Obuse, Nagano, Japan｜大王

A cosy and sincere yakiniku restaurant in a residential area run by an adorable elderly couple. No English at all so just remember that “gyu” is beef and “buta” is pork, and be prepared to do a lot of pointing at various bodily parts!

Is it okay at first? Do you run a shop? The exterior and interior made me think so (especially since it was lunchtime, so there was only one customer), but the aged feel gave me a sense of anticipation, so I mustered up the courage to enter. As a result, I'm glad I entered (^^) I didn't try all the menu items, but the beef tongue, wagyu skirt steak, offal, and liver were delicious! Liver used to be served for sashimi, and even when grilled, it was delicious and had no odor. Considering the price, the serving size is larger than the Wagyu Yakiniku you get in Tokyo or Osaka, so you can eat to your heart's content at a good value. The addictive spicy ramen is surprisingly quite spicy, and some people may get addicted to it (I quite like it). This is a ramen with a soup made from beef bones. My 5-year-old niece doesn't usually eat much meat, but on this occasion she ate three times as much as she usually does, including side skirt steak and rice. It looks like it was very delicious. The shop is run by two people, an uncle and an aunt. When the restaurant first opened in the Kanto region, which is known for its pork culture, there were not many customers because they were not familiar with beef, but it became so popular that they even used a back room that could accommodate dozens of people. . Although the uncle had some quirks in his interactions, it was actually interesting and our family enjoyed the meal. My niece seemed to be the same age as my great-grandson, and when we asked for extra salt on the tongue, she said something like, ``The salt on the tongue doesn't taste good,'' but she said, ``The meat is...'' It was so cute how he got ready and headed right away after I said that (lol) The interactions between the aunt and uncle are also heartwarming. The slightly tough-looking guy who left after finishing his meal came right back and gave my niece a bottle of bubble gum (which is nostalgic to me)! ? Although he had a tough face, he was a very kind person✨I thought this place was a nice place in the countryside. It's not a beautiful and stylish yakiniku restaurant like the ones in Tokyo, but as I first saw from the outside, it's a place where you can enjoy your meal while chatting with the customers. It was a very warm shop! You mentioned that there are more tourists from Tokyo than locals, but it feels like a local yakiniku restaurant. It had a big impact on me, so I can kind of understand why everyone would give it a 5 star (^-^) Uncle and aunt, thank you for the meal! ! I would like to go again if I go to the Obuse area ☆

The owner's jokes were funnier than the boring comedy around here, and the quality of the meat was much better than at chain restaurants, and the price was commensurate with the taste.