Iroha     伊呂波燒肉  

主打和牛肋骨．
豬肋骨亦很不錯．
多款腌料可供選擇．
環境舒適但可能會搭抬．
服務細心有效率．通風良好．
可以一試．

Good quality Japanese grill;
Beef ribs specialists - a treat for Wagyu fans;
Pork spareribs are also very good.
Interesting choice of marinade;
Cozy decor; decent service -
Recommended.



Yakiniku:

We like Korean and Japanese BBQs, especially at this time of the year. Even though I don't eat beef, we decided to try the TST branch of Iroha as we were in the area.

Speaking of Japanese yakinuku, Wako is also good. Wako bar is a younger and more crowded version which is also quite fun. (The ventilation is not as good as Iroha but their menu is much more comprehensive.)

Decor:

I've tried Iroha at CWB a number of times but it's my first time at the TST branch. The CWB branch of Iroha is more "mature" and private. The TST branch is a bit cozier.

The decor here was very interesting. Luckily, we got a seat at the tatami area despite not make a reservation. We felt a bit like sitting in the middle of a sumo wrestlers ground!

There was a huge open tatami area in the centre. Best for four persons.

There were a number of rooms surrounding the tatami area.

There is a small partition (smaller than those at Gyukaku) separating you from the customers right next to you if it's just the two of you. Booking is strongly recommended.

Menu:

Iroha is most famous for their beef spare ribs and ox tongue. Other beef items occupied almost 50% of the menu. So perfect for wagyu fans.

About 4-6 types of pork and 4 different types of chicken. I think they have a decent selection of seafood like tiger prawns and scallops. Most items were ranged between HK$70-200. The last page had some cold soba and morioka cold noodles.

You could choose the type of marinade you want with the pork or with the chicken, i.e. pork marinated in miso, salt, tare (Japanese yakiniku sauce which is a bit sweet with shoyu) or onion oil.


Buta Carube: (Pork spare ribs. ) similar to Buta bara but with a little bit less fat. Easy to cook and very flavourful. Good with tare.

Recommended !

Chicken momo: (Thighs.) This was just so so. The way it was diced rendered it tricker to cook than usual. Very easy to burn or overlook it. The chicken seemed a bit tough to me (i.e. old). Should be better with miso.

Ton Toro (pork neck) with Onion oil ? A little about the name. Toro usually means the belly (like tuna toro.) Japanese people consider this part of the pig to have a similar texture to tuna toro - soft and fatty. As with tuna toro, enjoying the soft texture and the taste of the fat is important. It's important not to overcook it.

However, the taste of the ton toro here was on the light side. It's aromatic but the cut was too thin. It would taste much much better if it's a bit thicker.

The onion oil was interesting. I couldn't really taste much onion but it's more lemon flavoured than anything else. In fact, I think onion oil would match well with chicken.

Chicken liver with miso: Not bad. Strong taste - possibly because we chose miso. Fine if you like don't mind pungent liver taste. On hindsight, I think I will recommend choosing onion oil instead.

Pretty substantial for two. Worth a try.We ordered a basket of greens . About 4-5 large pieces of lettuce, a few slices of garlic. Carrots.Some Chaan Jya to go with our drinks:It's preserved cod innards with garlic and Korean chili paste. This one was mixed with chopped spring onions as well.
Substantial portion. Very good with beer and sochu!

These were the drinks we've ordered:

One large pint of draught Sapporo (about $60), a big bottle of Makkori (1 liter for $200)
and one glass of Sochu (Iichigo $45).



Service:

Service was not bad. Everyone looked a bit nervous but polite. Efficient service. Changed the iron mesh for the grill immediatly if asked.

The best thing is they have a specially made metal container to keep the old mesh for safety. That is very much appreciated.

Also, good quality bibs -were provided to customers. Clean and keeps the smell off you.

Good attention to detail.



Another thing worth noting is that the grill didn't use fire but used circular radiators (?) instead.

There is a hole in the middle. I believe this way the heat is much more evenly spread to the meat. The food placed in the middle of the grill is actually heated more evenly and won't burn as easily as other types of stoves. The heat in the middle seems more easy to control than on the rim.！(◎_◎;)

Also, as with the CWB branch, it had good ventilation . We didn't smell like grilled meat ourselves after the dinner.

To conclude:

-Cozy decor.
-Good service.
-Good ventilation.
-Primary focus is on beef.
-Other types of meat were decent.

Total bill: About $450 per head including service charge and drinks.

Worth a try!



I have to say I found it pretty ironic to hear Frosty the Snowman being played in the background.

Σ（ﾟдﾟlll）

A Japanese Yakiniku place filled with grills? This must be the last place Frosty wants to be.

Ordered the small set for 2.

- Appetizers
Seafood pancake: Very nicely done pancake with seafood. Crisp but not oily. Better than many korean shops. (To me, this is a korean dish, not japanese...)
Salad: Crisp vegetables in a vinegary, japanese style-sauce. I somehow do prefer a balsamic over the japanese vinegar but then I do understand this is a jap resturant not my fav french eatery.

