Yamato Izakaya

Writing this review at 12:03pm on a Wednesday noon while still in the restaurant. We expected live gutting and grilling of eels and having relatively fresh food delivered on the table. However, food was pre-prepared and arrived in less than a few minutes. Food standard is no longer what it used to be when this was the only outlet. Skin was thick, dry and hard to chew. Not flaky and crispy. Meat was decent, thankfully still moist. Highly recommend to come during mid service, queue up and get your dollar's worth. Maybe the eels will taste fresh and not taste like overnight food.

Cool place for unagi don. Taste excellent, hot rice, crispy skins, and tender meat, perfect when you add on the soup! The eels are grilled before your eyes, besides there are eel tanks here so don't worry about the freshness. However, do notice that there is a limit of 40 minutes dining. Overall, good experience, would come back anytime soon!

Great place for the unagi. Price wise; Damn, but it's worth the money for the best grilled eel in Singapore. I'm a fan of the fresh wasabi and the spring onions they gave me to eat with the grilled eel. There is a time limit of 40 minutes to eat due to limited seats and Covid restrictions. Just nice to eat, chill a bit and go for a walk.

Overall the food taste and ingredients are good. Freshly grilled, crispy and moist … served with a fresh stalk of wasabi. However the service baffles me. It was a weekend lunch and less than half the shop was filled (ie. many available tables). Yet we were denied entry because our 3rd guest was not yet here. The present guests were shooed off to the outside area. Under the blazing hot sun. Zero sympathy. Even when there were so many available tables. And we were told to shoo off/ wait outside in a ‘sour’ tone. Basically a tone that indicates “we have enough biz, u can go elsewhere if u like” tone. How is it in a 1st world country, serving gourmet food at premium prices … is so disconnected from customer experience or basic courtesy. Zero flexibility. Only follow SOP to the T ?? As for the 40min (allowance) limit to finish your food… I can understand it, esp if there is a long Q waiting under the hot sun. There is none on this day btw… Hence, while the food is 5 stars, 2 stars deducted for poor customer experience.

Man Man Condiments: Grated wasabi. Seaweed. Negi. Appetizers: none. Observations: The sauce is quite sticky such that when you bite the eel, it can get stuck to your teeth a bit. The broth is on the mild side. The good; They give grated wasabi. like and it's the only time I added it to my condiments. There is a bit of crisp also. The bad - they sliced the eel too much. The bite is not as satisfying as the others live eel restaurants I tasted. The tare sauce is quite hard to balance in taste. Unlike at Unajiya where the sweet sauce that you can add was so addictive, this one is quite overpowering and salty so wasn't quite sure what to do with it. No reservations for this outlet. Apparently you get to see the Chef preparing but I was seated quite far away and can't really see anything anyway. was lucky to get in at first seating only cos they had space for one person (two seater can only seat one). Else would be at the second seating. reached at 5.55pm just before they open at 6pm. It is definitely better than their outlet at Bugis but if you ask me whether be okay to queue one hour for this, I will say no. I'd rather make a reservation at the other restaurant at Wheelock which I feel is better.

Came here shortly after they opened in the evening. It was not crowded during weekdays. Food were served relatively quick. You get to see the chefs and kitchen staff preparing your food. The unagi was crispy and just about the right thickness for the price point. Waitresses refill your tea regularly.