King Kong Himself
CONTRIBUTED BY MONETTE EAMES
We are HUGE fans of yakiniku. There’s just something fabulous about grilling the tender bite-sized meat pieces that are already marinated and cut up for you. Once you grill the meat, you then dip it into soy sauce mixed with sugar, garlic, sesame, sake, mirin, chili, or miso sauces. Although we’ve tried many different yakiniku places, we stumbled across Paradise Yakiniku in Awase a few days ago and we are so happy we found it. We may never go back to the other places.
King Kong Inside
Paradise Yakiniku is a self-serve all-you-can-eat restaurant with a lot of extras. They have a variety of meats—steaks, pork, chicken, lamb, beef tongue, and liver. There are veggies and lots of lettuce for lettuce wraps. There were warm specialty drinks, soft drinks, dim sum, desserts, sushi, curry, salads, and soba.
King Kong Buffet
And after you’ve had your fill, you play a game—this game isn’t just for the kiddies, it’s for the adults, too! Out of our party of seven, two people won. The prizes range from stuffed animals to figurines and hats. The prizes they offer are not toys from the hundred yen store–they are pretty awesome! Our children won an Ipod case and a large pink panther.
This place is a wonderful choice for a reasonably priced family meal which is absolutely delicious! Yes, sometimes you may leave a yakiniku restaurant with a lingering barbecue scent, but the delicious meal makes up for that! The prices for are Y1150 for dinner for Y1800. On your birthday, you also get 20% off.
King Kong Exterior
Hours: 11:30 a.m. – 11:00 p.m.
Payment: Yen and credit card
Phone: 098-934-3445
Address: 1-20-30 Awase, Okinawa City
Directions: From Kadena Gate 2, drive straight towards Awase. Keep going straight until you see a huge King Kong on the left. It’s about 20 minutes from Kadena.
went last night with my husband and a friend. we all thought it was pretty tasty and satisfying… three adults, all you can eat, for just over $50… sweet! there were about 10 types of meat, including several beef types, a couple of pork varieties, chicken, tongue, liver, heart, and wieners. there was sushi, salad, veggies, 3 soups, and some other foods. the miso sauce was my favorite, and my husband liked the spicy dipping sauce. there are coffee drink and soft drink machines, and soft-serve ice cream along with japanese-type desserts.
our friend is married to a korean and he thought the food was on-par with korean bbq.
we did not notice any bad smells, or a bad atmosphere. my only complaint is that we didnt notice anywhere to play a game, but i wouldnt have that loss if i hadnt read about this place just now, after we had eaten there the night before!
This place was gross, we will never visit again. The cooling areas where they stored the raw meat and veggies smelled very strongly of mold and was leaking condensation over the food. There were limited choices of meat all tasting like the nasty cooling area they were stored it, same goes for the raw veggies. They did have little pizzas and French fries that were tasty. The desert bar and soft serve ice cream were sub-par.
Just ate there and wasn’t impressed. There were only 2 selections of beef, 3 pork, 1 chicken, 2 veggies, a soup, and some ice cream for dessert. Oh and rice. It was a tad pricier than our favorite Yakiniku Try, which has a much bigger selection. The restaurant was also kind of dirty and the meats were tough. On the plus they had a wide selection of soda, booster seats and a baby rocker. Overall, we will never go there again. Baboche, Goen and Try are much better.
Octavia-When she says drive straight, she means come out of Kadena Gate 2 and STAY on that road (I believe it’s Route 20) all the way until you see the restaurant on your left. More specific directions from Kadena Gate 2: Go out Kadena Gate 2. Go through the 85 intersection, go through the 330 intersection, go through the 329 intersection, go through an intersection with a San-A grocery store on your left (sorry can’t remember the name of it). After you go through this intersection, King Kong will be a little ways up further on your left. So, yes, you stay on the same road that Gate 2 is on, you just drive quite a ways and through lots of major intersections. The restaurant is located in the Awase area of Okinawa City. Hope you find it!
Thanks LaLa, we found it!
Sounds like something great for my family. We are very new to the island. When you say drive straight towards Awase, do you stay on the same road? Or are we following signs? Thank you.
It’s been a while since I have been out that way, but I will try to help. Take the Legion Gate (also known as the Taco Bell or Shoppette Gate) out of Camp Foster and you will be on 81. Take 81 for quite a ways and you will pass over 329, the go through a tunnel, then pass a small San-A on your left, then a Lawsons on your left and then you will need to turn right onto 20, I believe. There will be an AU store on the right corner. Once you turn off of 81 onto this road, King Kong will be a little ways down on your left. I hope you find it and so sorry if you don’t.
We would love to try this place. Is there a quicker way to get there coming from Camp Foster? TIA!!!
My husband and I live in Awase and Paradise has been one of our favorite yakiniku restaurants to visit. I didn’t realize they had a game to play though!
We love yakiniku! Are there more good places @ Kadena?