Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ

Purposely made a trip to this branch at Novena to celebrate sister's birthday as this is one of our favorite restaurant. The first serving of the wagyu beef chuck were excellent, but the rest of the servings were kinda disappointing and didn't taste like Wagyu Beef chuck but more like Wagyu Tomosankaku instead. The texture was so hard that we can't even force ourselves to finish the last 2 pieces. Felt that because we ordered many rounds, that was why we were given other part of beef instead of the type we ordered, thinking we weren't be able to tell the difference. Gave the feedback but nothing can be done by the chef, kept saying they were the same. My sister was frustrated and unhappy on her birthday. Nevertheless, server and manager were attentive and the birthday dessert taste great with cute cow figurine on top of mango pudding.

Have been here a few times. Set lunches ate dependable though not too imaginative. Service has deteriorated over the years. Staff seem unfamiliar with their work and appear short staffed.

4/5 stars because of point system. If not can 5/5 stars. Pre covid till 2020 i go to gyu-kaku very often and have collected a full card (check image) but couldnt use because its far past the expiry date. But i can’t really visit Gyu-kaku because of covid and vaccine. So a little bit disappointed in this part, other else everything is good! Ordered 2 sets of harumi + karubi, 1 pork belly, 1 butter garlic sauce and 1 tamago. The service is fast and friendly. (*edit* But i saw people say service slow during 5pm. I came at 2:30pm. So maybe thats why its fast.) but inflexible, because cannot help me with the point system card thingy. Taste of the food is superb! The marbling in harumi is very beautiful as well. The fats in karubi is just nice. Seems like they gotten very good quality beef. Harumi and karubi sets will come with 1 rice, 1 miso, 1 salad and 1 kimchi. End up we pid $65 enough for 2 to eat. Price worth it

My wife and I tried the Japanese Wagyu Buffet for lunch at $86.8++ per pax. While it may sound pricey but it was really worth it considering the quality of the Wagyu served and being a buffet. I rated three stars mainly due to the service! We arrived at the restaurant 20 minutes ahead of our booking time. The waitress told us since we are half an hour too early ( but it was 20 minutes) the charcoal meant for us was not ready so she asked us to walk around and returned at the timing we booked. The restaurant was empty, we requested that we be allowed to sit and wait. After much persuasion, we were finally granted access. But honestly, our mood was very much dampen. After we were seated, we asked if there is any rule to the buffet ordering such as are there items where we can only order once. Instead of addressing our question, the waitress answered us there is a penalty of $10 for food wastage. That is not what we asked and the answer does make us feel cheap. We paid $206.65 for our lunch but we cannot said we were fully satisfied.

Poor services and definitely can be improved. I came at 215pm, after lunch hours, not much customers. No staff attending at reception rang the bell. A staff came out and instruct to sit and wait. After 5min, rang the bell again, another staff came out saying the staff having their lunch. My friend and deliberated a while if we should walk off as the service really off. But eventually decided to stay cos travelling to another gyu kaku outlet will set us back some time Took another 5 min for a staff to clear a table, which was uncleared since the time we arrive. Ordered placed at 237pm ( see photo). First appetize arrive at 246pm. But there are no cutleries provided and have to request. The cuteries came as the picture attached. Staff didn't layout the cutlery

Can’t believe I have never given this Guy-Kaku a review despite visiting numerous times over the years! This is the first Gyu-Kaku I’ve visited and returned to on numerous occasions. They used to offer a luxurious lunch bento set which were limited. I hope they would bring this back. I have very fond memories of it with my partner. With more new and affordable charcoal grill places opening in 2022, I hope that the pricing and menu offerings can remain competitive and the brand will remain strong. Afterall, I find myself returning to Gyu-Kaku whenever I missed the Gyu-Kaku at Sensoji, Tokyo. Love the lunch sets and promotions for each day of the week day. They are reasonably priced and satisfying. Each lunch set comes with a free side, kimchi, miso soup with generous wakame, a beautifully plated salad served with sesame dressing. The lunch beer is a lifesaver after the scorching midday sun.

Warning: food poisoning. I went for their weekday's premium buffet. The Japanese Wagyu are overrated. It didn't t taste like a premium beef at all. The cut were inconsistent. And the WORST part was: I got FOOD POISONING in the night. I'm pretty sure the Japanese Wagyu that they served weren't fresh as this was my first time experiencing food poisoning after taking a buffet. Will never come back.

Feel bad for the staff because they seemed really short handed - everything took ages to come (even steamed rice!), this was 3 portions of beef that cost 34++? (Really shrank compared to the last times we visited).. this used to be my go-to place for Japanese barbecue because I love their menu but it looks like I’ll have to find an alternative from now on..