A note on the words: yakiniku is Japanese tabletop barbecue, where diners grill various cuts of meat and offal over fire; tare is a seasoned soy-based sauce; here the meat is coated in a deep-red spicy one that comes in five heat levels. Kalbi is tender beef short rib, nakaochi kalbi is richly flavored meat cut from between the ribs, harami is skirt steak, and mino is chewy beef tripe. Tamago kake gohan (TKG) is a bowl of hot steamed rice mixed with raw egg, enjoyed here by pouring the leftover egg tare over the rice. Kakigori is Japanese shaved ice dessert, served here in a towering portion called Dragon kakigori topped with condensed milk and strawberry sauce.
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Hakata Yakiniku Genpukan Ryu on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. While watching TV, they were talking about Genpukan, a popular yakiniku restaurant from Fukuoka. I had a feeling I had seen the name somewhere before, and when I looked it up, sure enough there was one in Roppongi too! No wonder it rang a bell. Since I had never been and the TV special looked so appetizing, I decided to go. Apparently their spicy tare sauce is addictive.
When I arrived, the only available seats were outside. “The terrace, huh?!” I thought. But eating sizzling, spicy food in the heat—well, why not? Braced for dripping with sweat, I went with the outdoor terrace seating. Even though it was evening, it was hot! Behind me there was something like a cooler, or rather a fan/blower, but it wasn’t really doing much of anything!
Wagyu kalbi — 1,580 yen
Wagyu loin — 1,680 yen
Nakaochi kalbi — 1,480 yen
Harami — 1,780 yen
If you order with tare sauce, it’s spicy by default, but the tare comes in five heat levels.
Apparently the options are amakuchi (mild), hikaeme (light), hyojun (standard), Chiyomachi, and shinikara (deadly hot). Did they say Chiyomachi was the same spice level as the original main branch? I have a feeling shinikara could be ordered for a little extra charge. Since I had come all this way, I ordered everything in Chiyomachi, just like the main branch.
First off, since it was just too hot, I gulped down some beer, and then…
Look at the amount of scallions! Incredible. The tongue slices are big, too.
The grilling instructions are written right there! First, you grill one side normally, then fold it in half to wrap the scallions inside, grill it a little longer, and squeeze lemon over it. It sounds pretty simple on paper, but when you actually try it, it’s surprisingly tricky! Spilling scallions all over the place, I finished grilling one and ate it—delicious!! The tender tongue and the steamed scallions make an outstanding combination. The slices are quite large, so it’s surprisingly satisfying to eat.
Bright red! This looks fiery, but when I grilled and ate it… Delicious. But spicy, ha!
Mmm, I see. Spicy and savory! There is quite a kick of heat, but it’s completely edible. In fact, it might be just the right level. Ah, I can totally understand why people say it’s addictive. The beer just kept going down.
When grilled with tare, the mino gets this same seasoning too. The harami brings great flavor. With just a moderate amount of richness, it goes wonderfully with this spicy-savory tare.
Yes, of course this goes perfectly with rice.
People often say yakiniku calls for rice, but beer has usually been my staple; yet with this spicy-savory tare, rice is an ideal match. I easily polished off a medium bowl. And another delicious touch is the egg tare. Dipping the meat into it softens the spice.
At the end, I poured it over the rice to make tamago kake gohan (raw egg over rice), and fin.
It felt like I could eat a little more, so I added an order of kalbi.
Wondering what to get for dessert, I picked the Dragon kakigori shaved ice. They warned me, “It’s quite large, you know?” but when I ordered it anyway…
It really was huge! The condensed milk and strawberry sauce were delicious.
When you eat hot, spicy food out in the heat, the sweat actually starts to recede. What kind of mechanism is that, I wonder? Could it be that the body just got used to it? I thought I would end up drenched in sweat, but that didn’t happen at all. Maybe the beer and shaved ice did the trick, too. Man, now I see why it’s so popular in Fukuoka; I’m really glad I came after seeing it on TV!
Hakata Yakiniku Genpukan Ryu (Yakiniku / Roppongi Station, Roppongi Itchome Station, Nogizaka Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.7
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
