than Raffles Place). Reservations recommended: For our Friday night visit without reservations we had to wait for about 10 minutes for a table. Non-halal.

All you can eat Yakiniku (焼肉) Brunch Buffet @ Tajimaya, Vivocity!

Yakiniku (焼肉) is one of our favorite comfort foods. There's something remarkably therapeutic about grilling (and wolfing down) slices of different meats and parts over red hot charcoal. Unfortunately, a great Yakiniku dinner (lots of super marbled, various different cuts from an A5 wagyu cow) is expensive, and sometimes we just want to burn some cow without breaking the bank.


Enter Tajimaya's all-you-can-eat Yakiniku Brunch Buffet! It's only available on weekends, and frankly the variety isn't all that great (only three cuts of beef available), but s$49.90/person is pretty reasonable for free flow meat.


First up though, some sashimi. Salmon was pretty good, fresh with a nice amount of fat, whereas the Tuna was par for the course for non-specialist Japanese restaurants (that is to say, a little rough in texture and not all that good tasting).


After appeasing our guilt with the "healthy" raw fish, it's on to the meats! We tried all three types of beef, the kurobuta pork belly, the lamb, an assortment of mushrooms and sweet corn. Oh, free flow of Pepsi and 7-Up is included in the buffet price.


Obviously the Wagyu (probably from Australia or some other non-Japanese country) short plate was the most marbled - nice fatty streaks - but short plate is really one of the cheaper cuts of the cow. It comes from the belly, outside the ribs, and tends to be a little tougher and chewier than other muscles that do less work. Nice beefy flavour though!


Of special note (to avoid) is the lamb - we don't know what cut it came from but it was tough, dry, and altogether forgettable. The pork belly, on the other hand: juicy, oily, fatty, and crispy in the corners thanks to the heat from the charcoal.


Speaking of charcoal, we're big believers of the charcoal BBQ. For starters, the radiant heat is higher than gas or electricity, allowing you to get a better sear / crust. But most importantly, there's a subtle smoke from grilling over charcoal that you don't get from the other two methods. Not from the charcoal itself, mind you, but from the fats and juices that drip off the meat, hit the coals, and combust in a flash of flames and smoke, flavouring the meat. Yummy.


Of course, while we would have preferred some additional variety - like beef tongue, or beef tripe - you can't have a buffet and have tons of variety and keep the price down. Also, there's a published time limit of 100 minutes, but we sat at our table for considerably longer and weren't chased away.


Tajimaya's Brunch Buffet is served from 11.30am-4.00pm on weekends and public holidays. We don't know how long the promotion will run for, so do head down there and take advantage of the offer while it lasts!

Tajimaya Yakiniku is at #01-102/103, Vivocity, Singapore. Non-Halal.