Goen Yakiniku

Goen: Yakiniku heaven!

Goen is actually a chain of restaurants, with 7 locations on island. I visited the Goen in Chatan. Here’s a little more on how that went.

Goen is a yakiniku eatery, meaning each table has a little grill to allow you to BBQ your own food. It’s awesome! It’s modern and high tech, with iPads at every table set up to allow you to order food, extra utensils and crockery, and services like fresh grill covers and table clean ups. It has English options too, so you know exactly what you’re ordering if you don’t understand Japanese. It’s clean, sleek, and has a cheery atmosphere. Great for all ages, though watch small children, the grill gets really hot!

Food wise, it’s not vegetarian friendly. Almost everything contains or is focused on meat. You can get chicken, beef, pork and offal (intestines, cartilage, and other slightly “out there” choices), as well as rices, soups, curries, taco rice, naan bread and desserts. Soft drinks are included in your meal, and are self serve right by the entrance. You can also get frozen yogurt there too. They have alcoholic drinks and non-alcoholic cocktails, but these are extra.

I tried all sorts! The curry and taco rice dishes were both delicious, and the curry even came as a mini option with a naan, so good! On the grill I served up chicken, beef, pork and garlic cheese sweetcorn, as well as weenie sausages. All the tables come with tongs, and you can order extra ones if there’s a few of you all grilling at once. The meat comes out raw, but it’s small so it cooks relatively quickly. You can’t beat fresh BBQ, and it doesn’t get fresher than straight from the grill. Service is quick too, you aren’t waiting forever for food to arrive to your table. I saved room for a dessert, which is either the aforementioned frozen yogurt, or the option I took, two dainty cakes on a plane smothered in rich chocolate sauce. Heavenly.

It’s all you can eat, so you can order as much as you like, but anything you don’t eat you will be charged for (a half eaten rice bowl isn’t an issue, but if you’re ordering meat and leaving most of it cooked or uncooked, they will bill you the individual menu cost). They have a variety of all you can eat options, allowing you to further personalise your experience.

Price: From 2,700 yen per person.

Accepts: Yen, credit card.