Aburi-En

My first time trying Aburi-En was at the Vivocity branch which had a snaking long queue. We waited a long while, watching the cook grill loads of beef and pork, and wondering when it would be our turn to be seated. Food was not bad although I don't remember thinking that it was worth the long queue.

My second time at Aburi-En was at the Suntec City branch. We wanted to go for the Salted Plum but it was crazy crowded so we decided to head to Aburi-En instead.

I always go for the Aburi Salmon Don ($13) since I don't take beef and I have reduced the amount of pork I eat these days too. It was nicely done, with just the right amount of torching. Not too burnt, still a little pink inside and shiny with abundant amount of fish oil released during the torching process.

I chose to add a salad with my Aburi Don which was an additional $1.50. ZG had the popular Buta Bara Don ($15) which was grilled pork belly and he said it was not bad. In addition to a salad, ZG also had an onsen egg which was another $1.50.

My views about Aburi-En remained the same after trying two branches. The food is decent, service is attentive but I will not wait in line for this. This is probably the sort of place you would drop by to have a quick meal in a shopping centre as opposed to a restaurant you would make a special trip to eat their food.

Vivocity #01-159

Suntec City #B1-121 (West Wing)

Opening hours 11 am to 10 pm daily

Uya Japanese Unagi Restaurant

Met Stef for lunch on a lazy Sunday in town for unagi! I've just tried Man Man Unagi at their new branch at Clarke Quay central and was rather excited to try Uya since both shops specialise in unagi!

Stef made a reservation and we were ushered to our table swiftly. They were open earlier than their usual opening hours and there were already folks sitting inside the restaurant. Wow such early birds.

After settling down we both ordered the Hitsumabushi. It took a while for our food to be served and I assume it's because the chefs are hard at work grilling our eels in the kitchen. I was constantly distracted by the chefs at work in the kitchen behind the glass windows.   

When our food arrived I was very pleased with the generous portions of eel sitting on a mound of fragrant rice! The Hitsumabushi came with a flask of dashi stock, nori and wasabi.

There were instructions as to how to eat the Hitsumabushi but after a while I simply alternated between eating the unagi with rice or scooping it into a separate bowl and poured dashi stock into the bowl. The dashi stock was refillable.

I lost the pic of the food alone so here's us with our Hitsumabushi! The eel was delicious. I figured that Uya was different from Man Man unagi in that their eel was super crispy. It was like eating eel crackers. So if you like your eel grilled to a crisp then Uya is for you.

Ended our lunch with some drinks at Starbucks and a good catch up. Thanks Stef for the birthday treat!

501 Orchard Road

#02-15/16 Wheelock Place

Singapore 238880

67321096

Monday to Sunday 12 to 230 pm, 6 pm to 930 pm (till 10 pm on Friday and Saturday)