If you're looking for yakiniku (Japanese BBQ) in a casual setting, you'd be hard pressed to find it in a coffeeshop.

Until Yakiniku Warrior came along, that is.

The menu

The stall, tucked away in an unassuming corner at Geylang East, sells a variety of barbecued meats like chicken and pork, as well as different cuts of beef.

You can get these two ways: in a set, or à la carte.

All sets meals come with rice and assorted vegetables, starting from S$6 for chicken (100g).

For beef, there's karubi (beef short plate) at S$8 (150g), making it their most value-for-money set.

Other sets include:

• Beef chicken pork (S$12/250g)
• Chicken and pork (S$10/200g)
• Wagyu steak (S$17/120g)

A la carte portions, on the other hand, range from S$2 - S$15 for meats. You can also add an onsen egg for S$1, or mushrooms for S$6.

Following feedback from their first set of customers, the newly opened stall has increased serving sizes, so you'll probably get slightly more meat than what you see above.

Here's their latest menu:

Smoke gets in your eyes (sometimes)

Each table gets their own grill, whereupon they can get to work and start cooking their own dinner.

Prepare to sweat it out if it's a balmy night, thanks to the heat emanating from the grill.

Although there were two sauces to choose from — garlic shoyu and citrus shoyu, handmade by the owner — we actually preferred our meat without them, as the lightly marinated flavours were compelling enough on their own.

The vegetables and mushrooms were a nice touch (the pumpkin and enoki, particularly) in complementing the proteins.

Our table drew a curious crowd beer-guzzling uncles, who hung around with plenty of well-meaning questions.

Tip: If things gets too smokey, replenish the grill's bottom plate with some water (provided).

From banking to F&B

Yakiniku Warrrior was started by a husband and wife team: 31-year-old Kelvin Tan and 28-year-old Joanne Yeoh.

They were prodded to action by their travels to Japan earlier this year, where they had a similar experience in a casual yakiniku diner.

Up till mid-November, Tan was a private banker at Citibank, earning a relatively stable income even during the pandemic.

Yeoh, on the other hand, is a full-time nurse, and helps out at the stall either before or after her shifts.

Details

Yakiniku Warrior 

121 Geylang East Central, Singapore 380121

Opening Hours:

Monday to Wednesday, Friday to Sunday, 6pm - 12am (last order at 11pm)

Closed on Thursday

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Top image by Mandy How