A note on the words: yakiniku is Japanese-style grilled meat cooked at your table. Harami is outside skirt, zabuton the prized cut inside the shoulder loin, mino a cut of tripe, urute throat cartilage; yukhoe is Korean-style raw seasoned beef, namul a seasoned vegetable side, munchi (muchim) a Korean-style dressed salad — here of salad leaves, naengmyeon cold noodles, and warishita the sweet-savoury sukiyaki broth. Prices are as of this writing (August 2026).
Yakiniku Champion, Ebisu main shop on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Drinkers, good morning! It is Hangover Meshi time.
Ebisu! Yakiniku! Champion! Everyone, thank you for waiting a very long time. This time: Champion! A shop I had wanted to visit forever, but the timing never worked out. I had the impression it was counter seating only, but there appear to be large tables and four-tops further back too.
It is called “Champion”, after all! Expectations are high!
[Select wagyu chef’s choice course] — 6,600 yen
[Select wagyu chef’s choice premium course] — 9,800 yen
[Select wagyu world champion course] — 12,800 yen
Three courses.
As usual, a course with too many dishes risks defeating me, so the plan is: take the standard chef’s choice course, then add whatever is missing or whatever I particularly want.
We were at the counter this time, and the structure is rather interesting! The extraction is built into the wall side of the counter, which uses the space cleverly — quite novel!
First, a run of things that need no grilling is served!
The beef tendon has been simmered long and slow until meltingly soft. Springy sinew and crumbling meat coexist in one bowl, full of collagen and quiet nourishment. Served clean with bright ponzu and chopped spring onion — delicious.
They kindly check first whether raw-meat sushi is acceptable to you, which helps. Thin slices of marbled A5 wagyu over sushi rice — the meat-sushi style only a yakiniku house can do. In the mouth the fat melts softly and merges with the rice; it is half dissolved before you chew. Perfectly good with nothing added at all!
The signature dish bearing the shop’s own name, included in every course!
An orthodox yukhoe using lean A5 kuroge wagyu, with a single egg yolk dropped on top and the meat dressed in the house secret sauce. Mix it all at once and eat: the sticky savour of the lean, the creaminess of the yolk and the body of the sweet sauce come at you from three directions. Delicious!
And of course this is served under proper certification as a licensed raw-meat handling establishment — reassuringly done! Though apparently it is restricted to high-school age and above. Good to know.
The grilling begins! Salted tongue, harami, and a thick-cut steak at the back!
First, “salted tongue”. Standard grade, I believe, but with real thickness and spring. Mark the surface well and keep the inside towards rare — that seems the way! The juiciness of the tongue seeps out with every chew. Delicious!
Then “harami”, one of my favourite cuts! Leaner and meatier in texture. Tenderness and sheer beefy strength seem to coexist in it. Do not over-grill; a short time on each side is best! Deep in flavour and excellent.
And finally the “thick-cut steak”. They pre-slice it, but I grilled it all together in one go. Sear the outside firmly without letting too much heat reach the middle, and finish it towards rare! Clear juices seep across the cut face. Take a slice and chew: first the salt crystals on the surface crack, then hot juices burst out, then the savour of the lean. Yes, delicious! I think I grilled that rather well^^
Short for “zabuton yaki-suki”! Zabuton, the rare cut regarded as the finest part of the shoulder loin, prepared sukiyaki-style — a dish only a yakiniku house would invent! And the staff cook it for you!
The zabuton, generously coated in the house warishita sauce, is lightly seared — and it looks superb!
Method for the first slice: pass it through the yolk of the “Mangetsu rich egg” from the Atsumi Peninsula in Aichi, and eat. The web of marbling melts the instant it touches the tongue, and the sweet-savoury warishita meets the deep richness of the egg — irresistible! Delicious!
And for the second slice: wrap a bite-sized ball of rice in the meat and eat it that way.
Warishita plus yolk plus meat plus rice is guaranteed to be delicious! It crosses the line between yakiniku and a rice bowl entirely!
There was still room, so I added some offal cuts to make time for another drink!
The offal I chose: super mino. “Super” mino! Not “prime” or anything so restrained! It is apparently the thickest, highest-grade portion of the cow’s first stomach. Grilled, the edges stand up crisp and add toastiness, and the more you chew the more flavour emerges. Even as a mino devotee, I am convinced!
For liver, my personal ideal is a quick mark on the surface with the centre left just barely pink!
Urute is missing from many shops — the connoisseur’s cut you count yourself lucky to find! It is throat cartilage, light in flavour, prized for its firm, crunchy texture. It comes finely scored in a lattice, so grilling makes the crosshatched edges stand up crisp — visually interesting too. In the mouth that distinctive crunch continues for some time, while the flavour itself is delicate and entirely free of funk. Chew properly and a faint sweetness and fat follow on behind — the chewing itself is the fun!
Loin and shinshin, I think? That dense lean-beef savour is irresistible! Properly thick slices, with the sweetness of the marbling and the savour of the lean in fine balance. Judged fat against solid savour, seared briefly and finished towards rare, the fine-grained lean falls softly apart in the mouth.
To finish you choose between naengmyeon and yukhoe-jang gukbap!
My choice: yukhoe-jang gukbap! Beef and plenty of vegetables (bean sprouts, bracken, spring onion) simmered into a spicy Korean soup, with rice added. Behind the prickle of the chilli, the body of the beef and the sweetness of the root vegetables seep slowly out. It resets the lingering richness of the grilled meat with heat while filling you up with rice!
This is the naengmyeon — it looked excellent too^^
Well — tonight’s Yakiniku Champion, Ebisu main shop! Exactly the delicious meat I hoped for^^ Taking the most compact course and adding what you want really is the best approach! Said to be the originator of the rare-cut tasting format, this is a house where the meat lineup, the sauces and the eggs all have a stated reason behind them. The offal is excellent too — recommended! I shall be back.
May you meet something good to eat today too.
Yakiniku Champion, Ebisu main shop (yakiniku / Ebisu Station, Daikanyama Station, Nakameguro 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?
