A note on the words: yakiniku is Japanese grilled meat, where you cook thin cuts yourself on a grill set into the table. On the menu, jo marks a higher grade of the same cut, and tan-shio is beef tongue seasoned simply with salt. Karubi is short rib, rosu is loin, and butatoro is the fatty jowl of the pig. Senmai-zashi is thinly sliced beef omasum, one of the stomach chambers, served raw and cold. Mino is another of the stomach chambers, and horumon is the general word for offal cuts. Shiso is a fragrant green herb leaf, and kaktugi is kimchi made from cubed daikon radish. A highball is whisky and soda, the standard Japanese long drink.
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Yakiniku Okumura on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. This time I felt like eating yakiniku, so for the first time in ages I headed to Yakiniku Okumura, at the far end of the Azabu-juban shopping street. When was the last time I went? Might have been about five years ago, ha. I had heard a rumor that they had renovated the inside, so I decided to go and check how it actually turned out.
Now that you mention it, the exterior does feel like it has been cleaned up, ha.
And stepping inside…
！？？！
It has turned into a seriously stylish space built around black!
This is basically a different restaurant now, ha.
Looking at the menu, I get the vague sense — maybe I am imagining it — that prices have gone up across the board?
Well, five years have passed, so of course they would have, but the completely different interior did surprise me a little.
For now, I looked over the whole menu and decided to order a la carte.
Right then, first up: a highball!
Napa cabbage kimchi! The menu also had cucumber kimchi, kaktugi and an assortment.
Jo tan-shio! It looks seriously good. The pieces are broad and floppy and pretty big, which is a great look.
Grilled, with a squeeze of lemon, it is tender and delicious!
Okumura’s meat has always been good, and the quality has not slipped one bit! Delicious.
A dressing with acidity and a faint sweetness to it.
A pretty thick-cut pork loin. Plenty to chew on!
The chicken is Daisen chicken. Pork included, I grilled it all in one go and dug in! Delicious!
Karubi! Loaded with fat, and once grilled it drips with juiciness.
Beautiful lean meat. Tender and delicious. Okumura-quality rosu, as you would expect.
Surprisingly good even without going up to the jo rosu.
That crunchy, springy texture is delicious. Incidentally, it is stomach lining, and apparently the black color comes from it being rich in iron!
Sounds good for you, too.
The butatoro is a fine piece of meat as well, juicy and fresh. Nice touch serving it with wasabi and a shiso leaf!
Last up, horumon!
Even without rice I got through a good amount of meat, so I am thoroughly satisfied. Stuffed!
So — Okumura, visited for the first time in ages, has become something like a stylish upscale place, a very Azabu-juban sort of restaurant. Feeling the way it does, you could absolutely use it for an anniversary. It used to have a slightly down-to-earth air about it, and losing that easy-to-walk-into quality is a little sad, but if I think of it as one more stylish place added to the repertoire, I am glad! I will go again.
Yakiniku Okumura (Yakiniku / Azabu-juban Station, Roppongi Station, Roppongi-itchome Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.5
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
