Waa Cow Yakiniku

No need to break the budget when dining out – casual Japanese joint Waa Cow has this down pat with a menu of affordable flame-torched wagyu beef bowls. And now, they’ve opened a new yakiniku restaurant in Serangoon Gardens’ My Village mall. 

Here, there’s a selection of beef: karubi, oyster blade, striploin, and ox tongue. It’s a matter of grilling it yourself. While you’ll have full control over the doneness of your meat, admittedly, not all of us are yakiniku experts. It’s understandable if you falter while working the grill, and to help save the meat from being scorched to an unrecognisable crisp, there are attentive staff who are more than willing to lend a hand. Take the gyutan (beef tongue) – it’s meant to be lightly grilled on each side for a melt-in-your-mouth texture. 

Interestingly, there is also an array of homemade dipping sauces. Much like how their famed wagyu bowls often came with generous lashings of mentaiko and truffle, this yakiniku joint has it all that and more. Try the platter of five dipping sauces ($3.90) – it comes with the above along with a spicy miso with leek, a sweet sukiyaki with an oozy egg, and a wasabi mayo. Our favourites though, are still the complimentary garlic butter teriyaki and ponzu negi sauces.

While beef is the obvious crème de la crème at this yakiniku joint, they do also offer other yakiniku usuals like pork belly (from $5.90) and chicken thigh (from $4.90), alongside fresh sashimi platters (from $19.90).