Hokkaiaburiyakiungasoko

If you like being in a smoke-filled warzone with subpar service and tough meat and want your hair and clothes to smell like smoke, you'll love eating here. I'm guessing most people would prefer not to have this kind of dining experience, especially while in Otaru. There are many other great places ...to enjoy good food. The giant vents above each grill are definitely only for show.

Visited February 2024

We were there on a very cold day and had a delicious lunch. We were served quickly and the food was not expensive

Visited March 2023

Date of visit : Twice in June 2019 I read some of the reviews here, not many this year, but the previous ones in 2018 seemed quite bad. We were recommended this restaurant by a local, and we tried it on our first night arrival in Otaru. It's quite near the canal river, and it's quite spacious. Right... in the middle of the table is an inset, where they can lower heated charcoals in, once you start ordering. We opted for their seafood set, and once we tried tasting some items, we ordered 2 more of this particular seafood : surf clams. It's so sweet and yummy ! What we tried : 1 seafood set : 3240¥ 2 extra scallops (grill) : 1240¥ 1 extra surf clam : 720¥ + rice and taxes we paid about 6200¥ (S$78) for a extremely fresh seafood dinner over charcoal. For the 2nd visit, We ordered these items instead : wagyu beef : 1630¥ 2 chicken wings : 760¥ 2 oysters (grill) : 700¥ deer meat : 670¥ My companion wondered why I ordered chicken wings. Ah, to her surprise, it was absolutely tasty, just adding a bit of salt after. The oysters and waygu were also good and delicious ! We paid about 5000¥ (S$63) for a lunch for 2. Overall, we enjoyed thoroughly the 2 meals here, really value for money fresh seafood, over charcoal fire.

Visited June 2019

Hokkaido, in my opinion, has the best food in all of Japan, sadly, it also has one of the worst dining experiences I've ever had in the last twelve years of travels to Japan. None of the venting systems work here. It's like you're dining in a war zone. You will smell like smoke, your eyes will be st...inging red due to the smoke and god forbid you complain about it. The restaurant will say "it's because there are many people cooking at the same time." Don't be fooled by the website or pictures online of their dishes. If you like dining with a 1000lbs of smoke in the air to mediocre at best dishes, then you'll love this place. Obviously, my group and I didn't. I'm hoping the themes in the other reviews (about the venting) and this very recent experience of mine will steer you to somewhere else worthy of Hokkaido's reputation. Izakaya Yama no Saru next to Otaru station is GREAT, cheap and while it is a smoking restaurant, it's a paradise to be in versus Hokkaiaburiyaki Ungasoko. A few doors down, in fact, Otaru Beer is a MUCH better place to eat.

Visited June 2018

This restaurant is really decorated nicely and right next to the Otaru canal. It was converted from an old warehouse. We were here 4 yrs ago and wanted to come back. Sadly ventilation hasn't improved but we were willing to put up with it as the huge on table grill is one of a kind with reasonable... prices. But beware it gets hot and smokey inside

Visited December 2016