Product Name: Unagi Donburi (Large)
Product Category: Japanese Unagi Restaurant
Restaurant: Man Man Japanese Unagi Restaurant
★★★☆☆ - Might come again, but will first look for different options
Date tried: Dec 22, 2020
Address: 1 Keong Saik Rd., #01-01, Singapore 089109
Price: 38.80++ SGD
Quick summary: Okay unagi but grilling technique must definitely improve to demand this price. Mildly localized menu.
The Japanese unagi dish is my favorite food. It's been my favorite dish since when I was a little kid - so probably for almost 40 years this dish has been my favorite food. Hence, the caveat is... I'm extra extra picky with my unagi.
Man Man Japanese Unagi Restaurant is an extremely popular restaurant with a pretty long queue waiting outside. Was very excited to try their unagi for the first time. It was a Tuesday, and I waited for I think a little less than an hour.
So the first thing I took note was the service quality as I was waiting for the queue. I thought the service quality of the restaurant is fantastic. The waiters and waitresses are extremely helpful and friendly, and they have that glow about them that they have when they're really enjoying working there. Their service I feel is definitely a plus.
The dish I ordered was a large sized Unagi Donburi.
I didn't go for the most recommended dish, which is the Hitsumabushi, because I'm just a hard core unagi lover who just wants to taste the taste of the unagi without changing the taste. The other side of me is that I want to try the competence of this restaurant by going for the most revealing dish.
Looking at the unagi, the first impression I got was that the cut is not as clean and tidy as what I would expect in a high-end unagi restaurant. It's a nice large size unagi but the cuts were broken as you can see in the picture. Not the most visually pleasing unagi in the world.
As I bit into the unagi, I felt the grilling needs some improvement. Unagi should be super soft in the inside, but it's good to have a thin crunchy layer on the outside skin. With the crunchy skin, it should still be a super soft touch to the mouth.
For the unagi at Man Man, the hard layer was actually pretty thick, making the overall unagi a little bit harder than it perhaps should be. A little overdone with the grilling, I would say. This is something I shouldn't be experiencing in a restaurant that demands this kind of price.
The sauce was okay, and although I'm not sure where they're getting the unagi from, I would say the quality of their unagi was decent. The rice is okay as well, although I feel this is also an area that can still improve especially for this price.
However, as I have mentioned above, more than anything, the grilling technique was really under par, which was really disappointing.
I still might come to Man Man if I were around the area and I felt like I couldn't resist not having unagi - but I'd try to look for other restaurant options.
Therefore my overall rating for my experience here is a 3-star.
★★★☆☆ - Might come again, but will first look for different options.
That said, one of the good things I saw was that for the Hitsumabushi, they actually serve fresh wasabi which you can grate on the spot. That'll definitely give it a fantastic wasabi aroma and zing to compliment the dish, and would be a plus-point to Hitsumabushi lovers.
The Hitsumabushi style does mitigate some mistakes which may have happened in the grilling process as well, so perhaps that's the better dish to go for if you're heading for this restaurant.
Some of the menu combinations such as the "beef and unagi" or the "ikura and unagi" are things you wouldn't normally expect in an authentic Japanese unagi restaurant. I'd say the menu is mildly localized, and perhaps that's one of the reasons it's been so popular.
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