Kazu Sumiyaki @ Cuppage

One of the oldest restaurants in Cuppage Plaza, 22-year-old Kazu Sumiyaki is also one of the most popular spots in Singapore for char-grilled meat skewers.

Been here a few times, food is always fantastic. But it was almost 6 years since I last came, the first change I noticed was that the nama cabbage and miso was no longer complimentary and served automatically when you are seated. Other than that, the familiar faces are all still there – Meiling the friend waitress, she now has grey hair, how time flew by.

Another change that we noticed was the way the items were served. In the past, the order will be placed, and then some of the items that were prepared as the same batch will be served together. So if you had teriyaki based skewers like the classic yakitori teriyaki and you also have the chicken skin which is completely dry, you could potentially end up with soggy kawa. No longer, the items are grilled and then served separately. And for the saucy varieties, they are placed directly onto your serving plate – a small but nice change. However, it would good to train the staff not to place the dry stuff on a dirty serving plate. Not good.

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Some of the must-orders here are foie gras skewers, yakitori and grilled sweet potatoes from Hokkaido. And departing from traditional yakitori, they have chef creations and specialties like tontoro ringo (fatty pork belly with apple), wagyu A5 mini hamburger steak, cheese sausage, etc

While sumiyaki meats are the highlight, the restaurant has other fare, such as sashimi, stewed dishes, etc. I always enjoyed their Hokkaido oyster served with ponzu sauce.

There are many complaints online about their service. I had not have that problem here, perhaps because I am a regular in the past. It was good to see some of the staff still working at the place. You have to imagine that the place is always packed, and everything is moving at a frantic pace. Also there are only two chefs on the grill, so if you are looking for fast food, this is not the place. And it is an Izakaya, where the main income will be coming from drinks. So it is expected that you would be drinking and therefore the food would be served slightly slowly.

Anyway, among all the yakitori places in Singapore that I have been too, this remains special in my heart. Reservation recommended.

Kazu Sumiyaki Restaurant
5 Koek Road, #04-05 Cuppage Plaza
Tel : 6734 2492

Date Visited : Aug 2019