There are plenty of Yakiniku places in Tokyo, but Yoroniku has the rep of being one of the best. Yakiniku means “grilled meat” in Japanese, bite-sized meat are cooked over wood charcoals or gas grills. Yoroniku has greatly innovated the concept of Japanese BBQ, including the method of entangling beef slices with egg yolk, a staple now served at all high-end yakiniku restaurants today.

Yoroniku have many charms that make this establishment extremely popular so make sure you make your reservation at least one month in advanced, as spots can fill up quite quickly. Yoroniku only uses carefully selected premium Japanese beef, purchased from Hiyama – a long-established store specializing in high-quality Japanese beef that has been in business for over 100 years. In addition, Yoroniku takes extensive efforts in tracking their own cattle and producer data to ensure customers are always served the best quality beef possible. However, the quality of their meat is only one attribute of why they have such a high reputation, they’re constantly recreating ways of serving Japanese Wagyu, including their signature thinly-sliced wagyu sushi, or their famous Bukkake truffle sukiyaki. This establishment even has its own special secret dipping sauce that perfectly enhances the taste of the meat.

The restaurant is fairly accessible to get to, located near Shibuya, in the quiet residential area of Minami Aoyama. The store front is actually quite covert as there’s only a dimly lit sign in a hidden alleyway. You’ll have to descend down the steps to find the restaurant, but will be softly greeted by the receptionist as you walk down the hallways and will be shown to your table.

If you want the best experience, we recommend you to try their Yoroniku omakase priced at 10,000 yen (~$90 USD). You also can opt to add truffle for $1,900 yen (~$18USD), which we strongly recommend as well!!

1. Appetizers – Assorted Kimchis & Namuls (Korean style assorted veggies)

2. Cold Beef Dishes – Sashimi, Beef Tartare, 3rd stomach

3. Salad – Salad with sea salt dressing

Off the bat after we placed our order, our server brought us the 3 starting dishes. Out of the cold meats, the sashimi was thinly sliced and fresh, which was a great start to the wagyu journey. We then proceeded to the Beef Tartare which was richly mixed with egg yolk and seaweed, we loved this the most out of the three. The spicy stomach was prepared Korean style with spicy kimchi, the flavor was a bit too strong in my opinion (though I’m biased because I don’t like seasoning that overpowers the ingredients itself), we ended up leaving it after one bite.

4. Salt Based – Heart, Tongue, Outside Skirt

Before we even dug into our appetizers, our server quickly brought us the first set of beef for grilling – seasoned with just a hint of salt and grilled for just 8 – 20 seconds depending on the cut.

Even though it sounds quite exotic to eat a heart of an animal (vegetarians & vegans please look away, but tbh why are you reading this post!) the meat itself actually didn’t taste like an organ. Swiftly seared for just 20 seconds between both sides, leaving the center just slightly rare. It had a very tender taste to it, almost similar to filet mignon. We were quite surprised the taste wasn’t gamey like other organ parts since it was only seasoned with a hint of salt.

My prior experience of ordering tongue at other yakiniku places, the cuts are usually much thinner slices so I was quite surprised how thick these cuts were at Yoroniku. The server later educated us that the thinner cuts are actually called “usugiri” and the thicker cut, which we are having, are called “atsugiri”.

To be honest, Ox Tongue is not my favorite cut of beef when it comes to grilled barbecue, I usually find them too chewy and tough, but with Yoroniku’s, it was rather tender and softer to break down as their cut comes from the back half of the tongue, while the front half is known to have a chewier bite to them.

Usually skirt steaks are tougher than other cuts of the beef as it has more thickness and muscles due to its location near the diaphragm. They’re usually great for marinating so I’m surprised to see Yoroniku serve theirs true to taste. The cut itself has a marble taste, unlike the tongue or the heart while packing a robust beefy taste immediately with the first bite.

5. Sauce Based – Katasankaku and Tsuchinoko

Marinated in their special homemade sauce, it had the perfect mix of umami and sweet taste that well-balanced the fat from the two cuts

The tsuchinoko is a cut located near the rib of the cattle, it was cut thicker than the cut of the katasankaku, but still so tender to taste that the piece just melted in our mouths. We’re so impressed by the quality of both cuts and we’re not even up to the rare parts of our meal yet!

6. Wagyu Sushi

The wagyu sushi shows how innovative the menu at Yoroniku can get. The thinly sliced beef just melted in our mouths without any crude taste of uncooked meat. It blew our minds how well Yoroniku was able to invent dishes that showcases the freshness of each cut.

7. RARE PARTS – CHATEAUBRIAND & SILKY BEEF

We’re finally on the rarer cuts! I can’t even use words to describe how delicate and delicious both of these cuts were. Try to imagine the most tender, rich, silky, smooth piece of meat you’ve ever had, now multiply that by 10x fold. Yes, they were that good. I’m just going to leave these photos for you below, try not to drool too much though ;).

Yoroniku’s signature cut, the silky loin. It’s the most tender and fatty out of the cuts served so far, even more so than the chateaubriand. Just briefly swept against the high-temperature of the grill, dipped in sauce then wrapped perfect around a rice ball.

7. Special PARTS – Sirloin & Zabuton Sukiyaki Style

We were still having a moment with our silky beef until the “special” parts arrives and we couldn’t even begin to imagine how much better this meal could get. So remember how I asked you to picture the most delicate piece of meat you’ve ever had and multiply it ten-fold to get to the same level as the rare cuts? Well, now take that recollection and multiply it 100 fold.

THESE. WERE. MIND-BLOWING.

Sirloin paired with dashi broth and grated daikon

The Zabuton, immensely marbled, is served sukiyaki style, briefly cooked in sweet and salty soy sauce-based broth then mixed with egg yolk. We highly suggest adding truffles with the Zabuton. The blend between the flavors just dances in our mouths, as we gleefully savor the taste. It was our favorite by far and we can hands down say, it was the best beef dish we’ve ever enjoyed at a yakiniku restaurant.

8. Awa’s noodle

We finished the meal with a refreshing cold noodle that was perfect for cleansing our palate. Even the noodles itself was one of the bests we’ve had, chewy & al dente, perfectly prepared. It left our bellies extremely appeased.

9. Dessert – Milk Kakigori

Last but not least, softly shaved ice drizzled in condense milk.

Bear & Bunny’s Overall review: Definitely worth trying at least once

The staff at Yoroniku are really the true masters of meat. They cook the food and know techniques for each cut of meat to best cook and serve. Each course really tailored to accentuate the flavors of each cut of meat. By the end of our meal, it left us immensely satisfied that we didn’t want the journey to end. If we’re ever in town and crave a good yakiniku meal, Yoroniku hands down would be our top choice pick.