CONTRIBUTED BY LARISSA TRAQUAIR
As far as I know this restaurant was the first of its kind on Okinawa before the new kid came to town. We were stationed here back in 1998 and we were introduced to Myung Dong our first week on-island by our sponsor. We use to live down the street, so this restaurant was both good and convenient. Back then I don’t remember them having the ever popular all-you-can-eat option that they do now. And that so many yakinuku restaurants offer.
The atmosphere in this neighborhood spot is very family-oriented and inviting – you can sit at your table for hours because you are not held to time limits. And our crew likes that! This is a great place to mingl in Okinawa and have fun. This restaurant is a great alternative to the fast-pace, highly excited environment at most yakinuku restaurants. And you still get to “cook” your own food!
Dinner Sets Available: The Special Dinner set includes the Kalbi meat and Prime Roast; Namul set, Hakusai Kimuchi, salad, wakame (seaweed) soup and rice for Y2,500.
Kimchi, Ariran Sprouts and Senchy
The Kalbi Dinner set includes the above items minus the Prime Roast for Y1,800. The Prime Roast set includes everything above minus the Kalbi meat for Y1,500.
Most of your food comes to your table raw and you cook it to your liking. Items like the soup and rice are obviously cooked and ready for you to eat when they arrive at the table.
You order drinks separately and you use the push-button bell to request service. Your bill will come in the form of a hard-plastic credit card on steriods and you take it to the register to pay.
Thanks, Jenny, for giving us a great visual of what to expect!
Side Dishes:
Sang Chu is Korean lettuce and at Y470 I highly recommend it as a great addition to your meal. Back in the states we would grillbulgogi meat at home and buy the red-tip lettuce to use in the wrap-style eating. We add steamed rice and a sauce of our choice – it’s easy to make and really yummy.
Myung Dong has a large menu of items to choose from – you are only limited by your stomach’s capacity! And if great food isn’t enough to get you out of the house then bring along some fun friends to make the meal even more enjoyable.
Happy eating and mingling!
Myung Dong – Korean Yakinuku Restaurant
Payment: This restaurant takes Yen, American Dollars and credit cards with English menus.
Phone: 098-926-1388.
Hours: Open 7 days a week from 11:30a.m. until 11p.m. The lunch menu is slightly different from the dinner menu.
Address (updated from the comments below): 4 Chome-6-1 Makiminato, Urasoe-shi, Okinawa-ken, Japan
Google Maps Coordinates: 26.2649425, 127.72678329999997
Content Editor: The particular yakiniku restaurant discussed in this write up is no longer located where the directions describe (near the intersection of 58 and 23). That location is now a yakiniku restaurant known as Bambohe. There is a write up on another Bambohe on Okinawa Hai if you do a search for it. There are other locations of the resturant in this write up. I have also seen the sign (the one with the family marching) in the distance off to the left when going over one of the bridges on 58 in the Urasoe/Naha area. Sorry that I cannot be more specific, maybe L can.
We went to this restaurant in March 2014. Here is a Google Map from Kadena AFB. I will post pictures and menu/our dinner later.
Google Map: http://bit.ly/1pHHxnN
I think it moved to Urasoe near the bypass exit at the start of Makimanoto area. I remember seeing the sign either there or off 58 closer to the airport.
L, if you (or anyone else) could provide a map pin or more specific directions (along with confirmation that this is the same restaurant) we’d appreciate it so we can reflect that information in the post itself!
Yeah, I dont think this place is around anymore 🙁
Tried to find this place today but couldn’t, must have shut down in the last two years…
just went there, and to make it clear regarding the “you are not held to time limits”…well of course not when you buy the dinner sets listed in the article. But there is a 90 minute limit for all-you-can-eat option, typical of most yakiniku places. It costs Y2,450 which is higher than other chains and the all-you-can-eat menu is not as extensive, vs for instance, Goen which runs about Y1,900, doesn’t have a time limit and can order unlimited from entire menu. But I’d still go back to Myung Dong if I’m specifically craving Korean dishes.
What a fun idea, cook your own food at your table, the meat looked good, what is the fire from, charcoal, electric??? Got to say you do have some interesting eating places in Okinawa. Judy M
Looking at the writing on the restaurant it reads
Myon Don
I could be wrong as that could be just a translation issue from Korean to Japanese
This is my favorite Korean BBQ joint on the island. When we first moved here 2.5 yrs ago we thought it was a Japanese”ish” IHOP. Quite a surprise to find that it absolutely was not lol! Really good food though. The quality is alot better than some of the local chain places around here and it’s not that much more expensive than those. Give it a try if you haven’t. You’ll be pleased:)
I always saw this sign and wondered what it was – way cool. Glad you found another fun place to eat! 🙂