Yakiniku Fufu-tei can be found on the 5th floor of a building on the main street outside Ikebukuro Station’s east gate. It’s only a minute’s walk from the gate, making it extremely convenient for commuters! The restaurant is also managed by a wholesale meat company, with each piece's quality being guaranteed by a seasoned professional.

They boast two all-you-can-eat courses, both of which last for 2 hours. The standard course is 2,980 yen, and allows diners to gorge on up to 95 delicious menu items! If you want to indulge in some of Japan’s highest quality meat, the 3,480-yen course includes premium wagyu cuts, such as chuck flap and more!

There are also 3 different all-you-can-drink options to attach to your course! The 1,480 yen ‘Premium Course’ and the 980 yen ‘Standard Course’ offer a similar selection, with the more expensive one offering higher-quality drinks. If you’re going alcohol-free, a soft-drink only course for 420 yen is also available. (Prices do not include tax).

No matter what menu you decide on, the range of foods you can enjoy is astounding! For first-timers, we recommend trying the 2,980-yen course, which boasts yakiniku classics like Korean BBQ, along with sirloin steak, skirt steak, vegetables, salad, kimchi, rice, noodles, and dessert! You won’t be hungry again for days!

The restaurant employs a touch-screen tablet to take orders. Each course is separated into different menus, and can be changed to English and Chinese. Once you’ve found something you like, touch the screen and the staff will bring it to your table. You won’t ever have to get up!

When asked how best to grill, Fufu-tei’s manager said, “once you’ve put your meat on the grill, leave it for a while without touching it. Once the side being cooked begins to drip, it’s safe to flip it over!”

This technique removes the excess fat, grilling the meat to a juicy and tender perfection!

There are three kinds of tare sauce to pour over your meat – the tsukedare, sappari tsukedare, and the clear skipjack tuna tare (pictured right to left).

The tsukedare is a standard tare with a soy sauce base ideal for red meat cooked yakiniku style. The sappari tsukedare has a refreshing tang to pair with the fattier cuts.

The clear skipjack tuna tare is a lightly-colored Kansai-style rendition with the savory flavors of bonito flakes, kombu, and shiitake mushrooms and is great with salted yakiniku or beef sukiyaki! Try them all out and see what works best for you!

In addition to yakiniku, you’ve got to try the ‘Makanai Gohan!’ Topped with a generous helping of spring onion, this dish was originally created to feed the staff during or after their shift. Usually unavailable to customers, this is an unmissable gourmet opportunity!

Topped off with an aesthetically-pleasing layer of yakiniku, it becomes a classic Japanese donburi dish! Put a picture up on social media and your friends will soon be asking where to find it! While plain white rice is also available, you’ve come all this way, so try something new!

The restaurant manager’s recommendation is the thickly-sliced meat joints. Each piece is around 150g, and comes from a selection of 5 different cuts, including tenderloin, rump, and pork tongue.

The rump is particularly fresh and thick, with each piece being at least 4cm! Looking at it from the side, you can really appreciate how chucky it is! The dish is served well-seasoned with a salt, pepper, and garlic mix. For an all-you-can-eat-menu, this is pretty amazing!

Another popular item is the ‘Round Steak Yukhoe.’ While a yukhoe is usually eaten raw, serving raw meat at a yakiniku restaurant is banned in Japan. To get around this and meet customer demand, Fufu-tei devised a low-temperature cooking method to serve the dish ultra-rare. While it’s a little different from what you’re used to, we recommend giving it a try at least once!

Of course, it’s not a balanced meal without veggies! For this, we recommend getting the ‘Seasonal Salad,’ which is altered almost every month to include the freshest seasonal vegetables. When we visited, the salad was a sweet carpaccio with turnip and ham!

Fufu-tei’s specialty is the ‘Giant Beef Tongue.’ These huge pieces of flavorsome tongue pack a punch, making them the hottest item on the menu!

As the method to slice the tongue is different from most establishments, Fufu-tei’s rendition stretches from the base right to the tip, making them much longer than others. Soft with a slight crunch, these lavish slices are renowned for their satisfying bite!

There are three different flavors to choose from: ‘salt-grilled lemon,’ ‘spring onion and garlic tare,’ and ‘savory salted kombu.’ We chose the salted kombu, as it’s the most unusual of the three!

Add the kombu, wrap it into a roll, and enjoy!

The kombu adds a salty kick that enhances the overall flavor of the tongue. You can also add some skipjack tuna tare too!

Of course, Fufu-tei naturally offers Japan’s most beloved meat dish: sukiyaki! Their Korean BBQ, thinly-sliced vegetables, and raw egg set is the definitive sukiyaki experience!

Following the restaurant manager’s advice, we placed the meat on the grill and waited for it to start dripping.

We then wrapped it around some vegetables and dipped it in raw egg!

After you’ve had your fill of meat, treat yourself to some noodles, soup, and seasonal desserts! While 2 hours will pass in a flash, it’s more than enough time to leave satisfied!

Customers at Yakiniku Fufu-tei must undergo temperature checks and hand sanitization before entering.

The tables are all booths or Japanese-style tatami rooms, giving each party privacy and space, even when busy.

Seats and tables without walls are protected by plastic sheets. The air is ventilated every 3 minutes, making the room clean and fresh, and regularly-touched places, like doorknobs and elevator buttons are sanitized every hour. Yakiniku Fufu-tei is serious about protecting customers during these difficult times.

Yakiniku Fufu-tei pride themselves on serving Ikebukuro with a stunning variety of high-quality dishes on an all-you-can-eat budget! Travelers and locals alike flock to get their fill of delicious meat without spending a fortune! They are a part of the government’s Go To Eat campaign, so feel free to check that out too!

Store, facilities, and equipment are thoroughly disinfected, sanitized, and cleaned. Tables, chairs, etc. are disinfected after each customer. Disinfectant spray is provided. Store is well-ventilated. Coin trays are in use. Staff wear masks, wash hands, sanitize, gargle, and check temperatures. Customers feeling unwell are refused entry. Customers are required to wear masks.

*The information presented in this article is accurate as of November 2020. Information may change, so be sure to check online before visiting.