Dinner @ Yakitori UMA 焼鳥馬

November 28, 2016 in Japanese by thywhaleliciousfay

Continuing our quest to uncover all yakitori joints in Singapore, my ‘yakitori buddy’ and I were off to check out Yakitori UMA located in Somerset. Keke.


It was a wet Tuesday evening that I arrived to an empty restaurant at 8pm. And I’ll be honest. Having reached before my friend, I did consider texting to ask for a change in our venue. But one thing that I learnt from years of checking out new eateries was that one shouldn’t make assumption of one’s upcoming meal based on first impression. While first impression is important, it can be deceiving. So, I pressed on… Haha.

I immediately noticed the interior decor of Yakitori UMA is pretty old school. Or should I better describe it as straight forward. It’s plainly done up with the counter taking centre stage. And that could be a good sign to show that their focus is on their food.

Upon seated, I was given the menu and difference sauces. And yes, I decided to go with booth seat instead of counter seat. The different sauces included mustard (karashi) and dipping sauces for breaded, deep-fried (katsu) and grilled (yaki) items. And from the menu (pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9), we ordered:-

1) Tomato, $.40 (above, left)

2) Shishito, $5.60 (above, right)

3) Waka, $4.90 (above, left) – Tender chicken.

4) Negima, $4.90 (above, right) – Chicken & spring onion.

5) Tebayaki, $5.40 (above, left) – Chicken wing.

6) Tsukune, $5.40 (above, right)

7) P-toro, $5.80 (above, left) – Pork neck.

8) Tako-yaki, $6 (above, center) – Octopus.

9) Sasami, $4.90 (above, right) – Chicken white meat.


10) Uzura, $4.90 (above, left) – Quail egg.

11) Waka-kara, $5.50 (above, right) – Chicken.


12) Fillet Cutlet, $5.80 (above)


13) Isobe-age, $5.20 (above)

14) Koonyaku, $5.20 (above) – 2 sticks of konnyaku can be too many especially since it’s an acquired taste; My friend didn’t like it. So for the same price, one may want to get the dengoku set which entitles one to 1 stick of konnyaku and 1 stick of tofu. You know… More variety too! =)


15) Udon, $6.20 (above)

Did the food match up to our expectations? A definite yes. Besides grilled items (kushiyaki), Yakitori UMA also offered deep fried items (kushikatsu / kushiage) on their menu. So when we were placing our orders, we were often in a dilemma. To order as grilled, or to order as deep fried. And we were fortunate that all our bets were right. =)

But if one is looking for a stylish restaurant, then one would be disappointed. Instead, if one is alone in town and is craving for skewered food, I would recommend coming to Yakitori UMA. As my friend and I were dining, I noticed a few number of (Japanese) businessman came in solo for a quick (dinner) fix.

Yakitori UMA 焼鳥馬
150 Orchard Road, Orchard Plaza, #01-26/27/28, Singapore
6734 8368, Facebook
Overall: 7
Opening hours:-
Food/Beverage: 7
Mon – Sat : 18:00 – 00:00
Ambience: 6
Value: 8
Service: 7
* Closed on Sun