Imakin Shokudo — Restaurant in Aso

TLDR; good beef bowl but not the fat melt-in-your-mouth kind. Go early to avoid long wait.

Arrived on a Sunday morning around 11.25am and the wait was already 1.5 hours long. This place is famous for Aso Beef, or Akaushi. Now, if you’re looking for tender melt-in-your-mouth beef, you’re probably in the wrong place because this beef is from cattle who spend their days roaming the fields around Aso. The meat is muscular with very little fat, making it popular nowadays as a healthier alternative — different from the fatty type of wagyu most overseas tourist are after when they come to Japan.

That being said though, if you’re open to trying beef that has a little more chew than A5 wagyu, but still actually pretty tender, this place is amazing and the wait was really not that bad as you can walk around and check out the tiny shops in the surrounding...

Came here 2 hours before close. Saw people queing with number and waited by the kitchen door and a waitress will come out once in awhile to call the number. After that just let her know that you are waiting and she will give you a que number with estimated waiting time which is pretty accurate. She told me about 10 mins and i entered roughly 10 mins later. We ordered the beef bowl, stew beef and minced beef bowl. Everything is good but i dont think its worth the wait if its 30 mins or longer. The beef "akaushi" is slightly leaner and tougher compared to other beef. I personally prefer it over wagyu melt in the mouth type. So just a heads up if you are particular about the...

I must say this beef bowl here is quite good people say it’s chewy but I think it’s just everyone’s different opinions. I like the taste of the beef it is a bit chewy from their signature cow. The miso was really good with the beef and the wasabi was really fresh 👍 The grilled chicken was actually really good! The skin was crispy and the chicken was juicy.

Service wise I must say their way of handling the customers is very efficient because they give you a number and the estimated time. So you can explore the place while waiting and come back later. Recommend going to aso milk factory which is nearby Frankly speaking, it is not a bad beef bowl but it’s a...