It's been weeks since we last came to our favorite Korean restaurant in the neighborhood. This place is called Ojandon and they serve great Korean food and of course our favorite, yakiniku!
Ojandon is always crowded and I heard there are a lot of people related to showbiz that come here. My partner told me there was one popular comedian who used to come here because this was his favorite restaurant.
It's like we're doing a pilgrimage because we're almost going here every month. Recently though we're stuck on home-cooked meals so our latest visit was something we truly both cherish. Every time we come here, we would order a lot and in the end, it would make us 120% or more full. This time, we were careful not to spend too much so we ordered only a few.
Ojandon serves the best yakiniku. Compared to when you're eating at an all-you-can-eat yakiniku (grilled meat), Ojandon is a bit on the pricier side. But if you compare this price with non all-you-can-eat restaurants, this price is not expensive and you'll be served delicious meat!
We would always order beef harami (skirt), beef loin, gyutan (beef tongue), and all other beef, including the hormone (ホルモン) that I'm not a fan of but my partner is. We seldom order samgyeopsal (pork belly) and I also wonder why. I can always associate samgyeopsal with Korean food but you will rarely see that on our table. Their meat is mouth-watering kind of delicious by the way, definitely recommended!
I was craving for bulgogi so we got one for sharing. They serve it in something like cast iron so it's always hot when it arrives. They also gave the lettuce so we could make a wrap. I don't usually make a wrap but I was too guilty for not eating a lot of vegetables because there's a lot of meat we ordered. We didn't order namul (ナムル or seasoned vegetables) that night and I was also wondering why we had forgotten about it.
My partner would always order yukke (ユッケ or seasoned raw beef with egg) but tonight he stopped himself. He didn't want to get past 100% being full. 😅 If you haven't tried yukke, you should! It's that good.
Our bill usually is over 10,000 yen (~69 USD) so I was surprised tonight it was less than that. We even ordered one drink each. Mine was cassis orange (カシスオレンジ), a cocktail while my partner ordered iced oolong tea. They have barley tea as service water.
This wasn't definitely our last dine-in here but it was the last for 2023. For 2024, we haven't visited yet. Maybe soon?
If you wanna go, it's located in Nakano City, just next to Shinjuku. They close on Wednesday and on some days usually after a holiday. When you go, make sure to empty your tummy, and don't forget to order yakiniku and other Korean dishes! Best to go with friends and family, and have a great time there.
Thanks for reading!
See you around! じゃあ、またね！
All photos are taken using my phone unless stated otherwise.
Music by Yrii Semchyshyn from Pixabay