We visited Nikugoten, a yakiniku specialist near beautiful Churasan Beach in southern Okinawa.
It was about a 15-minute drive from Naha Airport.
Southern Beach Hotel & Resort, a well-known southern Okinawa resort, was about five minutes away by car.
This was described as the flagship of the yakiniku chain run by Okinawan meat company Gyuwan. Its large building stood on a main road and was easy to find.
There appeared to be a second floor, but only the ground floor was operating during the pandemic.
Orders were placed on a touchscreen.
It did not support multiple languages, though the photographs and prices made ordering seem manageable.
A printed menu was provided too, even though orders could not be placed through staff.
The service felt generous overall, and the menu indicated that drinks were included.
Signature lunches included a 180 g short-rib-and-loin set for JPY 980 and a 180 g marbled-short-rib set for JPY 980, alongside ribeye, beef-tongue sets, and other choices.
There were also various set meals beyond yakiniku.
I have often found good set meals at Japanese yakiniku restaurants; the tempura rice bowl caught my interest.
The recorded 120-minute unlimited plans were JPY 2,480 for 60 dishes, JPY 2,980 for 100, JPY 3,980 for 120, and JPY 6,980 for a 125-dish wagyu plan.
An unlimited plan seemed an appealing dinner option.
We ordered the marbled-short-rib lunch and a hamburger-steak set.
A soft drink came with lunch; unusually, the cola was served in a can.
I chose cola without hesitation.
A fizzy can of cola was wonderfully refreshing.
Beside the drinks was an Iberico-pork shabu-shabu station, using the Spanish pork breed.
On this visit, it was available without an extra charge and without a limit.
It felt so generous that I wondered how the economics worked.
Soon the dishes began arriving one by one.
Beef fat for greasing the grill.
A simple salad.
And soup.
The marbled-short-rib lunch set arrived.
With all that marbling, it looked promising.
Yakiniku restaurants sometimes make surprisingly good hamburger steaks too.
The hamburger steak arrived topped with a fried egg.
It seemed excellent quality for JPY 980.
We grilled the meat with the vegetables.
The meat stuck to the grill more than expected, so the beef fat proved useful.
Before I knew it, half was gone. It melted in the mouth.
There was a generous salad too.
I ate the hamburger steak with the egg and sauce.
A modest serving of fries.
Broccoli came alongside it as well.
The meat was gone almost before I realized it.
Now it was time to try the unlimited shabu-shabu.
The source describes this vegetable-free style as traditional Okinawan shabu-shabu.
I began with the mild sesame dressing
and finished with refreshing ponzu.
After lunch, we stopped at nearby Churasan Beach.
Known for its large park and basketball courts, it drew students coming to play basketball.
Swimming did not begin until April under the schedule described, so it was not possible on this visit.
Students on a school trip from mainland Japan left looking disappointed.
The beach was quiet. I wondered whether it would become busy again that year.
Nikugoten in Itoman offered marbled yakiniku and tasty set meals at prices I found affordable.
The complimentary Iberico-pork shabu-shabu was delicious too.
I would recommend considering Nikugoten when looking for beef and pork during an Okinawa trip.
Yakiniku Nikugoten, Itoman flagship (焼き肉 肉御殿 糸満本店)
Address: 2-25-6 Nishizaki, Itoman, Okinawa (沖縄県糸満市西崎2-25-6)
Phone: 098-995-0846
Hours recorded:
Lunch
11：30～15：00（14：30 LO）
Dinner
17：00～23：00（22：30 LO）
Regular closing: Wednesday lunch only, according to the source