Tucked away somewhere in Tokyo, Yakiniku Jumbo is a yakiniku restaurant that has been loved by gourmets for more than 30 years and is known as the "originator of Tokyo's yakiniku". In the Japanese Tabelog website reviews, Yakiniku Jumbo is the second most popular website. Timeout magazine in Tokyo also named it one of the top 10 yakiniku restaurants in Tokyo. In June 2018, Yakiniku Jumbo officially opened a store in Hong Kong, recreating the high-quality yakiniku of the Tokyo restaurant for Hong Kong diners.
Yakiniku Jumbo is a quintessential family shop, and the current owner and head chef, Mimitsu Minamihara, took over the shop from his father, Ryu Minamihara. In 2002, his father, Ryuo Minamihara, created a variety of ways to taste rare parts of beef, thus establishing Yakiniku Jumbo's reputation as the "originator of yakiniku in Tokyo". The successor Nanyuan Fan Mitsu is also persistent in the study of roast meat, and how to present which part is presented and how to make it more delicious are all questions that the chef thinks about and discusses every day. The Hong Kong store inherits the high-quality production of Yakiniku Jumbo and appoints Takayuki Huta as the head chef. With more than 20 years of experience in Japanese cuisine, he has worked at many famous Japanese restaurants in Nagoya and Tokyo, and joined the Japanese-French restaurant La Bombance in 2015 as the head chef of La Bombance Hong Kong. In 2017, he joined Yaniniku Jumbo and was appointed Head Chef in Hong Kong.
Yakiniku Jumbo offers more than 20 different types of beef cuts, which are cut and seasoned differently depending on the quality of the meat. Yakiniku Jumbo insists on using chilled Wagyu beef, believing that frozen beef has lost its umami flavor after freezing and thawing. Meat is also cut by hand rather than by machine, and only experienced chefs can cut the thickness and shape that brings out the best flavor of the beef. The sauce is the key to the success of the yakiniku flavor, and Yakiniku Jumbo's sauce started with the grandmother of Nanhara Fan Mitsuitsu and maintains the traditional flavor. The signature dish "Nohara-yaki" is a beef tenderloin that is hand-cut to a thickness of 0.8 cm, coated in an exclusive sauce and grilled in the oven. When eating, it is dipped in raw egg liquid, which is smooth in the mouth, rich in fat, and has an excellent taste.
Yakiniku Jumbo was introduced by Hong Kong-based restaurant group Global Link. Global Link Restaurant Group already owns top Japanese restaurants such as "Sky Ryugin", "Ta Vie Ryokan Ryokan", and "Sushi Saito". Yakiniku Jumbo HK is now accepting bookings from 4 June 2018.