Kongouen

Oh lord where do I even begin?! My gf and I got Airbnb and we arrived in the evening in time for dinner. We were fortunate that our airbnb host recommended this place for Japanese style bbq. I am so glad we went because since now I can not get over how delicious this place was. It’s a bit hard to find as it’s in a building and written in Japanese. It’s next to a very big and open store that sells candies, home goods, everything you can think of. As you walk upstairs the place is real tiny. We did not have reservations, but were very lucky that they fit us in. I recommend making a reservation, especially if you are more than 2 people.
The menu has english translation so that was a huge help. We asked out waiter what he recommended, but we knew we were getting the kobe beef. We ordered a few from that section as they have different beef grade, Please get the A5 beef section, you won’t be sorry. They also have lists of appetizers and sides. They bring all the meat raw and you cook it on the grill.
_​Korean fresh slices of horsemeat tartare. Yup you read it, horsemeat! It came out just like korean style meat sashimi and what you would see at a restaurant for tartar. You mix the meat, with the veggies and raw yolk. To me it tasted just like beef, I could not taste if it was horse meat, so it was not gamy or that different. It was good but I could only eat a little as it’s a bit rich too rich for my stomache.
_​A plate of assorted kimchi (yen 780) Comes out in 4 assortments. This was real good, especially if you are Korean and homesick and you miss your kimchi with beef and rice. All kimchi were good but there is always that one or two you prefer over the other, which is why it’s good it comes out in 4 different kinds.
_​Korean vegetables (will be eaten with meat) (yen 500) This was more of sanchoo (lettuce wrap) A bit small, comes in about 4 – 6 lettuce wraps, with 2 sticks of carrots and a side of spicy red paste (Gochujang) Good to have, but the meat was so good on it’s own.
_​Thin sliced prime beef tongue (yen 1,980) Comes in 6 big chunks, sliced in half. This was my gf and my favorite cut. Although the slice is different from L, A, as I’ve had it thin sliced, this was just as juicy. As it cooks you can cut it in half with scissors. The meat is so juicy, almost like butter it was so soft and flavorful. That one bite leaves you saying mmmm
_​Prime tenderloin steak (yen 1,980) This was our second favorite. Comes in about 7 huge slices. The marbling is so perfect. The steak is so tender and soft, not as chewy as the tongue, and flavor is also great. The right amount of salt and pepper.
_​Prime short rib steak (yen 1.980) Comes in one huge piece, but cut in portions. The marbling was so pretty. Already came with salt and pepper sprinkled on top. This was fattier compared to the two above. Still juicy and soft, but my gf and I preferred this least only because it was a bit more fattier to us.
_​Rice. I think they have a small, medium and large. We both got the medium each and it was the right amount to eat with the beef. Japanese really nail the art of rice, it was so good, fully and a tad vinegar like.
At the end they serve you free dessert. Either vanilla ice cream or some other sort of Japanese style dessert. I would highly recommend my friends to come here or anyone else that is visiting. So good we came here twice. I even did google translate to get us reservation, and although it was almost impossible, luckily someone understood my broken Japanese and was able to understand.