- Beef, beef and beef
Overall the marbling is good, beef is reasonably fresh and on par with similar resturants (hint: more expensive ones...)
The pork and chicken (If i remember correctly) came at the same plate and did raise some concern of hygiene problems... After all, we're there to do things just cooked, not well cooked in this eatery, I believe... (Thus the '3' in hygiene)

- Side-dishes and rice
Good rice, though not as good as the one offered in doraya
Pickles are average only

Definitely will come back again.

It seems very redundant to talk about all the items at Iroha, as everyone has pretty much ordered and described the same food. Therefore instead of a detailed food review, I will give you a short note on the highlights, and the pictures speak a thousand words.

I believed that salt is the ultimate flavor enhancer for grilled meat, particularly when the shoyu at Iroha sucks. Therefore I brought my own flavored salt and experimented them. The most well-received salt was, surprisingly, none of the Japanese salt but Black Salt (Kala Namak) from India!
(From L to R): Black Salt (Kala Namak) from India, Ume Shio (Plum Salt), Yuzu Shio (Citron Salt), Wasabi no Oshio (Wasabi Salt), Kare Shio (Curry Salt), Sakura no Oshio (Cherry Blossom Salt)

Meat (Platter):
特上盛り合わせ Premium Assorted Meat ($450)


和牛タン塩 Salted wagyu tongue 鹽燒和牛牛舌
- This has no place when compared to the和牛厚切り特選タン塩 (Thick Sliced Wagyu Tongue ) below. Average

厚切上ハラミ塩 Thick Sliced Prime Salted Outside Skirt 厚切胸外膜肉 - OK

さいころサーロイン塩 Diced Sirloin Steak 鹽燒(方切)西冷 - This one is great with its thick texture and marbling. Encored as A la carte
特選 リブロース Selected Ribeye Beef 特選肉眼 - OK

特選 ロースSelected Roast Sauce 特算牛里脊肉 - OK

Meat (a la carte):

和牛厚切り特選タン塩 Selected Thick Sliced Wagyu Tongue 特選厚切和牛牛舌 $200 x 3
- Clearly best of the night and we kept re-ordering it despite its high price! I tried premium Black Angus Wagyu Beef tongue before and that was actually better with a more intense beefy flavor. But this is still highly succulent with gyutan fatty oil burst in your mouth.

We ordered a total of 3 plates! To me if you don’t order this you may as well don’t come to Iroha


日本産特選和牛さいころサーロイン塩 Diced Sirloin Steak 特選和牛厚切西冷 $280
- Mentioned above. Thick cut with juicy fatty meat and noticeable beefy flavor.


厚切上ハラミ 塩 Thick Sliced Prime Salted Outside Skirt 厚切胸外膜肉 $150 - Fine but not special compared to the above 2 times
豚トロ焼き (塩) Grilled Pork Neck (Salt) 塩燒豬頸肉 $70 – standard as what you expected from grilled pork neck. No surprise.
豚ロース Pork Roast 豬里脊肉 $80 – fairly ordinary. Not need to try it here.


Miscellaneous:
All quite standard in terms of flavors and what you expect if you were to get them in other izakaya. We ordered them mainly to add a little varieties and to have snacks to go with our shochu.

ホタルイカ沖漬け Marinated Baby Hotaru Squid 螢光魷魚鹽辛 $60
チャンジャ Preserved Salty Fish Guts 鹽漬魚腸 $40
海鮮チジミ Seafood Korean Pancake 海鮮薄餅 $100


ヒモチグ Ox Intestine Hotpot 牛小腸窩 $100 - This is quite different from the intestine hotpot I had at博多一丁目 as the fatty tissues are completely removed from the small intestines. They were much softer, basically losing all textures. The broth and vegetables are more flavorful than the intestines.


さつま揚げ Fried Fish Cake 炸魚餅 $80


Drinks:
富乃宝山 (芋焼酎) Tomino Houzan (Potato) $320
いいちこ スーパー (麦) Iichiko SUper (Wheat) $360

富乃宝山 (芋焼酎) ,いいちこ スーパー (麦)

 

We got a VIP card with 15% off. Without discount the price should come out as around $500 per head.

Surprisingly we were able to book on a sat night at one day advance since everywhere else was full.

The place is not like super fancy but very Japanese, very authentic. We had to take off our shoes. Unfortunately its a bit too packed.

The food is nice but not like amazing since they did not do the cooking. But the seasoning is fine and the most importantly, the quality of food is very well. We ordered many different kinds of beef (australian, american) which all taste sort of the same to us lol but overall the food is good and the chicken wingas remind me of those real outdoor bbq on the beach hah

9 of us ordered too much which I can hardly remember, I therefore just post a general comment here~ Anyways, we had a lovely evening, had a lot of fun cooking and eating the food!

however we were not very fulfilled after the dinner, we perhaps order too little haha