On the fourth floor of Orchard ION lies a small door to an upscale yakiniku restaurant which can be easily missed among the various dining options available on the same level. Especially when there is no waitress standing at the entrance, it would be difficult to spot this place since the restaurant itself is situated one floor above and can only be accessed through this entrance or via the carpark on level 5. Magosaburou specialises in wagyu i.e. Japanese beef thus I had my reservations about visiting this place because of the lack of options for non-beef items and the fact that the prices are rather high. Considering its location, atmosphere and service standard, I can understand why the prices are marked up but as to whether I may return for a second visit, that would depend largely on whether there are more options for someone like me who doesn't eat beef.
Magosaburou offers two types of dipping options to eat with your meat i.e. the tare (sauce) or shio (salt). I don't have a particular preference for either type but I did notice that the taste of the same type of meat can differ greatly depending on which dipping option you choose. There are people who swear by either of these options but my suggestion is to try both and see which suits your tastes more. Frankly speaking, I thought the shio was more to my liking because it brings out the original flavour of the meat compared to the tare which sort of alters the taste. I can't remember exactly but there was a place where I liked the tare more than the shio so I guess the composition of the tare plays a role in determining whether I would like it or not. Maybe Magosaburou's version is just not my cup of tea?
Before the meat got served, I had a piece of the aburi hotate sushi which was served on a beautiful glass plate. The taste was great but to pay 8 bucks for a single piece of sushi seemed a bit too much. I had to keep reminding myself that the money wasn't just for the food itself but also the "extras" which come with fine dining. Much as I enjoyed the taste and novelty of the experience, this is probably what I would do once in a while only. Remember my previous post about Poulet? I would prefer my food to be tasty and filling so the extras like ambience and plating are things I can do without with. Nonetheless, I think for a yakiniku specialty like Magosaburou, the sushi is at least decent so I don't have any major issues with this dish.
After my recent trip to Japan where I truly enjoyed the rice there (somehow the rice there tastes a lot different from what we have in local Japanese restaurants), this was the first Japanese rice which I found that could be on par to what I tasted in Japan. I don't know exactly what brand or type of rice this is other than it's mentioned as organic rice on the menu. For a whooping 6 dollars for this small bowl of rice, I was a bit sceptical on whether it is truly value for money. However, the nice fragrance of the rice and its taste won me over very quickly. It was of the right texture (not too soft or not too hard) and it was great to see each grain clearly defined in the bowl. I wonder how they manage to make the rice taste so good?
For people like me who don't eat beef, there are three types of pork and one type of chicken to choose from in addition to some seafood options. It was not clearly specified which cut of the chicken this was but each dish was tagged with a slip of paper to indicate the type of meat so that you know what you are eating. I left it to the staff to do the grilling for me and they shared an interesting tidbit with me that the locals i.e. Singaporeans tend to leave the grilling to them while Japanese customers prefer to do it themselves. When I looked around, it was exactly as what they described although I suppose there would be exceptions. I think I would not mind doing it myself if I wasn't starving at that time and if there had been a device to suck out the smoke like what we usually see in Korean BBQ restaurants. Coming back to the taste of the chicken, I thought it was pretty ordinary. Portion-wise, I would have wanted more pieces since this plate cost me 15 dollars.
Luckily, the kurobuta jowl was more pleasing to the palate and again, I wish the portion would have been bigger to justify the price tag. As for whether it tasted better with tare or shio, I think it fared better when paired with the latter. As Magosaburou essentially focuses more on its wagyu than other types of meat, I would expect that its beef offerings should be of a higher standard than what I experienced from the pork and chicken selections. It would be nice if they could offer more choices for people like me who don't eat beef or those who just happen to want to eat something other than beef on a particular day. Otherwise, I find it difficult to justify a repeat visit especially when I can get meat of a similar quality elsewhere in substantial portions and lower prices, albeit without the same upscale atmosphere.
Out of the seafood options available for grilling, I chose the crab leg which was truly disappointing. I found that this was overcooked and it was difficult to remove the crab meat from the shell as it was so tough to chew. I believe it had lost most of its moisture during the grilling process thus the freshness and flavour of the crab leg was gone by the time it was served. Again, to cut Magosaburou some slack, its signature item is the wagyu so there is a likelihood that its other items may not be as nice. However, if these items are to be offered on the menu permanently, there is a need to put in more effort to ensure that what's served is decent enough. Considering the price, I won't recommend ordering this item and think it is a better idea to stick to the meat options.
Last but not least, the dessert I chose was the tiramisu. On hindsight, I should have chosen something more Japanese because they might have done a better job with it. Let's just say that this version of the tiramisu is forgettable and that there would have been better options elsewhere at lower prices.
On the whole, Magosaburou would be a place to go to entertain business associates, friends from overseas or for some special occasions because of its nice appearance and good service. However, to go back to it on a regular basis, there needs to be more pull factors for me at least to justify the high price tag and small portions. I think the lack of consistency in terms of quality among the various dishes and absence of options for people who don't like or eat beef will be a deterrent for repeat customers. Perhaps the viewpoint from a beef lover would be different but in my case, I doubt that I'll be heading back anytime soon.
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