Gyu Nami needs no introduction. Located at Orchardgateway, it is popular among shoppers and students of nearby schools for its soft and tender wagyu beef don at one of the most wallet-friendly price points around. At only $15 nett, you get a bowl of roasted wagyu beef slices layered atop steaming white rice and with a sous vide egg on top. Customers dining in are served a bowl of miso soup each while customers who take away get a canned drink instead. Not bad indeed.
Chef preparing our meals1. Roasted Wagyu Beef Don ($15)
The roasted wagyu beef slices were soft and tender, not to the point of melting in our mouths but it has the right amount of beefy flavour. We also like that the miso soup has no added salt, and the daishi soup and miso paste combine together to give you that umami burst sure to delight your tastebuds.
The homemade yoghurt sauce also deserves a special mention. It was a strangely marvelous combination of tanginess and savouriness, kind of like having miso paste added to yoghurt. Despite much probing, we were not privy to the ingredients in this special yoghurt sauce as it is made from a special recipe concocted by the owner. The wagyu beef don also includes two other homemade sauces, one for the wagyu beef and one for the rice. The sauces do not contain any preservatives, and are all made fresh in-store each morning.
Roasted wagyu beef slices coated with chef's secret recipe homemade yoghurt sauce2. Unagi Don ($15)
If you are not a fan of beef, you can also try out their other hit item on the menu - the unagi don. Gyu Nami's unagi don is the proud 2020 winner of the 'Best Unagi Don in Orchard Road' Singapore Top Awards by International Business Federation (IBF).
You get a generous serving of unagi topped with their homemade unagi sauce, furikake or Japanese rice seasoning and seaweed flakes at the same price of $15 nett. Unagi lovers will enjoy this generous portion of unagi that is soft, tender and coated with a layer of the chef's special homemade sauce. Again, we were not privy to the ingredients in this special homemade sauce, but we sure wished we did.
Soft and tender unagi grilled to perfection and layered with chef's homemade sauce
Their Unagi Don is the proud winner of 'Best Unagi Don in Orchard Road' award in 2020
Another thing that might strike you the moment you enter the is the amount of plushies and toys decorating the store. Apparently the owner is a huge fan of claw machines and in his free time, he pops over to the claw machines nearby at Orchard Road to try his luck. The plushies and toys displayed in the store are available for sale, so if you are as bad at claw machines as I do and there is something in the store that catches your eye, feel free to approach the staff to purchase them.
All these toys are the owner's haul from claw machines
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Gyu Nami gives you more bang for your buck with their range of affordably priced yet quality donburi. Word has it that they have a fan base which even includes a few celebrities! Bring along a friend and head down to Gyu Nami to try their award-winning donburi today!
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Gyu Nami
Address: Orchard Gateway 277 Orchard Road B2, 06, Singapore 238858
Opening Hours: Mon - Fri 12pm - 3pm, 5pm - 8pm. Sat, Sun & PH 12pm - 8pm
Nearest MRT Station: Somerset Station
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