Irori Sanzoku Kuga — Restaurant in Iwakuni

Food and service maybe 3.5 stars.

Ambiance, 6 stars!!!

The chicken on a stick was very soft. It's best eaten with rice. The humongous rice ball has 3 fillings: simmered konbu kelp, pickled plum, and salmon. It can easily feed two or 3 people. I'd say it's 3 bowls of rice, easily.

The takamori beef was unique, apparently the cows are fed sake lees. I would recommend that you don't undercook it as it's a bit too chewy so, cook it well. I didn't like the dipping sauce. A little sweet sauce not unlike noodle dipping sauce. I'd have just preferred some salt to enjoy the natural sweetness of the meat.

The place is like a mini village, equipped with a shrine where you can get a lucky fortune paper and even play ring toss, next to it. Theme park slash BBQ venue slash outdoor Izakaya. It is a bit touristy but most people come for the ambiance. The price isn't high for a tourist spot. It's neither cheap nor expensive.

There are plenty of local souvenirs sold around the entrance area. The line is very long. There's more than one line, for different parts if the place so it's possible to wait for less time. Most people just line up at the main line, for maybe an hour or so?

The place is known to foreign locals as...

The cherryblossom season is the best time to come here!!! Especially dinner time. Available all through the season. Lunch time is nice and interesting where u can see the nature n dine at the same time but the night lights are my favourite. Full of people every night. But plenty of seats for almost 100 people im guessing. The foods there are filling and tastey. Roasted chicken leg "Sanzoku-yaki" n "Sanzoku-nigiri" are one of the famous must eat dishes. There are seats both inside and outside. Inside there you can experience what it was like back in the old days where people gather around the fire place called "the Irori", used for keeping the food, drinks, n body warm. The outside seats are something you can not experience anywhere else. If you go during the cool or cold season, the seats outside called the "Kotatsu" which is a table that has a heater inside the a quilt covered on top! Gotta a...

Dining here was awesome! It was quite busy when I went so I had to wait a while for a seat. If you've never been here than there's a few things that could help your experience. They have an English menu and you pay before you sit down and they give you a receipt with your order on it. To get a seat you have to wait until someone gets up from their seat and sit down right after them (especially if it's busy). If it's not busy you can just find an empty table and sit down. After you've sat down you can wave down a waiter to have them take your ticket so they can start preparing your food. The tea in my experience was self serve. Once the food is ready they will walk near your table and call your name to make sure it's you. This place was very romantic during the evening so if you looking for somewhere fun or interesting to eat this...