TEPPAN KU-YA — Restaurant in Okayama

Several weeks before my trip, I came across Teppan Ku-ya in reviews as I really wanted to try Okayama chiya beef. On my first night, I had the Chiya Course for dinner. Placing my order was easy as they provided an English menu and the staff spoke English. I was floored by the quality, portion and attention to detail given to each dish.

Having had a coffee and dessert a few hours just before my meal, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to finish my food.

The moment I took the first bite of the appetizer, my stomach felt lighter and my appetite whetted. From the refreshingly zesty salad to the scrumptiously grilled prawn with bacon to the mildly singed yet bursting with flavour chiya steak to the last slice of pound cake, the chef really made it so difficult to choose a favourite dish. Did I mention my plates were clean and free of any morsel of food when I was done?

Halfway through my meal, I told myself I have to come here at least one more time before I return. And so I did on my last night, this time ordering 200g of that oh-so-good chiya steak, together with a yuzu mixer, which I found excellent as I’m not much of a drinker, and finally topping it off with their highly popular black sesame ice cream.

Photos alone won’t do justice to the delicious food served at this fine establishment. The price, portion and quality is really hard to beat.

As I have expressed to the chef and his team, I feel so incredibly lucky to have dined there.

Now that I’m back in Singapore, I am so glad I have wonderful memories of not one but two heartfelt and sincere dining experiences at Teppan Ku-ya. Truly one of the highlights of my trip to Japan, and my first time in the beautiful...

It's a rare treat when you find a restaurant that fills your heart as well as your stomach. Teppan Ku-Ya 81 is one of those "treats". Our entire experience was beyond expectations. After parking our bicycles we were disappointed to see the sign "fully booked" on the chair outside the front door and a waitress apologetically gesticulating to that same affect. But out from behind the Teppan the chef owner appeared and waved us in to this cozy, atmospheric and warm shop. The meal was outstanding. Normally, when I have a good meal I'll eat it quickly. But this dinner required patience. To do anything but slowly savour the fare here is to cheat your soul. The beef is fantastic and lovingly prepared and the chilli relish which accompanied it was a revelation. The black sesame gelato was next level great. The scallops and Japanese salad both had flavour notes to luxuriate over. There's maybe 16 or 18 seats in the restaurant. I could feel that every person in those seats was enjoying their dining experience as much as my wife and I. We feel very fortunate to have found this warm little shop. It's a...

Great people, good atmosphere, average beef.

Unfortunately the main problem was the chiya beef in the set menu (we had two steaks with different doneness). Both steaks were really disappointing because they didn’t have much beef flavour and had such normal texture. It resembled an inexpensive steak bought from a supermarket, didn’t taste like restaurant quality. Chiya beef is not special at all.

The male chef was really welcoming and thanked us dearly. The female chef served wonderful bakery-esque cheesecake which was the highlight of the dinner set, without a doubt. The servers were full of energy and joy.

It’s a shame the steak was so ordinary. I would advise the hard working chefs/owners to change the menu if possible for the sake of...