The humble izakaya is a part of everyday life for millions of people in Japan. A place for salarymen (and salarywomen) to unwind after a long day at the office, a good izakaya will have plenty of sake and beer flowing with light bites available to hold off hunger until it’s time for a more substantial meal.
Singapore has no shortage of izakayas, but Yujin Bar & Yakitori is among its most authentic. Packed into a small shop unit along the same trendy stretch as Rabbit Carrot Gun, The Trenchard Arms and Carvers & Co, you could call it cosy, in the vein of Tokyo’s hole-in-the-wall nightspots.
Francies Cheng, one of the partners behind Yujin tells us that it’s meant to be a “living room” of sorts – a place where you can feel comfortable doing everything at your own pace and a place where patrons eventually become friends. Cheng is an old boy of Anglo-Chinese School (ACS), which explains the special discounts for the ACS class of ’78 (all other alumni can get a discount too, with a rendition of the school song). Another of the three partners is a former flight attendant, which accounts for additional deals for air crew.
As part of the classic izakaya set-up, the focus here is on drinks more than food. There are 28 sakes to choose from, ranging from the $8 a glass Onikoroshi Genshu to the $210 a bottle Hakkaisan Daiginjo. If you’ve always wanted to learn more about the Japanese national beverage, the walls of Yujin are lined with posters which explain the classification of sakes and list a few prefectures famed for their brewing prowess. Lots of whisky is available here – both Japanese and Scottish (from $10 a glass and $88 a bottle) – and as a treat for anyone who’s done some drinking in Japan, they also serve the Suntory Highball ($12), a simple cocktail made with whisky, soda water and lemon. Once you’ve ordered your drinks, a complimentary snack is brought to your table – sliced cabbage which you dip in a house-made miso paste.
Even if drinks are key, you won’t go hungry here – the yakitori menu seems to go on forever. But before that, we start with sashimi moriawase ($26). The freshness is evident in this platter of salmon, tuna and octopus. Next, we slurp up some silky smooth chawanmushi ($3.80), which the staff proudly declare to be among the best in Singapore. It’s so soft that it jiggles violently with the slightest nudge. Ready for yakitori, we sampled Set A ($25), a mouth-watering spread of 10 different skewers (pork-wrapped asparagus, chicken, golden mushrooms with bacon, fried prawn, gingko nuts, shiitake mushrooms, quail eggs, liver, pork and sausage) grilled to perfection over charcoal. Each stick is better than the last, with a distinct smokiness you just don’t get with any other cooking method. If you’re already a yakitori veteran, you can choose from their a la carte section which includes chicken gizzard ($5), wagyu beef ($28), ox tongue ($12), fugu ($12) and shishamo ($6.80), just to name a few. Finally, we get our hands dirty with perhaps the most popular bar food of all time – chicken wings ($6.50) – and before you know it, we’re totally full.
As the daylight begins to fade, the bar’s 20 or so seats quickly fill up as conversations merge into a background hum. Drink after drink is rushed out to thirsty customers while the aromas of the grill diffuse from the kitchen. It’s in this lively atmosphere that you learn what izakayas are all about – casting the cares of work away and enjoying the good things in life.
Yujin Bar & Yakitori is at 39 East Coast Rd., 6348-9938. Open Tue — Sat 4pm to midnight.
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