Let's talk about it 🗣️: Yakiniku restaurants in Singapore

*I am not affiliated with anybody with connections to the creation or operation of Yakiniku restaurants in Singapore. All comments said are from my own research on the internet, and are not intended to defame the restaurants🙏

 In the recent years, yakiniku restaurants have been popping up rapidly in Singapore. But how are they still open for business?

WHAT ARE YAKINIKU RESTAURANTS

What you might expect

The easiest way to describe it is single serving barbeques with a variety of condiments as well as a side of danger. In yakiniku restaurants, each table will have its own grill and its set of sauces. To order, there should be either a tablet or a qr code on the table. Place your order, and boom, raw meat. Usually yakiniku restaurants sells their meat alongside rice, kimchi and miso soup. Why kimchi, I have no clue. 

Yakiniku restaurants offers a Do It Yourself (DIY) concept. You can grill the meat for as long as you like, and customise the flavours to your own liking. If I remember correctly, you can add on items like cheese fondue or like lettuce to make a wrap. Very versatile, very intriguing. In my opinion, having a DIY concept is actually quite good for the restaurant. If any of their customers get food poisoning, chances are it is largely the customer's fault.

HOW DID IT GET SO POPULAR IN SINGAPORE?

It's simple - cheap, good, and accessible. 

Yakiniku Like Menu

Prices of set meals in yakiniku restaurants can be as cheap as less then $10 to their most expensive items being at most around $30. Considering the fact that their most expensive items are A5 wagyu, who wouldn't like it? With the increasing amount of difficulty in finding good meals at affordable prices, it is no wonder that many Singaporeans turn to yakiniku restaurants for a quick bite. 

The one unique feature of yakiniku restaurants in Singapore would be the sauces. During the few times I visited a yakiniku restaurant, there were so many sauces for the customers to choose from. I get sick of the same flavours easily, hence having a plethora of sauces to choose from can help make the meal more fulfilling to me. In a group of people, it can get very difficult to choose where to dine at. Whereas in a yakiniku restaurant, everyone can choose what they like, everyone happy. 

In the recent years, yakiniku restaurant chains like Yakiniku Like or Yakiniku GO have been popping up rapidly across shopping malls in Singapore. With the convenience of it all, this makes it a popular option for patrons of all ages to dine in. There is probably a 10 to 20 minute wait time between the time you place your order to the time your food gets to the grill. 

AM I OVERTHINKING OR IS IT SUSPICIOUS?

To me, there are so many problems. However, are they actually problematic. 

SAFETY

Somewhat realistic experience

I remember the first time when I ate at a yakiniku restaurant, I was so surprised by the set up. A grill net over an exposed heating filament. As I went on with the meal, I kept thinking to myself "how are they (yakiniku restaurants) still open for business?"

The first rule of thumb for me when it comes to barbecuing in closed spaces is that none of the heating filaments should be exposed to the customers. Traditionally, barbecuing is done over a charcoal fire. But the reason for  Yakiniku restaurants using heating filaments instead of the usual charcoal is to ensure none of the smoke gets onto the customer's clothes. However when one grills meat over the grill, the fats from the meat will drip onto the heating filament, causing a flare-up (flare-ups are a common process when it comes to grilling meats). And these flare-ups are big, so big to the point an entire outlet has caught on fire before (https://www.asiaone.com/singapore/customers-shocked-after-grill-yakiniku-catches-fire-and-blackens-ceiling)

From my 3 experiences eating at a yakiniku restaurant, there hasn't been a single time whereby I wasn't disturbed by the large flames. When I went, I usually ordered chicken. But tell me why there was still such a large flame despite chicken had a relatively low fat content? I couldn't tell you how disturbing it was. At the same time, the grill set up was usually just the grill and the filament. The grill would get burnt so easily as a result of the flame, and the service crew would have to constantly change the grills for every table. What seemed to be an enjoyable meal turned into a constant paranoia between getting burned alive by the flames and whether my meat was cooked through. 

PRICE

While it is good that prices at yakiniku restaurants are relatively affordable, I wonder how are they sourcing the produce?

Taken from RE&S website

For this article, I will mainly be talking about 2 of the most popular yakiniku restaurant chains in Singapore - Yakiniku-Go and Yakiniku Like. Both of these restaurants are chain restaurants under RE&S Group as well as Dining Innovation group. I will be focusing more on RE&S since I was unable to find much information for Dining Innovation group (to be fair the same can be said for both). On the RE&S website, they mentioned that all of their produce are ethically sourced. Given that RE&S has so many restaurants under its belt, how are they still able to keep their prices so low?

For a start, they could have their own farm and raise their own cattle. But it would take them a good 18 months in order to slaughter the cows. To add on, Yakiniku-Go also provides pork, which would take a good 5 to 6 months to raise. Raising animals to be slaughtered can be pricy. Additionally, companies would need to build facilities in order to raise and hence slaughter these animals. Personally, I find that having to firstly build the facilities and then raise and slaughter these animals is so expensive such that the profit margin is extremely low. And remember, needing to ship these produce to Singapore is costly. So are they actually harvesting ethically? No clue. 

MY TWO CENTS 

Yakiniku restaurants to me are a bit of a scam. I mean I know I get what I paid for, but the amount of food I get is usually never enough for me. At the same time, I feel myself losing my appetite throughout the meal due to constant worries of undercooked chicken and getting burnt up into flames. In my opinion, yakiniku restaurants should just stick to thinner cuts of meat since chicken is tougher to cook. But I am still a big fan of variety, and I might still come back to a yakiniku restaurant. 

While researching this topic, I realised that there was a lack of transparency as to how some of the ingredients are sourced (pretty ironic in my opinion). As much as I understand the need for so much secrecy, I wish that there was at least some information about how the animals are raised or how are they fed etc. As a person with constant paranoia, I feel the need to understand minimally whether the type of food that is fed has any health effects on the consumer. But I guess not.

Whether it is ethical or not, friendly or foul, yakiniku restaurants are here to stay. Well, I'm done talking for today, bye bye 👋

References

Age of animals slaughtered - Knowledgebase. (n.d.). Farm Transparency Project. Retrieved June 22, 2024, from https://www.farmtransparency.org/kb/food/abattoirs/age-animals-slaughtered

Food for Life - Company. (2014, May 16). RE&S. Retrieved June 22, 2024, from https://www.res.com.sg/en/company.html

GURUNAVI Japan Restaurant Guide | Let's experience Japan. (2017, May 22). GURUNAVI Japan Restaurant Guide | Let's experience Japan. Retrieved June 22, 2024, from https://gurunavi.com/en/japanfoodie/2017/05/guide-to-yakiniku-restaurants.html?__ngt__=TT0e7d3a9be007ac1e4a5b73UOJmRX0fH-JCkj2t9fLg3o

Hite, L. (2019, December 24). What Causes Flare-Ups When Grilling Meat? – Cutting Edge Firewood LLC. Cutting Edge Firewood. Retrieved June 22, 2024, from https://www.cuttingedgefirewood.com/blogs/blog/what-causes-flare-ups-when-grilling-meat

Meacham, J. (2023, November 6). Top 13 Lean Protein Foods You Should Eat. Healthline. Retrieved June 22, 2024, from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/lean-protein-foods#white-poultry-meat