kobito japanese restaurant — Restaurant in Rankoshi

Not one to write reviews, but I feel others should know about our experience. As an izakaya, it was probably best to stick to the usuals – we had some of those and it was fine. However, that night, we were feeling adventurous and ordered the roasted king crab legs and wagyu sukiyaki.

The wagyu sukiyaki was okay at first – the broth and portions were alright – but the beef was exceptionally tough, even in smaller bites. I understand they might use a cheaper cut to stay profitable, but it was still quite unpleasant.

The roasted king crab legs were the worst part. It cost $200 USD, which we didn’t mind paying for what we thought would be fresh, great quality seafood. However, when I first tried the smaller pincer leg, it tasted like it had been soaked in overly salted water before roasting. We thought maybe it was just the pincer, but when my partner tried the leg, it was even saltier than the pincer – so salty we couldn’t eat it. By then, we’d lost our appetite and left.

The staff was ambivalent when we politely shared our feedback about the crab being so salty to the point it was inedible. Maybe it was the language barrier, but still, it was not a...

Lively spot away from the crowds in Hirafu. I came at 6:15 on a Wednesday and thought I could get in pretty easy without a reservation, definitely ask your hotel to make one for you, just to be sure. Thankfully I got seated at the counter in about 20 minutes.

The food I ordered was delicious. If you get the Yukhoe, make sure to stir it quickly and all of the meat makes contact with the pan before the pan cools. But then again it’s a tartare 🙂. Deep fried oysters 💯. They have a good variety to choose from between seafood and meat dishes. They have a vegetarian menu too! Also their drink menu is very extensive! I wish I could have drank more!

You order through a QR code and my order came out fairly quickly but it seems that some other booths and tables had been waiting for a while for their order and had to come up to the service area to check where their order was. Maybe they are short staffed? Hopefully they can work out the inefficiencies before the season really picks up (I came on...

This is a really cosy izakaya. The staff are friendly, the menu is hand-written beautifully. They also have an extensive menu with sashimi, yakitori, many different types of appetisers like croquettes, gyoza, kimchi and they also have different types of ramen. We ordered the Spicy Miso Roast Pork Ramen and that was really delicious. The broth was light, but quite flavourful. Their gyoza is probably one of the most tender, melt-in-your-mouth gyozas I have ever had. The Tsukune (minced chicken skewer) was really tender and had quite a nice glaze sauce on it. The croquettes only had potato in it, but they were quite delicious, buttery, soft and well-seasoned. It also had a crunchy golden brown outer coating. Lastly, they had this really delicious rose plum wine that we just couldn’t...