Hey Hive!
Now that a lot of people here have already gotten vaccinated, I'm very happy to hear that Singapore is now allowing in-house dining again but obviously you have to be vaccinated. But since there aren't any restrictions this allows us to try out different food places again!
This was back in October when we were walking around the mall and decided to try a new restaurant instead of going to our usual favourite. It's a Japanese grilled meat restaurant called Abrui-En!
We've never tried this place before, but it was right next to another restaurant we frequent which has yummy tempura bowls but since it was a little crowded that day we thought we'd give Aburi-En a try!
Specialising in aburi or partially grilled meat (although technically it means flame-seared), Aburi-EN offers high quality donburi (rice bowls) using premium ingredients from Japan. They have a selection of Japanese and Australian wagyu, and boast a highly acclaimed A4/A5 Miyazaki wagyu which has won Japan's "National Wagyu Award" three consecutive times.
Their menu seems pretty affordable and they were reasonably filled on a weekday night but there wasn't a line and we did see some empty tables so we thought it was worth a shot.
I think they're most recognisable for their adorable pig-shaped lanterns hanging from the ceiling, or at least that's how I recognise them. The interior is quite inviting with lots of natural wood furnishings creating a warm ambience.
They even had a semi-open kitchen where you could see the chefs grilling the meat but it was beside the counter away from the seats. I guess it's just neater that way but it would've been nice to see them preparing the rice bowls while waiting.
There were quite a few seats and tables available but we got a booth right near the entrance so I didn't take a look in the back. Our table was just behind this screen of promotions. We didn't mind though; it was still pretty private since there weren't people nearby us.
After we were seated we took a look at the menu to see what kind of rice bowls they offered. Of course the priciest options were the rice bowls with their special top-grade Wagyu beef! But it was still fairly affordable for being A5 Wagyu:
These Butadon (grilled pork rice bowl) were the more average priced ones, made with tender chestnut pork that apparently came from carefully selected pigs! According to Aburi-En, these pig enjoy a natural diet of chestnuts which contributed to a tender juicy meat with some sweet nuance.
And just like any other Japanese restaurant here, they also have alternative Japanese dishes to try like chicken don, salmon don and even ramen!
They also had different combo rice bowls with different types of meat together, like varieties of pork with unagi.
Seeing all the pig lanterns gave us the impression that they must specialise in pork so we decided to try their pork rice bowls!
After about 10 minutes or so, our food arrived! Sean ordered one that was marked as "popular" on the menu called Iberico Hoho Don, which is a charcoal grilled Iberico pork jowl on rice! We had no idea what jowl was and found out it's a cut of pork from a pig's cheek. We've never heard of it before much less tried it so this was new.
It did look and smell really good though; even the bowl looked especially pretty and intricately designed!
And what a huge piece of meat too! There were about 5 pieces of pork slices this size, and they all had a similar char to them. It was a decently sized bowl; not too small but not that big either. For the price I'd say it's reasonable.
The meat was really nice and tender, and although it wasn't crispy (it is only partially grilled after all) it still had a nice grilled taste to it! The sauce they brushed on the meat was also really good and complementary; a little sweet to match the salty seasoning of the meat. It was really tasty!
After about 5 more minutes, my combo rice bowl arrived! This was the 3-Kinds Buta Combo Jyu, which is grilled premium pork belly, pork loin and Iberico pork jowl on rice.
So I also had some of Sean's pork jowl in my rice bowl as well, along with a few different types of pork. We shared the meat so we could taste all 3 kinds although by the end of it we still couldn't tell which was which. They all just tasted really yummy! I feel like this might've been the pork loin which I think was my favourite since it was the most tender.
While this was probably the pork belly, and the pork jowl looked the same as Sean's did but slightly smaller pieces. The pork belly was quite thick and a little tougher but still good.
But I felt like Sean's pork jowl was a bit more tender than my pork jowl, or the seasonings made it tastier or something. It was a little strange but Sean said he couldn't tell the difference.
Overall they were both really delicious! And we were so hungry we finished the bowls in about 10 minutes! I felt like there wasn't enough rice in my bowl/box since I wanted to savour the meat and eat it with more rice, especially since I had 3 types of pork but was lacking. The sauce was really good too though.
One of Sean's credit cards gave him a promotion for free dessert so we got to enjoy a scoop of matcha ice cream after our meal! This was a pleasant surprise since we were prepared to leave already but we sat for a bit to enjoy our dessert.
Neither of us are big matcha fans (as I mentioned last week when we went to matcha cafe) but thankfully it wasn't too strong or bitter and was actually a nice palate cleanser.
Overall, it was a really delicious meal! I wouldn't say it's very filling, but it was very yummy and we haven't really had grilled pork in a long time so this was a nice experience. And since Singaporeans are crazy for Japanese food, this place is probably packed on weekends.
If you get the chance I'd recommend it if you're in the mood for some grilled meat or want to try wagyu without having to grill it yourself! The prices are fairly reasonable too so give it a try!
Thanks so much for reading!
To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!
Congratulations, your post has been added to Pinmapple! 🎉🥳🍍
Did you know you have your own profile map?
And every post has their own map too!
Want to have your post on the map too?
Aburi han looks so cool I love the pig lanterns 😍😍😍 so cute 😍😍😍😍😍 the food look awesome too😍😍