Within the unassuming compounds of Alumni Medical Centre lies a hidden gem Guriru – Teppei’s new poolside concept with Japanese style charcoal-grilled seafood. Enjoy alfresco dining with a scenic pool view, while additional fairy lights are strewn across the white tents for a more romantic setting.
Does Teppei sounds familiar to you? Bib Gourmand Chef Teppei Yamashita is a renowned Japanese chef that is behind the following restaurants: Man Man, HanaHana and Teppei Syokudo.
The food is prepared with “hamayaki” style, originally a type of fisherman’s cuisine that means freshly caught seafood unloaded from the boat and then grilled on the beach.
Their menu is generally very reasonable, with oysters that are priced $10 for every 3 pieces, and main courses ranging around $18 to $22. There is also an extensive selection of dishes from live charcoal-grilled seafood, small bites, mains, ice-cream and a variety of eclectic cocktails and mocktails.
The Raw Oysters with Ponzu Sauce (3 for $10/ 6 for $19) were irresistibly juicy and huge in size, not to mention it was extremely fresh. The ponzu sauce gave it an extra slight tang for a better taste. It probably took us just bare minutes to gobble up the entire plate. You can also order them in grilled version with butter or original syoyu sauce.
Hokkaido Scallops (3 for $10/ 6 for $19) come in ponzu-grilled or butter-grilled and we chose the latter. Love the buttery and flavourful taste.
Grilled Squid ($16) was one of the more aesthetically pleasing dishes we had, and the taste didn’t disappoint as well. It was soft and chewy with a mild sweet taste.
Fugu Mirin Boshi ($14) is a must-try. Having a similar texture to Bakkwa, the marinated pufferfish slices were addictive to munch on and great to order with beer. The chef is licensed to handle pufferfish in case you are concerned. I highly recommend this dish especially if you have not tried Pufferfish in your life ever before.
If Pufferfish ain’t your type, give Eihire ($12) a try, which is made from dried stingray fin. While the Fugu Mirin Boshi taste was more unique, I actually preferred this texture which was almost alike to the cuttlefish snack.
Gindara ($16) – American Black Cod grilled with Yakitori Sauce, is a simple dish packed with flavors. The fish was perfectly cooked and had a very soft and melt-in-the-mouth texture.
For the pasta lovers, get your creamy pasta fix with King Prawn Carbonara ($22) – umami packed creamy pasta served with charred king prawns.
Prepared using a special technique that injects fats into the meat, Meltique Beef ($19) was actually one of my favourite dishes for the night. The meat was tender, soft and juicy while not being overly seasoned.
The multiple layers of fats from the Kurobuta Pork Belly ($12) looked really inviting due to the long duration of slow cooking of about 4 hours. Unfortunately, the dish was too salty for our palate. Otherwise it would have been perfect.
Aburi Sashimi Salad ($18) was perfect for a refreshing appetizer, the sashimi was fresh too!
While we were already quite satiated from the meal, there’s always another stomach for desserts! We had Black Sesame and Matcha for our
double scoop ($7). It was hella delicious and had no regrets trying it although I was already super full. Although matcha is my usual to-go flavour, the black sesame was addictive, it had one of the smoothest textures I ever tried and the black sesame flavour was super prominent.
Overall, my dining experience at Guriru was better than expected. This hidden gem is definitely worth visiting again.
Guriru
2 College Rd, Level 1, Singapore 169850
This article is written in collaboration with Guriru, but all opinions are of my own.
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