In shortHand-cut wagyu and offal yakiniku in the Tokyo Stamina-en tradition, in a fishing town on Oita's south coast. Reservations run in Japanese and are hard to place from abroad, so our Tokyo desk requests the table for you, by phone and in Japanese.
Price
Omakase ¥8,800, ¥15,400 or ¥22,000 per person, tax included, no service charge; à la carte also; drinks extra
Hours
Dinner only; Mon and Wed–Fri 17:30–22:00, Sat/Sun/holidays 17:00–22:00; food last order 21:00
Closed
Tuesdays, plus about six further days a month (mostly Tue/Wed) posted on Instagram and Google
Seats
About 40–46: tables, tatami rooms for 2–18, and a large private room for 7–16
Payment
Cards accepted (Visa, Master, JCB, Amex, Diners); no QR
Getting there
JR Saiki (4 min on foot); about 1–1.5 hours from Oita by Nichirin limited express; 50 min by car from Oita city
Dress code
No dress code
Saiki is a port town at the southern end of Oita, an hour or so down
the coast from Beppu by limited express. Its most decorated
restaurant grills beef. Yakiniku Ito, four minutes from the station,
has held a Tabelog Award Bronze every year from 2023 to 2026 and a
place on the Yakiniku WEST 100 from 2022 to 2025, as a family house:
the founder, a washoku cook, opened it in 1989. His son Shuichi
Kihara went to Tokyo for university, ate through the Kanto yakiniku
houses, and chose Stamina‑en in Kashihama — the legendary Tokyo house
where, as the listings put it, even a prime minister once queued — on
the understanding that he would go home rather than open a branch. He
stayed eight years and took over here in April 2016.
What you eat
The house buys Japanese Black heifers fattened for thirty months and
cuts and trims every piece by hand — the reason regulars give for the
tenderness. The tare is the master’s recipe, adjusted; the signature
is the mixed hormone plate — five offal cuts, best with salt —
and the miso‑simmered offal that Stamina‑en alumni recognise at once.
Three omakase courses, tax included with no service charge: the
standard at ¥8,800 (ten dishes, no advance order needed), the
special at ¥15,400 with Ozaki beef, and the premium at ¥22,000
— “everything the house has”, and the only course with raw tripe,
since Ito serves no raw plates otherwise. The two upper courses must
be reserved ahead. À la carte runs from salted upper tongue to a
¥10,000 slab of A5 loin. Courses are per person for the whole table,
and the house asks for dislikes and allergies when you book. Guests
report about ¥15,000 a head with two drinks on the special course.
The booking reality
This is a telephone house, in Japanese (0972‑24‑3425), and the
window is fixed: from the 1st of each month, the book opens through
the end of the following month — a call on 1 September can secure
any night to 31 October. Tabelog carries the house’s own note that
Instagram messages and third‑party booking services are refused. Ikyu lists request
bookings for the three courses and a 2026 reviewer booked there a
month out, but the phone is the channel the house names; its website
says the line is easiest to reach 10:00–12:00 and 13:00–17:00 and may
go unanswered during service. Reviewers in 2025–2026 book about a
month ahead, and same‑day course bookings are not taken.
Two practicalities matter more than the rule. First, arrive before
20:00 — the house discourages later bookings because tongue and
skirt sell out and nothing is held back, though the special cuts and
Ozaki beef can be reserved with the course. Second, Ikyu lists a 100%
cancellation charge from the day before. The room is generous —
tables, tatami rooms and a private room for up to sixteen — children
are welcome at any age, and a 2025 solo diner was served a course. When our desk handles it, we call inside the window
in Japanese, fix the course and any allergies, and hold an early
table so the good cuts are still on the menu when you sit down.
Travelers routing down Oita’s east coast — Beppu or Usuki to Saiki
and on to Miyazaki — who want the region’s most‑awarded table without
a lottery, and yakiniku devotees who know the Stamina‑en name and
would rather eat its lineage at Oita prices than queue for it in
Tokyo.
The house's cancellation charge
From 00:00 JST, 1 day before100%
Same day, with notice100%
Same day, no notice (no-show)100%
Charged by the house, not by us. A plan's own policy takes precedence.
Free release-date alerts: the day before, on the morning of release day (08:00 JST) and about 30 minutes before when the time is known — or a weekly summary if the house opens a little every day.
Yakiniku Ito: common questions
Can you book Yakiniku Ito from abroad?
Yes, through our Tokyo desk. Phone in Japanese (the channel the house names), or a request booking on Ikyu; from the 1st of each month, dates through the end of the following month open. We call the restaurant for you, in Japanese, and the ¥6,000-per-seat fee is charged only if we confirm your table — no seat, no fee.
Some of these links are referral links: if you book through them we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Restaurants never pay us to be listed or ranked. Editorial policy
Cite this page
Facts on this page were checked by our Tokyo desk. You are welcome to quote them with a link:
Yakiniku Ito — Ekimae, Saiki, Oita — SHOKU NOREN (checked September 2026). https://shokunoren.com/restaurants/yakiniku-ito-saiki
