15 Places for Gyudon in Singapore (and that glorious runny egg!)

Gyudon is basically a beef bowl, consisting of thinly sliced beef, cooked in a slightly sweet mixture of mirin and soy sauce, and served over rice. Sometimes, sake is also added for extra flavour. Nowadays, there are different variations of Gyudon – while some places serve it piping hot with an egg yolk on top, others replace thinly sliced beef with wagyu steaks. Can’t decide which version you like best? Here are 15 places to satisfy your cravings.

1. Stray by Fatcat

With just 3 mains on the menu, the Black Pepper Wagyu Bowl ($22, $20 for lunch special) moooo-ed out to us. Cooked to a commendable tenderness, the beef was juicy and flavourful. We certainly looked forward to our favourite activity, which is bursting that sunshine of a yolk onto the fluffy rice ooooohhhh. The harmony of all the flavours, topped with gentle touches of Gari (ginger) espuma, shaped the dish into our favourite of the afternoon.

2. Ho-Jiak

Ho-Jiak, which means delicious in Hokkien, is a hipster cafe serving Japanese rice bowls. The menu is super simple – pick your proteins and you’re done! Beef Shabu ($10.90) consists of very lean meat, yet it is still satisfactorily tender. However, they are lacking in some seasoning, in our opinion. We could stir the curry in, but it isn’t sufficient to fully coat the rice. 

3. Tanuki Raw

Tanuki Raw is a great spot for gatherings with friends after work. You can choose to sit indoors or enjoy the night breeze in the alfresco area. You can even sit at the bar and observe the skillful bartenders create interesting cocktails while devouring the Foie Gras Truffle Yakiniku Donburi ($23) which hits all the right spots! It’s kind of impossible to stop at one bowl.

4. The Burning Oak

The Burning Oak is a Japanese yakitori stall at Bedok Marketplace. Unlike the typical food we see at hawker centres, The Burning Oak offers premium yet affordable donburi(s) such as Wagyu Beef Rump Cap Don ($13) and the succulent Wagyu Rump & Iberico Pork Combo Bento ($15). The well-marinated beef is sous vide for 72 hours, resulting in its tenderness.

5. Sandaime Bunji

Stepping into Sandaime Bunji makes you feel as though you’ve been transported to an authentic eatery in Japan. Whatt brought us here was their Wagyu Round Roast Beef Set ($19.90), a towering bowl with 250grams of beef slices stacked on top of rice. The beef is executed to perfection, but it might be too raw for some though. The set comes with salad, tofu and Ox Tail soup.

6. Platypus Kitchen

This casual restaurant serves up contemporary cuisine in a fun, lively and convivial environment. The Ribeye & Truffle Gourmet Rice Bowl ($26.90) is a great option not to be missed. The char-grilled marbled ribeye with shaved truffles is delicious. It is served with a perfect onsen egg on a bed of Japonica rice, and drizzled with honey truffle soy sauce. 

7. GastroSmiths

The Hokubee Ribeye Don ($28.50) features Japanese rice seasoned with doses of furikake and sweet vinegar, topped with grilled Hokubee beef. The Hokubee beef is being injected with soluble oil to yield a more desired marbling and is often refered as “poor man’s Wagyu”. It is beefy enough, but it is the tenderness of the beef that is really enjoyable. It’s great if you wish to have an affordable plate of beef bowl without burning a hole in your pocket. For an additional $2, you get a runny 63 degrees celcius egg.

9. Kushiya Japanese Grilled House

Upon placing your order, the meat is grilled on the spot behind the counter. We had the Premium Steak Don ($10.80) and Kimchi Sliced Beef Don ($6.80). Both dishes come with a drink and miso soup. The former consists of half an egg, kimichi and beef steak. While the beef steak is a bit tough and may not be of the best quality, it is well marinated and flavourful. The latter, on the other hand, uses thinly sliced beef, which turns out to be more tender and enjoyable.

9. Kinsa Sushi

Kinsa Sushi moved from Ang Mo Kio to HillV2, bringing more excitement to those staying in the West. The price is reasonable for the quality of food. The highlight has to be the A4 Kagoshima Wagyu Don ($24.80) which comes with an onsen egg. The wagyu beef with its beautiful marbling, will melt in your mouth. 

10. IZY Dining and Bar

IZY is helmed by Chef Kazumasa Yazawa, who had stints in the kitchens of Waku Ghin and Tetsuya. The Wagyu Bowl ($38) features a generous amount of truffle shavings heaped atop succulent slices of wagyu beef. The wagyu beef is cooked using a Josper grill. Don’t forget to burst the onsen egg nestled within the warm rice!

11. Black Cow

Black Cow uses the freshest produce, straight from Japan’s finest farms. Nothing less than A3 marbled beef stars in their dishes, and their passionate team of chefs meticulously prepares every dish from scratch in their kitchen daily. The Signature Truffle Wagyu Don ($45) comes with fragrant slices of truffle and a runny egg. Just split the egg open and give the dish a good mix. We promise that every mouthful will be filled with a burst of savoury flavours!

12. Tamashii Robataya

The Saga Beef Donburi ($58++) is fantastic. Pink and tender Saga A4 beef striploin sits on a bed of marinated short-grain rice, and is topped with a runny onsen egg and drizzled with truffle oil. Break the yolk and mix it into the rice. It’s a pricey bowl but definitely worth the splurge.

13. Fat Cow

Fat Cow takes a contemporary approach to the Japanese “Wabi-Sabi” design concept, which is the art of finding beauty in things modest, simple and humble. Just like its interior, the beef adopts a basic and minimalistic Japanese cooking technique that brings out the best of the meat’s natural flavours. Only available during lunch, the Fat Foa-gura Don ($43) contains juicy medium rare wagyu beef and fatty foie gras. We love the flowy onsen egg as well!

14. WTF Coffee House & Bar

WTF stands for “We Talk Food” so let’s talk Gyu Don ($13.90). Grilled beef (medium or well done) and onsen tamago sit atop Japanese rice. The beef is grilled well, such that it still retains its juiciness and tenderness. The marinade for the beef is also palatable. Our favourite part is the runny egg that oozes out so seductively, shiok! However, even after a good toss, the rice was still bland and too mushy, and we had to request for some sauce in order to make the dish more flavoursome.

15. The Refinery

Gyuniku Donburi ($14) features tare marinated skirt steak with truffle hon shimeiji mushrooms and a lovely onsen egg over rice. This is perhaps one of the cheapest gyudon you can find in Singapore, but the price doesn’t necessarily mean that the quality is compromised. Though the truffle flavour is subtle, the tare marinated skirt steak made up for the savouriness of the dish. Moreover, the glorious runny egg gave this dish an “oomph” factor!

MOOOOOOO! Hope you’ll find this Gyudon guide useful the next time you’re craving some Japanese rice bowls.

MissTamChiak.com made anonymous visits and paid its own meals at the stalls featured here.

Let’s build a food community that helps to update the food news in Singapore! Simply comment below if there’s any changes or additional info to the stalls listed above. We will verify and update from our side. Thanks in advance!