Yakiniku En Shinjuku

Before Korean barbeque became the more popular choice, Japanese yakiniku was the go-to for premium grilled meats. Most Yakiniku restaurants have a higher price tag in Singapore, so whenever we visit Japan, Yakiniku become one of the must-eat stops for a more affordable price tag with higher quality meats

Since I had limited time in Japan on this trip, I could only venture to restaurants near my hotel, and thankfully, we were spoilt for choice in Shinjuku. I picked an all-you-can-eat Yakiniku restaurant located at Kabuki cho since we did some shopping and only ate dinner late

The restaurant was relatively narrow in layout and could sit only small groups on the first floor, but they do have other seating on level 2. With a 4.7-star review on Google, they have a basic 90-minute eat-all-you-can plan at JPY 3,800, a mid plan at JPY 4,800, a higher tier at JPY 5,800 and the most premium plan at JPY 9,000. You can check their website for the details

We did not take the plan with all you can drink beverage or alcohol, but we did order 1 drink each since it was a requirement for the buffet. The highball and grapefruit sour were quite nice and were perfect with the grilled meats

We took the basic plan, which had most of the meats we wanted to eat, although the higher plan had more choices. The difference in plans mattered more for beef eaters, and since I do not eat beef and my sister was ok with the plan, we went for the basic plan. We had the kalbi, wagyu kalbi, beef heart, beef steak, beef brisket, pork belly and pork collar. The meat quality was reasonable for the price, and although each serving was small, the service was fast when you put in additional orders. For seafood, we ordered prawns and squid, which were very fresh and tasted good

There was also a good choice of vegetables like mushrooms, pumpkins, and onions, which were perfect for grilling and balanced the meat intake. They also had small side dishes like salad, cucumber with miso, cold tofu, kimchi, seasoned chilli and seasoned spring onions. To cater to Korean tourists, they also included many side dishes, which were Korean in nature

Overall, the Yakiniku was nice and managed to fulfil any cravings for grilled meats. The 90 minutes eat all you can was very sufficient for you to load up on the meats you loved. For better quality cuts, you can upgrade your menu to the more expensive ones

Address: Japan, 〒160-0021 Tokyo, Shinjuku City, Kabukicho, 1 Chome−11−13 1F·ENビル

Opening hours: 12 .30 pm to 11:30 pm ( to 4 am on Fri, Sat and Sun)