Yakiniku Gen
“The Koh Ramen is surprisingly good, which is very important to keep in mind if you're waiting for more than half hour for either Totto Ramen or Hide-Chan next door.”
“We ordered the Hanging Tender (marinade) & Pork dumpling which were off the happy hour menu for $8 each,
Koh ramen & Chicken Teruyaki.”
“From the outside, I was imagining something getto like Oh Taisho on St. Mark, but it's actually a small Gyu Kaku.”
Yakiniku Gen
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Called in for a reservation on Saturday afternoon (3ish?) for a same day dinner at around 7:30 for four people and was able to set that up quickly. I was really craving Japanese BBQ, but all the Gyu Kaku restaurants were fully booked. This establishment has SO MUCH potential, but service is severely lacking. There are about 1-2 waiters for the entire restaurant. They really need more waiters or waitresses to keep up with the pace of the restaurant and to get food out quicker. It was frustrating because the food is delicious, but having to wait such a long time between each dish made the experience not as enjoyable as one would like. Also, if you're taking a while to get the dishes out, atleast give the table a pitcher of water. I felt annoyed because I was so thirsty and felt like I was annoying the waiter asking for water every 15 minutes! By no means is it the waiters fault, but he really did need more help!
The meat section of the menu was extensive, but on that particular day, HALF the menu was not available. The meat dishes that we did order was delicious. I would recommend the harami, beef tongue (thin slices), kalbi, and the niku mori (4 different types of beef). All were very good, tender, and cooked well on the grill. Out of the bunch, the harami is my favorite! My group also shared the seafood pancake and yukkejang soup with ramen noodles. I was not a fan of the seafood pancake. It was big, but the dried(?) oyster taste was overwhelming and overpowered the entire dish. If you're into that, you would love this. It was def too "fishy" for me. The sauce for the pancake was very oily, so I opted to using the sauces given to us for the meats which IMO tasted a lot better. The yukkejang was delicious! I could see myself having that for lunch 🙂 With the added ramen for $2 extra, it was well worth it! The ramen is fresh; not from a bag/instant!
You get what you pay for. The quality of the meat was fatty and the spices did not make up for that. The food was good..but just that. It was merely ok…
The restaurant also did not seem very clean which was a bit concerning. It was cheap enough so I wasn't expecting too much…but I feel like it was just basically a gyukaku copycat. I would rather go to gyukaku for their happy hour instead and pay a bit more. Worth a visit if you are on a budget
i came here last night with two of my friends for dinner. i had never eaten japanese BBQ before, so i wasn't sure what to expect but it was absolutely delicious. we ordered the assorted beef plate, assorted cow tongue, grilled pork belly with cabbage fried rice, and bibimbap. portions were a bit small, but then again, it was split between 3 people. the waiter was very kind in recommending popular items and instructing us how long to grill the meat. overall, delicious meal. would definitely come back.
only downside (which i think is separate from my overall dining experience) is that we came without a reservation, and the only table they had had to be cleared by 8pm, so we had to eat within an hour. a bit rushed, but doable. the food compensated very well 🙂
Came here on a Friday night after work with a few friends.
We were a party of 8 and were able to get there early enough to get the "private area", which wasn't all that private but it was still nice. The private area had two tables, each with a grill, and can seat about 5 people per.
Some of the notable things on the happy hour menu (ends at 8):
$2.5 Sapporo Drafts
Nakaochi – Kobe Beef Rib Finger Meat
Super Thick Tan – Tongue
Tsurami – Cheek
Off the happy hour menu (don't be boring… don't be afraid to try it):
Hatsu Sashimi – Heart Sashimi
Liver Sashimi
Yukke – Thinly Sliced Chuck Rib Eye Tartar
Overall in terms of the price and quality, this place definitely deserves a solid 4.
A bit warm in here, especially with multiple bbqs going on at once but the food was excellent.
They have a omikase here but if you prefer more meat and less pickled stuff, stick to a la carte orders.
– Beef buns were pretty solid
– Beef tongue is really good but wish one order had a little more.
– Kobe short rib was tender and packed with flavor
– We also ordered the 3 kinds of meat that had a bit of everything. From Kobe short rib, chuck tips to other slices of beef I wish I could remember.
– Also ordered the bimbimbap that was quite good
All in all, food was great and the prices weren't that bad. Reminds me of Yakiniku West.
Would definitely come back, but probably when the weather is cooler.
Don't want to line up in front of Gyu Kaku on Friday nights? Yakiniku Gen probably is your best choice in midtown area. Our group of three came in around 630, and there were still plenty of seats.
Happy hour is a pretty good deal – essentially you could get everything on their regular menu, only with a smaller size.
Beef was of high quality and marinated well.
I love that Yakiniku Gen's happy hours are something like 7-11pm on Mondays and Tuesdays. They have a variety of appetizers and bbq meats on the happy hour menu in addition to drinks. My personal favorite is plum wine on the rocks- $3.50 during happy hour!
The Koh Ramen is surprisingly good, which is very important to keep in mind if you're waiting for more than half hour for either Totto Ramen or Hide-Chan next door. It's no Ippudo (which is still the best in my book), but I would actually prefer it to Hide-Chan's ramen, which I consider too salty.
Yakiniku Gen is, however, a BBQ place, so we had to give the BBQ a shot as well. We ordered off the happy hour menu and got 3 beef dishes (the skirt and the flap). Couldn't tell the difference between the two, but both were good! Very tender. I highly recommend the marinated option (the other option being salt/pepper rub). They give you 3 sauces to dip your meat. It's similar to Gyukaku down the street, but more intimate.
They have a separate dessert menu. We had the Taiyaki with green tea ice cream, which is basically a waffle fish stuffed with red bean paste over green tea ice cream.
The service is great, and even though we definitely overstayed our welcome by almost an hour, they didn't try to kick us out (there were empty tables and it was 9:45PM), and even refilled our complimentary hot green tea.
Definitely keep Yakiniku Gen in mind as you wait with all the other unfortunate souls for a seat in the over popular Ramen places along the block.
My coworkers and I came here for a quick lunch since the other ramen shops were packed. The front had a small bar but as you walk towards the back, there were a lot of tables and seats. In the far end of the restaurant, they have the Japanese style seatings which you have to take off your shoes.
My two coworkers ordered the lunch bowls while I had the ramen. The lunch bowls looked small but they claim it was filling. My ramen was just ok, nothing special; it'll suffice for a cold day. I suggest ordering from their BBQ lunch menu for something more satisfying. I'll definitely be doing that the next time I'm there.
One thing, the staff here are a bit slow. Even though there weren't many patrons, it was really difficult to get their attention for anything.