Back in the early 1990s, Japanese restaurants would serve your basic sushi, sashimi, and a few assorted dishes. Fast forward 30-odd years, and today there are all sorts of sub-Japanese cuisine for Malaysians to choose from – ramen, yakitori, tonkatsu, udon, tendon, izakaya, omakase, and today’s topic: yakiniku.
For those unfamiliar with the concept, yakiniku means grilled meat – in essence, Japanese BBQ. And when it comes to restaurants that offer this specialty, you can’t go wrong with Tokyo Bijin Yakiniku in Subang SS15, Petaling Jaya.
Like many such restaurants, the setup at Tokyo Bijin is complete with a telescopic exhaust pipe extended from the ceiling, which effectively controls the amount of smoke from the grilling process. The stoves here are made of stone, with burning charcoal as the heat source.
Unlike Korean restaurants where the servers assist in cooking, yakiniku is a do-it-yourself process. Luckily, it is easy enough as all the meats are cut to bite-size.
The menu consists primarily of selections of raw ingredients, including cuts of pork (also iberico), chicken, beef, and even seafood. You then get to choose different marinades for them.
Also offered are pancakes, salad, rice, udon, and side dishes, in addition to wine, sake, sochu, beer, and – well, green tea.
If you’d like to avoid the headache of deciding what to order, it’s best to go for the set items. The Tokyo Bijin Set (RM98), Pork BBQ Set (RM55), and green onion rice (RM12) are perfect for sharing.
The Tokyo Bijin Set comes with beef karubi (boneless short rib), rib eye, shin skirt, green onion salt tongue, and chicken thigh; while the Pork BBQ set features fatty pork, pork belly, and pork loin.
You may opt to have these marinated in different styles to add some variety to your meal and keep your taste buds entertained.
The ox tongue, ribs and fatty pork are definite standouts – tender, juicy, and bursting with meaty flavours. The process of grilling the meat is pretty fun, and the food is delicious, albeit perhaps slightly too strong in taste. Paired with the rice, however, it is perfect.
A dinner for two might come up to just under RM200, which is not super expensive but not super cheap, either. That said, for the amount of food you get, it is well worth it.
All in all, if you find yourself in the vicinity, do check out Tokyo Bijin Yakiniku. It’s located in a restaurant-dense area, so only time will tell if this eatery has what it takes to survive. One taste, and you will likely be hoping it does.
Tokyo Bijin Yakiniku
115G, Jalan SS15/5a,
47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor
Business hours: 5.30pm-11pm daily, 4pm-9pm for takeaways
Read the original article here. Trying to influence your cravings since 2005, Kar Yeong was Guest Judge on Versus 1001 Rasa Baba’s 2018, R.AGE Food Fight Judge 2015 and NTV7 Foodie Blogger 2014. To read more about Kar Yeong’s food journeys, visit his blog at KYspeaks.com.