01 / ABOUT THE PLACE
About this place
Quietly hanging its noren along a backstreet in Higashi-Ueno, Yakiniku Hidari sits just far enough from the station bustle to make an appealing retreat when you want to take your time around the grill. Open the menu, and the first thing that catches the eye is an extensive beef tongue selection that highlights the unique character of different cuts. Guests can explore the ingredient from multiple angles, from thick-cut salted tongue with its firm springiness and deepening juiciness with every chew, to lighter tongue tip, savory and muscular tongue base, and tongue cured in shio-koji.
Savory Grilled Cuts and House Sides
The rest of the beef menu is just as broad, featuring popular standards such as loin and kalbi alongside aburi roast that is lightly seared and swirled through raw egg, as well as specialty cuts like sirloin and misuji. The offal lineup receives equal care, offering plump marucho, crisp jo-mino, and liver, alongside texture-rich selections such as crunchy kutsubera cartilage and kobukuro. Small side dishes—including house kimchi and kkakdugi cured from scratch, fragrant sesame-dressed green onions, and tender, slow-simmered beef tendon—keep the table lively between grilled cuts.
From Fruit Sours to Finishing Bowls
For drinks, bottles of Sapporo Akaboshi and draft beer share the list with house fruit sours infused with seasonal fruit and crisp Akakirishima shochu highballs, all providing a clean counterpoint to marbled meats. To round out the meal, the kitchen offers satisfying conclusions such as a generously topped staff-meal yukhoe bowl created after repeated regular requests, cool and tangy plum-shiso cold noodles, and spicy, comforting yukgaejang gukbap. With its calm, unpretentious dining space suited to both relaxed group gatherings and casual dinners, booking ahead for a table from its 16:00 opening makes for an easy evening visit.
