Yappari Steak 2nd — Restaurant in Naha

My wife and I ate here for a date night. It isn't the typical fancy restaurant for date night, but it does deliver on quality for price. It is a vending machine ticket-style place with only a handful of seats, so bring cash and nothing larger than ¥1,000 bills (no card accepted). We chose the 150g steak (everything else is on a side table for you to eat at your leisure, like shredded cabbage salad, pasta salad, Japanese white rice, and something like egg-drop soup). It was ¥1,480 for the steak or about $13.50. The steak was served on a small, hot lava rock that kept it sizzling for quite a while. As the steak was only seared on the outside (not bloody but very red in the middle) the stone was perfect to sear each piece as we cut it off. Also on the table were a variety of sauces, like soy sauce, garlic soy sauce, Ponzu sauce, a fruit sauce, A-1 steak sauce, and a few others. We were able to pour a little of each type into the dipping bowls and try them with each bite.

The vending machine is all in Japanese, but they have a small English translation menu for you to look at as you decide what you'd like.

It is easy to see why this hole-in-the-wall place is...

Pretty much what you'd expect from such a place. The highlight is the large variety of sauces and condiments they have at the disposal of the client to try different combinations with the meat.

The meat itself is good, but the quantity was a bit scarce (which is compensated by the free buffet of side dishes such as two kinds of rice, salad, macaroni and soup).

In terms of environment, it felt far from the typical welcoming attitude of japanese people in general, though as someone that has worked in hospitality I understand we all have not so good days. But it did feel like they weren't as open to foreigners as they...

The cheapest steak ever! ¥1,000 gets you a 200g cut of yappari beef and all-you-can-eat rice, salad and soup. The steak comes on a hot plate so you can't really specify the wellness but even after letting the heat cook the steak (I flipped it a couple of times), it was still quite rare in the middle.

The steak isn't going to win multiple awards nor melt in your mouth. But it's close. There was no unchewable fat or inedible bits. Pair the steak with a number of sauces on the table and don't forget the garlic. Worth the walk from Miebashi...