A $130 Yakiniku Course at Jambo Hanare That Ruined All Other Beef

Six days into 2026, food creator Julian sat down at Jambo Hanare in Tokyo's Hongo district and declared every other beef experience in his life officially inferior. The restaurant's roughly $130 per person prix fixe course took him through eight distinct preparations of Japanese beef, each one building on the last, culminating in a Chateaubriand that he described as "beef in its purest form." His review kept escalating mid-sentence, correcting from "best meal of 2026" to "best meal of my life" before the first course was even finished.

The Full Course, Start to Finish

The meal opened with a red wine stew of beef tongue alongside what Jambo Hanare calls their "superior cut" of beef tongue. Both had the firm bite you expect from tongue, but the quality of the beef kept them tender without any slow-cook mushiness. A small dish of what appeared to be kimchi sat alongside as a table condiment throughout the meal.

Premium kalbi came next, serving as a bridge between the firmer tongue preparations and the softer cuts that followed. On the tabletop grill, slabs of heavily marbled beef sat on the grate with visible fat webbing through pale pink meat, smoke curling off the surface. This was the transition point where the meal shifted from good to something else entirely.

The Standout Bite: No Harayaki

The single best bite of the night, according to Julian, was the no harayaki. Paper-thin A5 sirloin, marinated in a soy-based sauce, grilled for seconds at most, then dipped in a raw egg yolk. He called the yolk one of the most beautiful he had ever seen. The result was rich and slightly sweet, with a texture he compared to butter dissolving on your tongue. He was visibly savoring it, chopsticks raised, eyes closed, small bowl in hand.

Beef Sushi, Skewer, and the Main Event

After one more piece of loin, the course moved to beef sushi, which Julian ranked as one of the best pieces of sushi he has eaten, period. A beef skewer followed. He acknowledged it was good but called it the most underwhelming item on the menu, which says more about the rest of the course than the skewer itself.

Then came the Chateaubriand. The center cut of the tenderloin arrived on a white plate, thick cubes of beef with a dark, caramelized sear on the outside and pale pink interiors showing fine marbling throughout. A light sauce pooled beneath the cuts. Julian described it as a "celebration of beef," the kind of dish where the preparation steps back and lets the ingredient speak for itself.

Even dessert landed. A peach ice cream closed the meal, and Julian, clearly still processing what he had just eaten, called it incredible before trailing off into gratitude for "this meal, my family, my friends, beef."

Key Takeaways

• Jambo Hanare is located at 3 Chome-27-9 Hongo, Tokyo, and offers a prix fixe yakiniku course for approximately $130 per person.
• The course includes eight preparations: beef tongue stew, superior beef tongue, premium kalbi, no harayaki (A5 sirloin with egg yolk), loin, beef sushi, beef skewer, and Chateaubriand.
• The no harayaki and beef sushi were the two standout bites, with the Chateaubriand serving as the centerpiece.
• The meal is structured as a progression from firmer, more flavorful cuts to softer, melt-in-your-mouth preparations, building toward the tenderloin finish.
• At $130 per person for this quality of A5 beef across eight courses, the value proposition is strong by Tokyo yakiniku standards.