Iwakuni Foodie

Jan Jaka is a nice yakiniku restaurant that is not too far away from the base. They have some pretty decent lunch sets so that was where Kimberly and I decided to go for lunch the other day.

They do have English menus and their staff can speak a little English so ordering is not a problem.

After looking over the menu for a few minutes, neither one of us wanted yakiniku. She ordered a salad and some spring rolls (SUPER yummy!!) and I ordered the Ishiyaki Bibinba set. Ishiyaki Bibinba is a rice dish that has vegetables and egg and a little bit of meat in it. It is served in a really hot stone bowl and you are supposed to mix it all up right away and press it into the bowl a little. You can also add some hot sauce to make it spicy if you like. I love bibinba. Even when I go for dinner I order a bibinba with my yakiniku.

Here is the set I ordered –

I took some pictures inside so you could see how nice it is. You can also see that there is a grill in the middle of the table. All of their tables have the grill.

They also have some larger rooms in the back for parties. I’ve organized a dinner there for 12 people and there was plenty of room for a few more.

It wasn’t long before they started bringing our food out. The salad that Kimberly ordered looked so good. The sesame dressing there is AMAZING. I think all sesame dressing is amazing, but theirs is like the amazingest! Is that a word?

AND the dressing comes in these cute little bowls!

Kimberly also ordered some Bibinba Spring Rolls….

……OH – MY – GOSH! They’re yummy.

My lunch set came with a little salad and some soup and you could either choose a drink or dessert. I chose dessert.
This is how they bring the Bibinba to you –

and this is how it looked after I mixed it up….

…..and took a few bites. I meant to get a picture right after I had finished mixing, but I was talking and listening and talking….and talking. Hey. Kimberly and I haven’t seen eachother in a while. We had lots of talking to do!

Here’s my little salad.

They don’t put sesame dressing on the little ones that come with the set, but the dressing they do use is very tasty. You can probably ask them to change it to sesame though. The worse that can happen is they say no and you still get some yummy dressing.

The soup is like a broth with seaweed and green onions in it. I really like their broth too.

Especially in the winter time.

I did remember to take pictures from the outside this time. I know. Impressive. It really is. I have to be one of the most forgetful people around. I blame it on getting older, but I think I’ve been like this all of my life.

To get to Jan Jaka, I prefer to go out of the Monzen Gate. Go right to the main road. Turn left and follow that until you get to a light. Turn right at the light and follow that for a few minutes until you see a road that you can turn right onto. Turn right and you should go over some railroad tracks. At the next light, turn left. After a minute or so, you should see the sign for Jan Jaka on your right.

Here is a picture of the entry with their hours posted on the left.

Great place for lunch or dinner. Kids love it because you get to cook your own food. I think that’s why some adults love it too.

Have you been to Jan Jaka? What’s your favorite thing about going there? Please share!