Tajimaya Yakiniku, Great World

So, wagyu yakiniku buffet. Didn't think I'd step into one but it was a much cheaper alternative to the a la carte options at Tajimaya Yakiniku (#B1-115 Great World, 1 Kim Seng Promenade, tel : +65 6970 5976). Though the menu states that the duration is a hundred minutes, last orders is at the 60th and you'll get the last order reminder at the 55th. While they call this a "Premium Wagyu Buffet", it's "premium" because it features wagyu. Don't come expecting premium quality wagyu.

If anyone was wondering how an expensive meat like wagyu can be available at the price, the cuts that are better suited for volume eating are MS 4/5. Halfway or less along the ladder of the marbling scale so it's not top quality. There's stuff like short plate which isn't something you'll want to have plenty of because there's just so much fat. See two pictures below. Unless one's tolerance toward surfeit is high, you can't eat so much. 

In my view, the quality of the wagyu was so so. Some were pretty good eating and while others weren't enjoyable. There was a bit of sinewy meat about. Some of those sinewy bits were found in our servings of the short plate. Imagine sinewy wagyu. Treat this like a regular yakiniku buffet and you'll be less disappointed. 

Kimchi beef rib fingers was unexpectedly bad. While the kimchi flavour was in the meat, 90% of that meat was inedible because we couldn't even chew through the sinews. Don't waste time on the unagi, prawns or potato salad. A bunch of sodas were included in the buffet but green tea costed additional $1.50. We didn't pay for that. We thought the best drink for all these meat eating was actually Coke and that's already bottomless. That's not the sugar free one though. 

I want to document what works here in the event that we ever come back. Rice/garlic rice was worth getting for carbs. Scallops on shell were not bad. I didn't mind the lamb even though it was pretty lean and didn't taste as good as the one we had from Yakiniku-GO Plus. Short ribs were the best eating of the wagyu lot. The onsen tamago doubled up well as a dip for the beef/lamb and kimchi was worth getting for the acid to cut through the grease from the meats.

If there's still room for sweets at the end and ice cream sounded better than fruits or daifuku, stick to the double chocolate. It's nicer than the matcha and definitely a better eat than the artificial tasting durian one.