Gyu San: sandos that are a katsu above the rest

Butchery and sandwich shop Gyu San offers up delectable premium Japanese-style wagyu katsu sandos in Singapore’s Central Business District.

It can seem a little odd to find a premium Japanese butchery right in the heart of Singapore’s CBD. But step into Gyu San and things will make more sense.

First opened in August last year, Gyu San is a one-stop butchery at Guoco Tower where you can find over 55 different cuts of prime wagyu beef sourced from different prefectures across Japan available for purchase over the counter. That’s right. Here you can pick up a slab of prized Hida beef from Gifu Prefecture or by Iwate Prefecture’s Kanzaki if you so choose, on the way home after a day at the office.

While we love the idea of picking up some top-grade Japanese beef at the butchery for a steak dinner at home, it’s really the katsu sandos from the adjoining sandwich shop in Gyu San that we’re here for. Katsu sandos – sandwiches of crispy juicy beef cutlets smooshed between pillowy soft white bread – have been all the recent rage in Singapore, but unless you’re picking them up from some fine-dining Japanese restaurant you’re never really very sure of the beef’s provenance.

Not quite so at Gyu San. Here you know exactly what you’re going to get.

And it’s A5 Japanese wagyu, sourced from Kamichiku of Kagoshima Prefecture. Known as Satsuma Gyu, the beef comes specifically from 12 master cattle farmers from Satsuma Valley. Not just that, Gyu San uses 4% Miracle Beef, which constitutes the top four percent of the best wagyu these accredited farmers produce.

Which means that’s some highly credentialed beef you’re getting in your Gyu San sando. You get to choose between different cuts too: A5 Chateaubriand if you like melt-in-the-mouth tenderloin, A5 Ribeye if you desire a little more marbled fat, or A5 Striploin for a more flavourful but robust chew. There’s the more affordable Mille Feuille too, for those of us who prefer a thinly-sliced and pressed beef cutlet for our sandwich, or an Ebi version for those who don’t take meat.

Just make sure you order sides of Wasabi Chips or Wagyu Chips, which feature thin hand-cut potato crisps that’s been deep-fried in wagyu fat. They are absolutely moreish.

Gyu San earlier this month also unveiled what they call ‘pockettos’, each of which comes as a pair of cute little stuffed sandwiches. Choose between A5 Pastrami or A5 Yakiniku; the yakiniku features lovely slices of grilled beef, but we like the house-made pastrami that’s not overly salty like those you find in most Reubens around town.

These sandwiches by Gyu San are probably the priciest we’ve had in recent time. But are they worth it? Yes, they are definitely worth the (occasional) indulgence.

Gyu San

Address 7 Wallich St, Unit 01 – 03 Guoco Tower, Singapore 078884 (Google Maps link)
Opening Hours 11.30am to 3pm and 5pm to 9pm daily
Tel (65) 8313 6633
Web gyusan.sg
Facebook gyusan.sg
Instagram @gyusan.sg