Yaki-niku – Japanese BBQ

The Good | The Not-So good
A unique taste experience | Pretty expensive (¥5,000-6,000 per person)
Get to grill yourself (fun) | Such fatty cuts may make you sick
| Keep the grill away from young kids

The Japanese are famous for their Wagyu Beef cuts (和牛 – Literally “Japanese Beef”) and the overly complicated grading system. There is a fairly straightforward explanation here which links to a interesting more detailed explanation here.

Japanese beef is not like anything you get elsewhere. The meat should be lightly cooked so that it melts in your mouth. The sauces are complimentary and usually you get to cook yourself over a shared grill, sometimes charcoal based but usually gas fired.

The pro-level facts you need to know are: –

Ignore the ranking and pic something in your price range.

Don’t pick cuts with a lot of fat as you will feel sick really quickly (the more fat you eat the sicker you will feel). Mix up the cuts.

Some people have different tolerance to eating fat. So test first by eating slow if you have never tried such fatty cuts before.

Order some rice to balance your stomach out a bit

Try some expensive cuts but stick to the middle range usually.

The cheapest cuts will be very varied in the fat level (you may get some slices that are mostly fat that they hide with lots of sauce).

Order very thinly sliced tongue. It is awesome.

The thick-cut tongue is not so great (tough).

There are usually vegetables on the menu so mix up with those.

Don’t eat too fast otherwise you’ll be finished in less than 30 minutes (it is very tempting to just keep ordering).

If the dripping fat sets the charcoal on fire and flames start rising, quench with ice (ask for it).

A mixture of cuts at Hachi Hachi (88) restaurant, Tokyo.

“When Japan” often Visits Hachi-Hachi (in 2017 we went there 12 times in a year and filled up the point card and the staff knew us by sight), which has a location in Hiroo and Akasaka. Prices are reasonable for Yaki-niku and “When Japan” has never had to book as the very large restaurant in Hiroo is located a 10 minute walk away from the main station(s) and so is never full. You can book online however (Japanese).

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