Family-run Japanese eatery in a strip mall offers marinated meats for grill-it-yourself meals.
This place has been on my to-try-list for the longest time and finally I went.
It’s not a big place and only open during dinner. One can spend easily ~$30 here. The quality of the meat you get though, is worth it. It was my friend and I, and we got the Family Special Meat, Beef Oxtail Soup, and Raw Beef and Egg.
The appetizer of raw beef and egg was superb. It was tastily delicious. It definitely didn’t taste like raw meat. Anybody should try this.
The meat was tender, and high quality. The soup was good as well.
I will come back here for sure.
-Felicia
Easily the best Japanese BBQ place in OC! Their marbling on their short ribs is gorgeous! Not to mention the taste.. mmm I just want more! There is usually a dinnertime wait (for good reason!) but the last time my boyfriend and I came by, we beat the dinnertime rush. We only waited about 10 minutes before we were seated.
The meats here are so quality and the service here is so kind! I have to say that I prefer this place a little bit more than their competitor, Anjin. My party and I ordered the boneless short rib gold, which is a must get! I would definitely coming by to try it and even though, no Japanese BBQ place is cheap, I think you definitely get the quality you pay for here!
Until my next visit, I’ll be dreaming of their short ribs and looking forward to stopping by again!
-Barbara
I can’t help but to write another review. Aside from the amazing food atmosphere and horrible long ass wait but well worth it. There is a gal by the name of Torei who makes my experience here that much better. She is such an angel with an amazing spirit. Thank you Torei for always looking after my guests and I.
You guys are the best. Cheers
I’m a customer for life
-George
There is a reason why this place is always busy and there is always a 1-2 hours wait! You really can’t go wrong with Japanese BBQ. The meats are quality, but what I also love about this place, is the service. I am always greeted with a friendly smile and even get an apology for the long wait or, “thank you for waiting.” That means a lot because it is frustrating to wait 1-2 hours! I always call in to put my name down, but sometimes, I still have to wait a little longer. My servers all have been accommodating and welcoming. My personal favorites:
Kobe Boneless Short Rib Gold & Black
Rib Eye with Onions–the onions brings out the flavors and it is so delicious!
Salted Pork Belly–it gets nice and crispy, and has the right amount of salt in it!
Kimchi Fried RiceEvery meat just melts in your mouth and are full of flavors. The prices are also fair and a little less expensive compared to other Japanese BBQ restaurants. It’s a little small inside, pretty dim, and gets super loud, but you forget all that once your food comes out! I always enjoy my experience here–it’s on top of my list for Japanese BBQ.
-JMarie
This was my first experience with Japanese BBQ. I have to say, I am not disappointed.
We came here for dinnertime around 5:30pm (this is the perfect time to come by). We made reservations beforehand, just in case.
We came in and got 4 orders of meat. We got the premium fresh tongue, Kobe boneless gold, outside skirt, and prime boneless short rib. We also topped that off with bibimbap, too, since we knew that we weren’t going to be full off of just the meats.
The bibimbap was good for the price. It had a nice sunny side up egg, with a lot of veggies inside. (8/10)
The delicacy of the meats was definitely something I was wary of. I wanted to cook it one meat at a time, making sure that it didn’t overcook.
We first had the tongue. It was so good. It was a bit more tender than what you would get at KBBQ, and it wasn’t as chewy. (9/10)
Then we tried the prime boneless short rib. This was marinated slightly, and it was so tender. I highly recommend this one (10/10).
Next, we had the outside skirt. This was also tender, and had a bit more marbling. (9/10)
Then we saved the best for last. The Kobe boneless gold. This was marbled so beautifully and it was so good. This is the first time I’ve ever had Kobe meat. I definitely don’t oppose to it (9.5/10).
Lastly! It was lovely to have some tea at the end 🙂 I really appreciated that. The service overall was brilliant. Everyone was so attentive, despite how busy they were near the end of our dinner. This was a big plus.
All in all, I definitely enjoyed this delicious dinner. I usually go to KBBQ, so this shows the side of high quality meat that is nice to be enjoyed every once in a while.
-Eva
Tried to get the combo (available m-th) but they were all out
Tried to order the kobe gold and they were also out 🙁
Wanted the premium tongue, and yukke raw beef
also sold outdon’t come too late! They run out of foods
Came at like 9:30 and still had to wait close to an hourThe meat is so great though
Quality is really there
Had the salted tongue, kobe short rib black, prime ribeye and prime outside skirt
Everything was delicious!
-Mai
A couple of my SoCal friends took me here after a slightly disappointing visit at a sushi joint for a Sunday dinner. Needless to say, I was thoroughly satisfied with this choice.
The restaurant itself seemed a bit inconspicuous, located in a strip mall looking plaza. Although I am from NorCal so the locals here might be able to find this place easily… interior wise, it’s a pretty small establishment with roughly 15 or so tables. We came in at around 10pm ish, so we were able to get seated right away, but I can imagine there would be a wait during prime dinner hours.
Food wise, of course you’d have to get all the meats but I think my favorite was definitely the prime rib eye… it was amazingly tender, close to but not quite on par with wagyu. We also got the beef tongue and beef tataki which were both equally delicious… pretty much you really can’t go wrong with whatever you choose here. I was slightly disappointed that they ran out of the “raw beef with egg” but everything else made for a fantastic dinner. I’d definitely be back on my next visit to SoCal!
-Marco
Absolutely love this Japanese bbq joint. Prices are reasonable for the quality. Make sure to call in for reservation!!! Wait times can be pretty long for walk ins given the popularity
We had a bunch of different cuts but found ended up focusing our efforts on the prime short rib and the outside skirt. Definitely start with those if you don’t know which one of the many options to tackle
Coming back for more soon. #trythistho @trythistho
-Jesse
Wow. The Yakiniku here is amazing! High quality meats and cuts. We started with the Yukke raw beef sashimi with raw egg. This was so freaking good. It was tender and flavorful and went great with the thinly sliced apples and onions. I almost didn’t want to share this and have the whole plate to myself. We also got the family combo which comes with boneless short ribs, ribeye, outside skirt, and chicken thigh with an order of the assorted vegetables. You see that beautiful marbilization on the beef??? Well, you can already tell its going to be as good as it looks…like melt in your mouth good. I would say this is better for just 2 people if you got two hefty eaters…and I can EAT! Good price of $37 too.
Even late on a Wednesday night, there was a wait of about 20 mins but I can only imagine how the wait is on the weekend. Great service and great dinner with great company…I can’t wait to go back!
-Cathy