If you ask me what my go-to all you can eat yakiniku spot was as a child, I’d definitely tell you it’s Jyu-Jyu Karubi (じゅうじゅうカルビ). I can still vividly remember the exact location I used to go with my family and friends, back when I used to live in the Kansai area.
After moving to Tokyo, I haven’t found any Jyu-Jyu Karubi’s nearby so I thought it was one of those “we have a bunch of locations in Kansai, but no so much in the Kanto region” situations, but I’m surprised to find there’s actually more locations in the Kanto region (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama etc).
This is the only photo I was able to snap in between my meat cooking duties and stuffing myself at the same time.
We usually go for the marinated meats!
The interior of the restaurant was a lot more crowded than I had remembered, but I think that’s more of a location thing – this location was just smaller than the one I used to go as a child, probably because rent is typically a lot higher in Tokyo. Quite a typical “Tokyo problem”.
I also noticed that they revamped the way we order and receive our food. Back in the day, we would order on a tablet (which is still the same today) and their staff would bring us the food. But in this location, there was an automated conveyor belt – almost like one of the sushi delivery lanes you can find in Sushiro or other conveyor belt sushi spots.
This is one of their popular desserts, いもっ娘 (Imokko) – It’s vanilla icecream, but with sweet potato hidden underneath. The thick sweetness from the sweet potato and cold, lighter sweetness from the icecream goes so well together. Definitely try this one out!
You can choose from multiple all you can eat courses, where the more expensive courses have more menu options you can order, including the higher end meats. We went with the standard 大感激コース (Daikangeki Course), which is 3,168 yen per person or approximately $22. Pricing is not too bad right?
In terms of the taste, honestly the food didn’t hit the same like it did back then. By no means was the food bad – it was good value for your money and I definitely enjoyed stuffing myself all of the meat, side menu and dessert choices provided. It was just a lot better in my memory, but maybe that’s just the nostalgia factor?
Regardless, I’m satsified just to have found a Jyu-Jyu Karubi in Tokyo. Just thinking back to the good old childhood days. It reminded me of this family restaurant called “Tomato and Onion” (yes, that’s actually the name) which was right next to the Jyu-Jyu Karubi location I used to go to. My next goal might just be to find a “Tomato and Onion” in Tokyo.