While strolling in the food alley of Nakano, just around the otaku heaven Nakano Broadway, we found a stylishly designed restaurant serving yakiniku. We were looking for food that's why we were there, and supposedly we would be having dinner at Gyu-kaku, a famous yakiniku chain that we went to during New Year but they were full by the time we inquired so here we were, looking for other options.
This food alley in Nakano has a lot of restaurant options with different cuisines, and prices vary per restaurant. My mind was already set on having yakiniku or yakitori for dinner so we were just looking for those.
So as I've mentioned, we found a stylish restaurant at the far end of the alley if you're coming from Nakano Station. The restaurant is called Nikusho Ueno Yakiniku, and by far, this is the best yakiniku restaurant my boyfriend has ever tried in Tokyo. π
I guess everything in black is stylish to me. π
You might be wondering why not me. π I actually still haven't decided if this is the best yakiniku for me because while it's so tasty, it's also kinda expensive.
We came here for yakiniku so we ordered lots of meat. Fortunately, my boyfriend didn't order γγ«γ’γ³ (or the internals), whew. We ordered γγ©γ (read as harami or Skirt Steak),γγ«γ«γ (read as kalbi or beef short ribs),γε‘©γΏγ³ (read as shio tan or beef tongue), and γ©γ³γ (read as ranpu or beef rump steak). Okay, that was overkill but believe me, it was just so tasty and we were kinda hungry.
My boyfriend's favorite was the harami or the skirt steak. I couldn't stop him from ordering another plate of it. It was so tasty. It kinda melts in your mouth. The soy sauce they gave complemented the meat.
My favorite was the ranpu or the beef rump steak. I have no idea where to find it in a cow, I guess it's near the tail..? In the menu actually the beef parts were there but I forgot to take a photo of it so I would remember. Anyways, it was the best beef I've ever tried in Japan. It was so thin and it got cooked so fast. It arrived first so my tummy was so happy the first food I took was so delicious I just couldn't get enough of it.
Sadly, ranpu was so expensive because apparently, it's a wagyu! Wagyu is expensive Japanese beef but very very delicious and worth every penny. I wanted a second round of it but my wallet says no. By the way, I paid for our meal because it's my turn to treat my boyfriend.
Aside from the white rice, we ordered their bibimbap. We thought there would be meat as toppings but no meat came. Maybe we ordered a different bibimbap or we got served the wrong one. No complaints about this one, but the ones in Korean Town were better. Also, their 1 bowl is good for one person but we shared this.
Okay, now that I'm making this post I realized there was meat actually but it's in small strips and we barely couldn't taste it. π
A great discovery we found while there was the raw egg. They have this ad on every table that the eggs are like treasured eggs and good for serving with yakiniku. 1 egg is 100 yen, and if you compare it with the ones in the supermarket, it's really expensive but well, this is a special egg as they say.
We got curious as to how good it was so my boyfriend ordered 1 each for us.
And the result? The yakiniku was on a new higher level! The raw egg gave another great flavor to the meat. Because we still have more meat, we ordered another 2 bowls of raw eggs. When there was no more meat and seeing I still have the eggs, I drank its soup. π This egg was surely of great quality! Just look at that yolk!
I remembered reading a tweet about eating raw eggs but in Japan, it's okay to eat them. They have expiry dates though so when it's passed the expiry date specified on the packaging, we don't eat them raw. I think the same is for this restaurant. They surely won't be serving raw eggs that are bad for our health. π
We were so full. Well of course, after all those meats and drinks we just consumed for dinner, we can barely walk. LOL But we had no choice but to walk.
 |  |
|---|
This restaurant sure was one of the best yakiniku restaurants we've been to but also pricey depending on what you order. While we were there, there were couples too so I think this place is great for couples or people meeting for the first time. (That's what one couple look like to me.)
It may be a small restaurant but many famous people have been here because I saw some autographs posted on the wall. The staff were accommodating and this restaurant didn't give any bad impression to me. I wonder if we would be able to go back.. that would be awesome I guess but we should also prepare lots of bills in our wallets if we want to order more. π
And about the raw eggs, the next time we'll be having yakiniku at home, I'll make sure to get quality eggs too so we could do the same at home, low cost. π
Thanks for reading!
See you around! γγγγγΎγγοΌ
All photos are taken using my phone unless stated otherwise.