Guriru (or 'grill') is neatly tucked inside 2 College Road. It offers diners an alfresco dining ambiance complete with swimming pool view, perfect for us to unwind after a hard day's work. Some may even say that this place has the vacation vibes!
follow the sign |
dining by the pool |
view from our table |
Guriru is a charcoal-grilled seafood concept by Chef Teppei Yamashita . Its menu is inspired by the Japanese Hamayaki (浜焼き). In the traditional sense, Hamayaki usually have freshly caught seafood broiled at a beach. While it isn't an exact match, the relaxed and happy vibes of Hamayaki are carried over to Guriru, and the restaurant do receive fresh locally caught seafood as well as importing some other premium seafood from Japan, such as the oysters and beef.
To order, simply scan the QR code that from the slip of paper placed on your table.
How about we start off the meal with some oysters from Hyogo? Raw oysters served with homemade ponzu sauce. Our friendly service staff, Berna brought out the tabasco sauce for us even without us asking for it.
Hyogo Oysters @ $19 (half dozen) |
White wine works well with seafood, but of course, feel free to select your tipple of choice. While there is no Happy Hour implemented at Guriru, the current prices of the drinks are reasonable.
White Wine (Gold Trees Sauvignon Blanc) @$12, or Sake (Nambujin Tokubetsu Junmai) @$15 per glass |
Yuzu Highball @$15 |
Aki-Momiji (lychee, lime, soda) @$8 |
One can never get enough of oysters, so we got the grilled oysters as well. One could opt for butter garlic, or simply shoyu sauce for the grilled oysters.
grilled Hyogo oysters |
grilled Hyogo oysters (garlic butter, shoyu) |
If you prefer something more substantial, meaning with carbs, and you still love Hyogo oysters, I'd say... go for the Guriru Oyster Rice. Portion is enough to be comfortably shared amongst 4 pax to savor its flavours. Slow-cooked japanese rice with special sauce and topped with Hyogo oysters. Good wholesome savoury flavours. Very likeable but do leave some stomach space for other items!
Guriru Oyster Rice @$18 |
For typical Japanese izakaya snacks, we tried the recommendations from Berna.
Crispy Salmon Skin @$9 |
Eihire (dried stingray fin) @$12 |
Fugu Mirin Boshi (marinated puffer fish slices) @$14 |
Kawa Ebi (tossed in seasoning) @$10 |
Salmon skin was served warm and it was indeed crispy as its name implied. Quite shioks to hear the crunch when you munch on it. The fried small prawns (kawa ebi) was addictive as well. One can't help but to continuously pop one after another into the mouth.
The eihire and fugu mirin boshi at Guriru, is not those super crisp types. It felt 'meatier', with strong flavours and goes well with the drinks.
favourite snack of the night |
Let's get more food from the Hamayaki Live Charcoal Grill! How about some good sized black tiger prawns, shishamo, whole squid and kurobuta pork belly? Yes please.
Black Tiger Prawns @$6.50 (1 piece) / $25 (5 pieces) |
Shishamo @$9 (5 pieces) |
Whole Squid @$16 |
Kurobuta Pork Belly @$12 |
All the grill items were done beautifully. My favourites are the Whole Squid and Kurobuta Pork Belly. The squid flavours was subtle and mild, with tender texture. None of those rubbery nonsense.
The pork belly did not disappoint. We learnt that the meat was slow-cooked for 4 hours before getting its time on the grill. The meat was wonderfully tender was yet still holds firm when picked-up with the chopsticks. Must try.
closer view of deliciousness |
There's pizza on the menu too!
Prosciutto Pizza @$21 |
thin crust pizza |
We also sampled some special items prepared by Chef Teppei; Grilled Hitachi Beef and Foie Gras ice-cream.
Hitachi Beef |
The beef texture was so soft, and tender. Such delicate texture. The sauce is strongly flavoured so a tiny dab of it will do. Seems like the sauce has some spicy element to it.
To complete the meal, we enjoyed the hot and cold, savoury and sweet combination of foie gras vanilla cinnamon ice-cream. Do eat it right after it is served as it melts pretty quickly. Unusual and interesting. Could be something that you either will like or will hate it.
Foie Gras Ice-Cream |
Overall, the food was enjoyable and service was excellent with staff always moving about to top-up the water, to clear off empty plates or simply to enquire if diners need to add any other orders.
Alfresco dining has its plus points as well as downside. For me, if the day gets too hot, I do prefer air-conditioned dining. I suppose an ice-cold beer would be of some help? Hahaa! But on cooler days, it is pretty nice to dine with the pool view. Feels like a staycation, well...almost.
Thank you Hence for the invite and Eunice for hosting the tasting. Special thanks to Chef Teppei for feeding us with delicious food and not forgetting the lovely staff of Guriru.
Guriru グリル
Address: 2 College Rd, Level 1, Singapore 169850
Website: https://www.guriru.sg/
Reservation: https://www.chope.co/singapore-restaurants/restaurant/guriru
Contact: 9010 7020
Business Hours:
Closed on Sundays.
Mon - Thur: 12–10:30pm
Fri - Sat: 12-11:30pm