Muslim-owned flame-torched donburis with premium meats

I’ve but to know how rice bowls are a factor. I imply, I eat rice from a bowl and the one one that bats a watch is my mother for leaving my dish unwashed. Jokes apart, rice bowls have change into a quiet phenomenon — you see them all over the place today. And not like the considerably pretentious smoothie bowls, rice bowls play a task in being versatile and straightforward to eat. That was the expectation I had coming to Yugo Yakiniku situated at Jurong West Street 42.

Recently opened on 1 Oct 2022, Yugo Yakiniku is the brainchild of each Carol and Arayaan, associates who first met throughout their jobs as supply drivers. The pair had zero expertise in any food-related business and determined to arrange Yugo Yakiniku due to their ardour for cooking. They additionally particularly selected to open a yakiniku stall because it had a low barrier of entry and complemented their lack of cooking expertise.

And with lower than S$10,000, they efficiently opened their store after two months.

What I attempted at Yugo Yakiniku 

“You went to a yakiniku spot and got doburis instead?” First off, sure I did. Secondly, if I wished to cook dinner my very own meals, I’d cook dinner my very own meals at residence. Yugo Yakiniku has 4 Donburi choices: Chicken Aburi Don (S$5.50), Beef Aburi Don (S$6.50), Karubi Don (S$8) and Wagyu Cube Don (S$9.50). 

Each order of donburi was served with an onsen egg and corn. Every meat that accompanies the rice bowl is glazed with their selfmade particular MSG-free sauce that’s meant to permit the pure sweetness of the meat to come back by way of earlier than being torched. 

Its Yakiniku choices provide 12 variations of beef and rooster elements: Its most costly gadgets are the wagyu beef— wagyu striploin, wagyu dice, wagyu rump, whereas different extra wallet-friendly beef choices can be found as properly— beef brief rib, karubi, angus striploin, beef bacon, kata rosu.

There are additionally locally-based flavoured proteins comparable to satay-flavoured rooster thigh, beef dendeng and rooster dendeng.

My first donburi was the Wagyu Cube Don. The egg was cooked to a runny kind and it had a good quantity of wagyu cubes (or so I believed). I couldn’t resist the temptation to strive a dice first, and what I received was a barely off-putting candy style. I do know the sauce was meant to launch the pure sweetness of the meat nevertheless it tasted like candied beef, and I’m positive mom nature by no means meant that.

On its personal, the sauce tasted like your common teriyaki sauce. Unfortunately, the style of wagyu beef received misplaced within the sauce.

I believed my second piece would sway my thoughts however what I received was a bit of literal beef fats. Normally, I might welcome this sudden change to blubber, however not once I’ve spent practically S$10 on wagyu cubes. I counted three fatty items in my dish.

Moving ahead, I had a very good time mixing the runny eggs with rice and corn. The corn added a refreshing burst of sweetness while the eggs gave it a creamy end. There was some furikake seasoning on the centre of the bowl, which added a pleasant depth to the seasonless eggs and rice. I simply wished there was extra of it. 

Visually, the Chicken Aburi Don doesn’t look as interesting because the wagyu cubes, nevertheless it blew it out of the water taste-wise. I couldn’t style the signature sauce (excellent news) however no matter flavours I received had been from the seasonings used, which I believed consisted of the dependable pepper and salt. 

There was additionally a definite torched style which was lacking from the wagyu cubes. Weirdly, the rooster was barely lukewarm regardless of the thrilling flavours.

Because of the seasonings from the rooster, it elevated each side of the bowl. The flavours of the eggs and rice had been extra profound when intermixed with the rooster slices.

There had been additionally loads of proteins that had been greater than sufficient to maintain the mixture of corn, rooster and rice at each spoonful until I polished off the whole bowl.

Final ideas 

If you contemplate the truth that they aren’t educated professionals within the meals and enterprise business and have solely operated for lower than 3 months, it’s a good effort to date. There is particular room for enchancment however I’m assured their ardour will drive them ahead. 

I extremely advocate the Chicken Aburi Don for its fillingness and wallet-friendly nature. It additionally managed to encapsulate the flavours from a yakiniku with out the trouble and mess of grilling it by your self.

Though, I would go away wagyu cubes on the demise of your individual cooking.

Expected harm: S$5.50 – S$9.50 per pax

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