Popular Japanese grill opens at Boat Quay
I’ve been let down by many purportedly “great” steak and grill places in Singapore. Their meat is almost always overdone and quite dry. However, the Japanese grilling technique married with good cuts of meat is a winning combination at Wakanui.
Wakanui Grill Dining opened in Tokyo in 2011 by a New Zealand-based meat company, hence the usage of prime New Zealand cuts with the binchotan charcoal grill. Its feature dishes are grain-fed beef from New Zealand – introduced in Singapore for the first time – and grilled New Zealand lamb chops.
Meat FIESTA
I thoroughly enjoyed their starter of Short Loin Lamb Tataki with Shallot Sauce ($22). The lamb was tender and not gamey at all. The tangy shallot sauce masked the scent even further resulting in a palatable dish.
The Ocean Beef Filet ($34 for 250g) was the best I’ve had in a while. Cooked to an ideal medium rare, the filet mignon yielded to the knife easily and the tangy and slightly sour marinade further whets the appetite.
The Rack of Wakanui Spring Lamb from Canterbury ($32 for half rack) came a little overdone, but the meat was still edible and not dry on the inside.
Both meat servings had a smoky flavour with beautiful grill marks from the binchotan – a Japanese charcoal grill with charcoal made from oak.
Meat Specialists
Wakanui also has a dry ageing room to further tenderise and saturate the flavour in the meat. The livestock from which Wakanui serves its Ocean Beef is raised on stress-free pastures with a plentiful supply of potable water that runs under the Canterbury plains before the cattle is brought into the Five Star Beef feedlot.
The cows are then put on a grain-feeding programme to achieve an optimum level of marbling, which results in a tender and juicy piece of steak with a full flavour.
Apart from the meat, you can also enjoy the Whole Yellow Belly Flounder ($52 for 400g) or a Whole John Dory ($68 for 700g).
Desserts at Wakanui are probably a bit of an afterthought. But I did like the Wakanui Pavlova ($12), a creamy meringue filled with fruit as a light sweet end to the meal.
The Hokey Pokey Ice Cream ($12), a vanilla and caramel homemade ice cream, was way too sweet for my liking and I wouldn’t recommend that unless you have an ultra-sweet tooth.
Wakanui Grill Dining, 70 Boat Quay, Singapore 049858, Tel: 6438 6321
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