A note on the words: yakiniku is Japanese-style grilled meat cooked at your table; karubi is marbled short rib, harami the outside skirt, horumon offal; nira-reba is liver stir-fried with garlic chives; namul is a seasoned vegetable side and the otoshi the small starter that comes with your seat. Prices are as of this writing (August 2026).
Nikurikiya, Azabu-juban on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Drinkers, thank you for waiting. It is Hangover Meshi time.
Azabu-juban. Thinking I would have a quick yakiniku after work, I rang a few of my usual targets — all full. Then someone said “I know a good place!” and introduced me to “Nikurikiya”. I see — I had no idea this existed.
I have been around Azabu-juban a long time, and I had never once been here.
Inside it is a yakiniku shop with the feel of a lively izakaya. Easy to walk into, and the fact that it stays open quite late is another mark in its favour! Tonight, this is where we shall be!
The style is to look over the menu and pick things a few at a time.
First, a toast with what is apparently the standard: the Nikurikiya lemon sour!
Pale pink tongue lined up in rows — expectations at maximum before it even hits the grill! A squeeze of lemon, then onto the grate. Sear one side briefly, turn it, and when it hisses and the fat beads up, it is ready!
In the mouth, a crisp spring pushes back against the teeth first, then the sweetness of the meat floods out. The clean outline of salt and lemon lifts that sweetness — delicious!
A well-fermented kimchi, quite sharp with acidity.
Tongue sashimi. I have a vague memory of being told it was cooked sous-vide. I completely missed it…
…and simply grilled it and ate it. Oops.
But grilled, it was so straightforwardly delicious that I could not tell it had been meant to be eaten another way!!
Ha—rami harami!
Handsome lean meat with the right amount of fat, cut large and sitting in state. It does not look like meat you would get in this neighbourhood at this price! Laid gently on the grate, the fat beads out, and waiting for the colour to develop makes you rather fidgety.
Turn it when the surface has crisped and coloured, then sear the other side briefly and lift it off — surely that is the way to grill it! One bite: crisp outside, moist and juicy within, and the more you chew the more juices and lean-beef savour flood out. It keeps the tenderness peculiar to harami while still giving proper chew. Truly, harami suits me best!
If there is harami, one wants a little karubi too!
One mouthful and the melting sweetness of the fat and the savour of the lean spread out together!
I felt like ordering something called nira-reba, and it arrived in this vessel — heat it first, then add the liver, they said!
It bubbles away like this. Once thoroughly cooked, take it off the grate and let it cool a moment. Eating it, the sticky, dense savour of the liver spreads through the mouth and a deep iron richness hits hard. But there is almost no funk — the preparation has clearly been done properly. Crisp garlic chives and bean sprouts give the rhythm of the texture, and along with the fragrance of sesame oil it is a perfect companion to a drink.
Well — we ate a great deal! There are a good many kinds of lemon sour, and working through them is quite fun. For Azabu-juban the prices are remarkably reasonable, it is not smoky, the room is bright and clean, and the offal is good. A fine shop worth remembering for whenever the need arises! I shall be back.
May you meet something good to eat today too.
Taishu Horumon Nikurikiya, Azabu-juban (yakiniku / Azabu-juban Station, Akabanebashi Station, Roppongi Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.3
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
