Yakiniku Lee-en Nakano

Restaurant Details

There’s no shortage of yakiniku restaurants in Nakano — west Tokyo’s haven for anime and manga lovers — but few have lasted as long as Yakiniku Lee-en’s original branch. Having been in business for more than 30 years, Lee-en has built up a loyal customer base over these three-plus decades due to its commitment to serving high-quality wagyu beef in a convenient location, just a single stop from Shinjuku.

All meat served at the restaurant is at least A4-grade, ensuring that each piece is finely marbled and mouth-melting. In order to ensure that guests are served only the best, the restaurant features a constantly rotating roster of different cuts and meats, resulting in the restaurant’s most popular item: a curated selection of the restaurant’s five recommended cuts of the day. Cooked to one’s desired doneness and dipped in the restaurant’s homemade sauce, it’s ordered by almost every single visitor to the restaurant, whether they’re newcomers or veterans.

With its roots in Korean barbecue, yakiniku in its modern state still bears the mark of several influences from its Korean predecessor. But the chef at Lee-en was so enraptured by Korean cuisine that he decided to devote his career to not just mastering yakiniku, but Korean cuisine as a whole.

As such, while the restaurant has come to be known for the tenderness and flavor of its meat, certain dishes like sundubu-jjigae extra-soft tofu soup and the restaurant’s signature naengmyeon cold noodles have propelled its reputation even further. The chef even goes so far as to use ingredients sourced from Korea in his dishes.

Nakano has a reputation for being one of west Tokyo’s most popular nightlife spots, and the warm wooden interior of Yakiniku Lee-en lets it fit right in beside the various bars and late-night dining spots. A meal at Lee-en Nakano is a treat for all five senses: surrounded by the sounds and smells of grilling meat, each bite of beef is also wonderfully juicy and flavorful. The ideal place for an outing with friends.

Yakiniku Lee-en Nakano Remarks

• Guests with dietary restrictions and/or food allergies should inform the restaurant beforehand. The restaurant might not be able to accommodate guests who make same-day requests.

• The restaurant reserves the right to refuse reservations to guests who have excessive dietary restrictions, particularly those of fish or vegetables.

• The course menu content listed below is an example, and is subject to change based on seasonal availability.

• The restaurant cannot always guarantee that it can provide guests with their preferred seating options after a reservation due to availability.

• The pictures provided are for illustrative purposes.

Yakiniku Lee-en Nakano Business Days

Yakiniku Lee-en Nakano Address

Lions Plaza Nakano 1F, 5-60-2 Nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo, 164-0001

Yakiniku Lee-en Nakano Access Info

• Yakiniku Lee-en Nakano is accessible via a 2-minute walk from the North Exit of JR Nakano Station.

Yakiniku Lee-en Nakano Phone Number

Yakiniku Lee-en Nakano Cancellation Policy

Cancel your reservation at least 2 days before the dining start time to receive a full refund minus a 3.2% transaction fee.