Guenpin Fugu (玄品) is Japan’s largest fugu restaurant chain that opened its first-ever overseas outlet in Singapore at Maxwell Chambers. My last taste of fugu was during my trip to Tokyo on December 2016. Thus, I am very excited to check it out the blowfish experience in Guenpin Fugu.
As I browse through the menu, their fugu set meal is quite similar with the ones I tried in Torafugu Tei. But Guepin Fugu offers more than just fugu only. They also specialize in snowcrab as well.
Before I move on to the dishes, Guenpin has over 30 years of history with 96 outlets in Japan. Their torafugu is air-flown to Singapore from Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi prefecture, depending on season and quality. Shimonoseki is best known as Japan’s puffer fish capital that specilises in good quality torafugu. Guepin has an international patent for its ageing process and stores its fugu at minus 60 degress Celcius to preserve the freshness and quality. Guepin also specially imported a defrost machine from Japan to thaw the frozen fugu, ensuring that the robust flavour and succulent texture are maintained.
Torafugu / puffer fish dishes are well-known as luxury dishes as the meal is priced from S $300.00 onwards. The Torafugu meal set that I tried in Japan was S$60.00++ which I think it was a good deal. With Guenpin setting up the restaurant in Singapore, I can enjoy it with a reasonable pricing.
Here are the dishes that we tried over the dinner session:
Parboiled Torafugu Sashimi Skin S$14.00
Appetizer to kick starts the torafugu meal with jelly-like texture parboiled torafugu sashimi skin with ponzu sauce.
Thin Sliced Puffer Fish Sashimi S$28.00
Not forgetting the thinly sliced torafugu sashimi served with special ponzu soy sauce from Japan.
Snow Crab Sashimi
I am in love with this dish. Fresh, sweet and firm snow crab sashimi. I wish I can have more of it.
Snow Crab Tempura
Snow Crab served in tempura version along with the homemade tentsuyu sauce for dipping. The tempura batter tasted light and crispy that I can taste the delicate texture of the snow crab meat.
Puffer Fish for Grill S$48.00
This is my first time trying grilled puffer fish and snow crab that comes with options of ponzu soy sauce marinade or no marinade. The photo shown is our tasting portion. The only part that I find hard to enjoy is digging out the snow crab meat.
Puffer Fish for Hot Pot S$55.00
Moving on is the hotpot served with a spread of torafugu meat, mushrooms and vegetables. The staff will pour the stock to boil it before putting the rest of the ingredients into it.
After we are done with it, the staff will use the same fugu-dashi broth to prepare the porridge. It is definitely a comforting dish to end the torafugu meal.
Lastly, a scoop of ice-cream of choice is served to complete the meal. Guenpin offers torafugu dining experience without burning a hole in pocket. Furthermore, you can opt for full-course menus available starting from 5-course Puffer Fish Course S$88.00 (ideal for 1-2pax).
Guenpin (玄品) Fugu & Snow Crab Japanese Restaurant
Address: 32 Maxwell Road,
Maxwell Chambers #01-06,
Singapore 069115
Tel: +65 6634 2916
Opening Hours: Mon to Fri 12pm to 3pm, 6pm to 12am / Sat to Sun 5pm to 12am
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/guenpinsg
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/guenpin/
[This is an invited tasting.]