01 / ABOUT THE PLACE
About this place
Choose kalbi or harami, then decide how much meat you’d like. At Masan-kan in Higashi-Ueno, lunch lets you tailor your yakiniku to your appetite: both cuts come in portions ranging from 70g to 270g, and are served with a sauce as standard. The selection suits a lighter lunch or a heartier meal. Kalbi and harami lunch sets also include rice, soup, salad, kimchi and namul.
Diners have praised the sauce for bringing out the meat’s sweetness without being overly sweet, and described the thick-cut meat as satisfying to eat. Some also noted the harami’s pleasant combination of springiness and tenderness. The choice between the rich sweetness of kalbi and the more substantial bite of harami gives each lunch a different character. Namul and kimchi provide a change of pace between bites of grilled meat and rice. Several diners appreciated the variety of side dishes and enjoyed them with rice, adding more to the meal than meat alone.
For a more pronounced saltiness, consider geta-shio, one of the salt-seasoned options. The menu describes it as strongly salted. Some diners enjoyed how its bold seasoning brought out the meat’s savoury flavour, while others found it too salty. It may appeal if you like a assertive salt flavour and want an alternative to kalbi or harami. The lunch menu also lists kalbi soup and gomtang soup, as well as kalbi ramen and gomtang ramen made with special noodles from Asakusa Kaikaro. There are options for days when you’d rather have soup or noodles than grill meat.
You can also add a lunch beer to your midday yakiniku. Some diners say smoke can linger indoors, so bear in mind that it may leave an odour on your clothes.
