Japanese food never bore us. Besides sushi and ramen, Japanese barbecue is also one of our favorite. From tons of Japanese BBQ restaurant in Jakarta, Gyu-Kaku is one of the best we ever tried and last weekend, FOOD IN LOVE visited Gyu-Kaku at Neo Soho, West Jakarta.

Gyu-Kaku is a chain of Japanese yakiniku restaurant originated from Japan and specializing in Japanese barbecue. Set in a minimalist setting with the comfortable and spacious room, Gyu-Kaku, meaning “Horn of the Bull” in Japanese provides the authentic Japanese Yakiniku (BBQ) dining experience where customers share premium cooked meats over a flaming charcoal grill.

Gyu-Kaku has Ala Carte and All You Can Eat concept where they offer any different choices of the package with more than 40 items to choose.

• Standard Buffet (IDR 228,000++ for adult; IDR 158,000++ for child/senior): Appetizer & Agemono, Salad, Grilled Appetizer, Rice & Noodle, Standard Meat, Soup, Dessert
• Premium Buffet (IDR 398,000++ for adult; IDR 298,000++ for child/senior): Appetizer & Agemono, Salad, Grilled Appetizer, Rice & Noodle, Premium Meat, Soup, Dessert
• Exclusive Buffet (IDR 448,000++ for adult; IDR 348,000++ for child/senior): Appetizer & Agemono, Salad, Grilled Appetizer, Rice & Noodle, Exclusive Meat, Soup, Dessert

As you can see at the AYCE package list above, the different from each package is the meat (there is standard, premium, and exclusive meat) and the selections of appetizer, salad, grilled appetizer, rice & noodle, soup, and dessert. As we mentioned before that Gyu-Kaku has more than 40 menus, the exclusive buffet comes with a selection of the most widely while standard buffet has the least choice.

Here in Gyu-Kaku, they use charcoal fire to cook the barbecue in order to get the best flavor. We always love the smell of barbecue cooked with charcoal fire since it has a special tantalizing aroma that you cannot resist.

We had the Standard Buffet package and it’s even more than enough for us. There is a lot of food selection that you can choose in Standard Buffet package and almost impossible to try all of them one by one. If you’re going to order the buffet package, especially the Premium or Exclusive Buffet, just prepare and save your tummy and skip anything that’s non-beef. We don’t try the Grilled Appetizer, Salad,  Rice & Noodle, Soup, since we are focused on their BBQ meat with some appetizer and dessert.

Appetizer

For the appetizer, we tried Edamame and Chicken Karage. Both of them are good especially the Chicken Karage. It’s tender inside with a crispy texture outside. There is also potato salad, croquette, Gyu-Kaku Cabbage, and homemade Korean pickles.

Salad

As for the salad, we tried the Chroregi Salad. There is also a vegetable wrap set for your bbq meat. This one is not bad at all.

Grilled Appetizer

Assorted sausage and corn foil is a good choice for grilled appetizer. Especially for corn foil, it’s a good combination of butter and sweet corn. For another choice, there are squid and garlic foil.

Soup

You can skip the wakame soup and egg soup, but please give a try for their miso soup. It’s turn out so good for us. The soup was refreshing and bold of miso flavor.

BBQ Meat

The Beef Karubi at Gyu-Kaku was extremely good. There is Beef Tongue, Negi Tongue, Karubi, Yaki Shabu, Negi Karubi, Spicy Miso Karubi, Garlic & Butter Karubi, Teriyaki Chicken, and Basil Chicken with Cheese (written in bold are the meat we’ve tried). And their Karubi is the best for sure! Basically, Karubi is Short Ribs, the most popular cut of beef with beautiful marbling and marvelous taste.

We really like the way they cut and served the Karubi. It has been cut in small bite size and not too thick, while the Yaki Shabu comes in a longer size and thinner cut. From all BBQ meat that we’ve tried, our most favorite are Karubi, Negi Karubi, and Garlic & Butter Karubi. Actually, all of them is the same Karubi with the different topping.

The additional negi and garlic surely give you extra pleasure! The garlic and butter served in a small clay bowl so you can grill it and let the butter melt. It’s really fragrant with appetizing aroma!

Don’t forget to dip the meat into their dipping sauce for extra kick or flavor. There are Tare and Spicy Tare sauce. Personally, we prefer the tare sauce than the spicy one. If you like vegetables, you can also try wrapping the meat with some grilled vegetables, kimchi, and fresh vegetables for more comforting taste. (PS: If you order the Ala Carte menu, vegetables is not included. You need to order separately with additional charge)

As for Chicken BBQ, the Basil Chicken with cheese was decent. The basil chicken comes with cheese that served on small clay bowl so you can grill it and let the cheese melt. Even the chicken was juicy and tender, we have a very high expectation on this Chicken BBQ with melted cheese but unfortunately, it doesn’t live up our expectation.

Dessert

After having a BBQ feast, all we need is the desserts to neutralized our tongue from the amount of meat. We have the Vanilla Ice Cream and Milk Pudding. Even though it looks simple, but the ice cream was not bad at all. It’s really soft and not too sweet. The milk pudding is also good as well with a silky and fluffy texture. As for drink, there is soft drink and lemon tea.

Overall, Gyu-Kaku is definitely the best Japanese BBQ that we ever had. Barbecuing at Gyu-Kaku was extremely satisfying in term of variety, taste, and quality. If you’re a Japanese BBQ lover, we highly recommend you to order the buffet package since you can ask for the meat refill as much as you want, extremely filling yet satisfying right? All meats were fresh, delicious, and seasoned very well especially their Karubi. It was very juicy and tender at the same time. We will come back for sure!

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Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ

Neo Soho, LG Floor
Jalan Letjend S. Parman Kav. 28
West Jakarta 11470

Opening Hours: Everyday (10 AM – 10 PM)
Telp: (021) 21889061 ext: 763

Instagram: @gyukaku.id
Facebook: Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ – Indonesia

Spending per pax: IDR 200,000 – IDR 500,000

Taste: 9,5/10
Service: 9/10
Place: 8/10
Value for Money: 7,5/10

MAP

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