DAITOKYO SAKABA JAKARTA

Okay, confession time! Who else have never been to the Little Tokyo in Melawai other than me?? Anyone? Well, I didn't even expect Jakarta to have this kind of place. This whole area is full of Japanese shops and of course, Japanese restaurants; which is why it's called Little Tokyo. Though the opening hours varied from restaurant to restaurant; some open for 24 hours and some only open from lunch till dinner, and Daitokyo Sakaba is one of the ones that only opens at night. Fyi, it's a bit of a struggle to have dinner here, cause the whole place is FULL of people and I really mean FULL! Good luck finding a parking space. Just look at the picture above! Actually, you have a bigger chance in finding a spot at the parking building provided rather than trying to find one in front of the restaurant.

I first knew this place from Ivy and I totally fell for the looks of their Donburi and Yakitori, so I thought 'I HAVE to try it!'. In the first night I came here, the place is too full that I had to change my plan, BUT that didn't stop me! Yeap, I came back the other night and all just for this particular restaurant.

The place is an authentic Japanese restaurant and it looks like a hallway divided into several private tables. Cool!

Unfortunately for big parties though, they only have tables around this size: 4 per table, or bigger ones for 10 at most. Private to the level of inner circles!

Look at how cute this is, it's where they wrote our orders!

Like the Japanese street food you might see in television, this place also provides a table right in front of the kitchen where you can eat whilst looking at the cooking process.

It's always fun to be able to take a peep into how the magic happens behind the kitchen!

Fyi, this is an actual Japanese restaurant, even the website is in Japanese!

ODEN

Too bad I didn't get to try this, but it sure looks appetizing!

OCHA

What's more Japanese than Ocha when it comes to beverages??

GYUTAN DON IDR 63K

Looks small, but it's actually a lot. Though the rice portion overwhelms the meat, it's still the best Gyutan Don I've ever tasted! The Gyutan is really tasty and tender and the complimentary miso soup is also yummy, perfect match for a rice bowl.

YAKITORI DON IDR 60K

Rice with a lot of small chicken drumsticks on top, at least that's what I first thought. Turns out, there're chicken skins and livers too, PLUS an egg in the middle which is covered by those Nori. Seriously, ultimately yummy, just imagine a super tender sweet chicken meat with savory chicken skin and liver plus a creamy egg yolk. I'm craving for it whilst writing this as well! I have to come back here again!

BUTA BARA IDR 40K

From the grills, PORK! I know it's not photogenic, but you gotta try this! Nothing beats a perfect tender texture with amazing aroma and it's PORK, I can't ask for anything better. Only 1 word to describe this; PERFECT!

NEGISHIOTAN IDR 75K

For those who don't know what Negishiotan is; it's an ox tongue. This one is recommended by the waiter and I admit, it's delicious, but I still like the Gyutan on the Gyutan Don better. It's the same meat, the only difference is the cooking process. Worth the try though!

I did NOT regret having to come back here twice! I won't even mind going through all those hardship just to get to these amazing foods and I will come back soon. Definitely made to my TOP Japanese authentic restaurants! Thank you Daitokyo Sakaba for the delicious experience!

Daitokyo Sakaba

Jl. Melawai 9 No. 26

Blok M

Kebayoran Baru

Jakarta Selatan 12160

021-7222047

Opening hours :

Monday - Friday : 05:30 pm - 12:30 am

Weekend : Closed at 11:00 pm

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