My Yakiniku Experience at Kazoku

The word Yakiniku was such a foreign word to me (although it really is a foreign word but you know what I mean) that when my friend was constantly talking about it over a course of a week, I was honestly only half listening.

But then when she and I, along with our other friend, decided that for our Japanese food adventure for the month of March (cause we’ve been having these adventures monthly since November of last year), we would be eating out at Kazoku, I thought it was high time I finally figure out what the deal is with Yakiniku.

A simple Google search would tell you that it’s the Japanese term for “grilled meat” but for most — if not all — restaurants here in the PH (and maybe somewhere else that I just don’t know about), it means all-you-can-eat meat that you would have to grill yourself.

I thought that it was going to be my first time to try this out, but apparently not since I’ve eaten at Tong Yang a few times before and that restaurant also has grill-your-own-meat service.

About this restaurant, though — Kazoku is located at the famous Maginhawa Street in Teacher’s Village, Quezon City. It’s one of the many hole in the wall places in the area and one that I’m happy I got to try.

We tried every meat variety and they were all amazing, especially the chicken which was marinated in some kind of sauce that I seriously need the recipe of!

The sushi that we ordered (Pink Blossom) as an extra was ginormous. The taste was pretty good; the sauce was superb; and the salmon on top was so fucking amazing, I kept wishing there was more than just a strip of it on top.

Anyway, back to the Yakiniku.

While the meat were all tasty and great, the entire experience didn’t really offer that much and it was a little bit too pricey for my budget. There are, quite frankly, other places that offer all-you-can-eat everything (not just the meat) for a few pesos more expensive than this but at least it’s unlimited everything, you know. (Read: YakiMix)

Not only was it pricey, there was also an hour and a half time eating limit. Now I understand that this is of course for business purposes and really, the time allotted is more than enough to give you a stomachache (from eating too much), but it just didn’t make that much sense to me when there are other restaurants that offer Yakiniku without giving you a certain amount of time to consume what you can.

The food was overall really great and impressive and delicious; I’ve no qualms with the quality. It’s just that it was too damn expensive since you have to pay extra for everything else as again, the PHP599/person charge is only good for the Yakiniku sets.

I will be coming back but only because I want to try their other offerings, especially their Maki Rolls and Tempuras. I’m not sure if I’ll spend any more for another Yakiniku experience since I just don’t think it’s worth it. I’d rather spend money on YakiMix.

Overall, it was a pretty good experience. The ambiance of the restaurant was good, really comfortable and homely and the service was also impressive. I can’t wait to go back for more of their sushi rolls.

KAZOKU JAPANESE RESTAURANT
11AM to 11PM, Everyday
2F 143 Mother Ignacia St. THE GRANDIA PLACE, Quezon City
0917-821 9841

Edited in 2020: The place has since moved to Mother Ignacia St. This post, though, was from a time when I went to their place in Maginhawa St. However, I have been to their new location numerous times and I can say that aside from the location, nothing has changed.