(Last updated: November 21, 2025)
Ichiryaki is one of those spots in Taipa that’s totally unknown to tourists. There’s simply no way anyone else on the English interwebs is blogging about this as a place to eat.
I only found out through a classmate that it does outstanding Japanese barbecue, which had me interested straight away. Reservations are absolutely essential, and without them, you’ll be sitting at the bar, almost guaranteed.
They keep hours from 6:00 pm all the way till 2:00 am, which tells you exactly what kind of place it is: casual, late-night, and built for people who aren’t ready to go home yet. At times, it can get a bit cramped, loud and chaotic, or everything a good izakaya ought to be.
Now usually when I go for Japanese, it’s all sushi, sashimi, and sake. I don’t have enough experience with Japanese barbecue to start lecturing anyone about technique. I only know that everything we ordered came off the grill tasting fantastic.
Expect to spend around $300 to $600 per head, depending on how much you order. Three of us came in around $1,200, which is completely fair for what we got. The only real headache is communication, as I detected almost zero English from the staff. There is English on the menu though, so ordering shouldn’t be much of a problem.
Compared to other Japanese restaurants reviewed on this site, Ichiryaki isn’t staged or polished for show, kowtowing for Michelin stars. It’s rougher, realer, and cares only about what hits the grill. You’ll be coming for the food, not some glossy sushi glamour shot of a 200-year-old imported Hinoki wood counter (yes, I’m talking about you, Sushi Kinetsu).
Overall, Ichiryaki is clearly one of the better options in Taipa for grilled meat, and maybe the option.
What follows are the pictures and prices of everything we tried. As for recommendations on what to order in particular, the only correct answer is all of them.
