Popular Osaka all-you-can-eat yakiniku chain Yakiniku Rikimaru opens its first location in Tokyo
A new yakiniku (grilled meat) challenger from the western Kansai region of Japan arrived in the eastern Kanto region earlier this month, and our resident Japanese-language reporter and yakiniku enthusiast Ahiruneko was super excited to scope out the new place for himself.
With eight locations in Osaka, all-you-can-eat yakiniku chain Yakiniku Rikimaru just opened its first restaurant in Tokyo's popular Ikebukuro district. It's on the fifth floor of a building directly across from the main building of the Seibu department store and East Exit of Ikebukuro Station.
When Ahiruneko visited, he was greeted by congratulatory displays of flowers at the restaurant's entrance celebrating the successful opening of the Tokyo location.
His interest was immediately piqued by the three all-you-can-eat course offerings that vary in terms of time and price per person. Here they are summarized:
● Standard Course (green below): 70 minutes/3,498 yen (US$23.70), 90 minutes/3,718 yen, 120 minutes/4,048 yen
● Premium Course (red below): 70 minutes/4,158 yen, 90 minutes/4,378 yen, 120 minutes/4,708 yen
● Wagyu (Japanese beef) Course (black below): 70 minutes/5,258 yen, 5,478 yen, 5,808 yen
While the Standard Course comes with unlimited karubi (short ribs), harami (skirt steak), and rosu (loin), Ahiruneko also wanted to sample the tan (tongue) and steak on this occasion, so he opted for the slightly more expensive Premium Course for 120 minutes.
Next, he needed to choose what to do for drinks. Since he was already feeling a bit extravagant on this day, he decided to go all-out for an all-you-can-drink course, too. There are three plans to choose from based on time and whether alcoholic drinks are included or not:
● 70 minutes: alcohol included/1,320 yen, soft drinks only/550 yen
● 90 minutes: alcohol included/1,430 yen, soft drinks only/583 yen
● 120 minutes: alcohol included/1,540 yen, soft drinks only/638 yen
▼ Here's a closer look at the drink menu in Japanese. Items with a star next to them are included in the all-you-can-drink plans.
Since Ahiruneko had already selected the 120-minute all-you-can-eat plan, he also sprung for the longest 120-minute alcohol-included drink course, and kicked things off with a refreshing draft beer.
Then it was time to order his specific meat selections through the provided tablet.
He figured he couldn't go wrong with salted beef tongue as his first dish.
It sizzled tantalizingly as he dropped it on the tabletop grill and watched it slowly brown and curl around the edges.
Taking a bite, he was shocked at the meat's high quality for an all-you-can-eat plan, which often tend to favor quantity over quality.
He then decided to order an assortment of four popular cuts of beef, which he grilled one by one and then savored to the fullest extent.
▼ Harami
▼ Karubi
▼ Thickly cut steak
▼ Loin
The loin in particular had amazing marbling that he admired prior to throwing it on the grill.
Upon tasting it, it was fatty, tender, and had a strong umami flavor.
Once again, he could hardly believe that this was all-you-can-eat quality beef.
Partway through eating, he also began drinking makgeolli (a Korean rice wine) and continued with that as his beverage of choice for the rest of his meal.
At one point, something at the table next to Ahiruneko's caught his eye. That table had apparently ordered the Wagyu Course and a server was torching their slices of wagyu right before their eyes. It made him slightly regret not springing for that most expensive option, but there would always be a next time.
He was also somewhat mollified to learn that his Premium Course included leftover bits of wagyu after it had been sliced.
They were heavenly, perhaps as to be expected.
Of course, Ahiruneko was nowhere near being done, and he asked the server for some additional recommendations from what was included in his plan (which are detailed below).
▼ Rikimaru marinade harami steak
▼ Tripe
▼ Chanja (a Korean dish of salted and spicy cod entrails)
▼ Reimen (chilled noodles) with nori (seaweed), a common dish to eat at the very end of a yakiniku meal
In summary, Ahiruneko was very pleased with his experience at Rikimaru. He notes that it feels more like a bona fide yakiniku specialty restaurant than many other casual yakiniku eateries because rather than trying to pack the menu with novel variety, Rikimaru focuses on a smaller number of higher-quality dishes that would likely appeal to yakiniku purists. Consequently, it may not be the best restaurant choice for families with very small children, but for an adult gathering, it would be hard to beat.
A couple of his other observations were that most of the dipping sauces have a thick consistency, which may be polarizing for some people. Also, as he entered the second hour of his time limit, the service became noticeably slower. That last point might be due to the restaurant becoming full very quickly after opening on this day, though.
When he was finally ready to pay the bill, the total should have come to 6,248 yen given the 120-minute all-you-can-eat and all-you-can-drink courses he had selected.
However, he was pleasantly surprised to learn that thanks to a special promotion through July 31 celebrating the opening of this first Tokyo location, he received a 20-percent discount and only ended up paying 4,998 yen. It was a sweet deal that also stung a little bit because then he thought that he really should have sprung for the most expensive Wagyu Course.
For any readers who would like to take advantage of this deal while it lasts, Ahiruneko strongly recommends making a reservation in advance–otherwise, there might be a long wait to get in. Of course, if you get too bored in the meantime, you could also check out the fairly new tanuki soba stand-and-eat restaurant just a short walk away instead.
Restaurant information Yakiniku Rikimaru (Ikebukuro East Exit branch) / 焼肉力丸（池袋東口店） Address: Tokyo-to, Toshima-ku, Minami-Ikebukuro 1-22-2 FLC Building, 5th floor 東京都豊島区南池袋 1-22-2 FLCビル5F Open 4 p.m.-12 a.m.
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