Causeway Bay is hardly short of yakiniku, yet it has not had anything quite like this. Yakiniku Yama Oku (山奧燒肉), which soft-opened on 4 June 2026, tucks a 12-seat grill counter onto the third floor of CUBUS and stakes everything on a single idea: kappo yakiniku, where two chefs slice, season and grill premium Japanese wagyu right in front of you. For a city that takes its Japanese dining seriously, the Yakiniku Yama Oku Hong Kong opening is one of the more distinctive arrivals of the summer — and worth understanding before you try to book one of those twelve seats.
In This Guide
What is Yakiniku Yama Oku?
Yakiniku Yama Oku is a small, counter-only Japanese grill restaurant in Causeway Bay (銅鑼灣). The format is kappo yakiniku: instead of barbecuing your own meat at the table, you sit at a counter while two chefs cut, season and grill each piece to order, narrating the meal as they go. It is closer to an omakase than a casual grill night, and the whole room is built for it.
The name translates roughly as "barbecue in the heart of the mountains", and the restaurant leans into that story. It nods to a pre-Meiji-era custom from a time when Buddhist prohibitions discouraged eating livestock, and villagers are said to have gathered in remote huts to grill meat over a hearth, using discreet names to disguise what they were cooking. Yama Oku recreates that sense of seclusion in a contemporary, cave-like room of about 400 square feet: dark textured wood, soft linear lighting and a wave-patterned ceiling that casts a sunset-red glow over twelve crimson counter chairs.
It does not arrive out of nowhere. Yama Oku is a sister venue to Sukiyaki Nakagawa and Teppanyaki Mihara Goten, both also at CUBUS, and is managed by hospitality group CSC Collectives — so this is a team that already runs specialist Japanese counters in the same building. If you are tracking the wider wave of arrivals, it slots neatly alongside the other entries in our round-up of new Hong Kong restaurants to try this June.
Who is cooking at the counter?
The grilling is handled by two chefs from Fukuoka, and at a kappo counter that pairing matters as much as the beef. Leading the kitchen is Chef Koji Takazono, who brings close to twenty years of experience from Japanese institutions including Akami Yakiniku Ushio, known for elevating lean black beef, and Yakiniku no Bakuro, celebrated for its prized Kagoshima wagyu.
Alongside him is Chef Koichi Kuga, whose love of Japanese cooking began at his family's washoku eatery in Sasebo, Nagasaki. Before moving to Hong Kong, he led banquet teams at leading restaurants and five-star hotels across Yamaguchi and Nagasaki. Between them, the two cover the full range of kappo technique — slicing, grilling, boiling and steaming — and the counter is designed so that craft is the entertainment.
What's on the menu?
Beef is the headline. The kitchen sources seasonal Japanese wagyu with care: Omi beef from Shiga, prized for even marbling and layered flavour, and award-winning Oita wagyu from Bungo cattle, known for a delicate, melt-in-the-mouth texture. Beyond the marquee cuts, the menu runs to specially chosen beef tongue and offal, with Japanese pork and chicken as alternatives — and, in season, game such as venison and wild boar, keeping the countryside theme honest.
Dinner is built around three wagyu omakase menus. The flagship Yakiniku Rei (HK$1,480 per person) stretches from Sea Urchin and Wagyu Ichibo (Aitchbone) Tartare to Grilled 7-Day Aged Chateaubriand with Foie Gras Truffle Sauce and the house Yamaoku-yaki. The Sui menu (HK$1,180) leans into Smoked Cheek Meat and Aged Tongue with Lemon Koji Salad, while Roku (HK$880) keeps things earthier with 14-Day Dry-Aged Rump, Grilled Ox Tail and lean meat grilled over straw. A dedicated chicken-and-pork menu (HK$880 or HK$1,180) gives non-beef eaters a full feast of their own.
There is real obsession in the details. Rice is cooked in a rare "breathing pot" donabe by Nagatanien, made from Iga clay and cast iron, using ultra-soft Onsen Water 99 from Kagoshima and prized Nagano Yaehara Koshihikari grains. Dipping is elevated with Kodawari Tamago eggs from Hyogo. To drink, the team pairs Kanosuke whisky highballs with artisanal sodas, alongside seasonal sake from labels such as Minaki. For the bigger picture on why this kind of cooking keeps landing here, see our feature on why Hong Kong's food scene is having a moment, and our guide to the city's best Michelin-starred restaurants.
One honest note: Yama Oku only soft-opened on 4 June, so menus and pricing may still settle in these early weeks. This is a first look based on the restaurant's launch details rather than a sit-down review — we have not eaten at the counter yet — so treat the dishes above as the opening line-up, not a fixed order sheet.
How much does it cost, and how do you book?
This is premium dining, but there is a gentler way in. Lunch sets start at HK$480 (the Kan menu) and rise to HK$780 (Ji), spanning appetisers, a Korean-style salad, steamed egg custard, a daily wagyu platter, Nagatanien claypot rice and stew, miso soup and dessert. Dinner begins at HK$880 and climbs to HK$1,480 for the full Rei omakase — so a midday visit is the affordable way to test the kitchen before committing to the evening showcase.
With just twelve seats, booking ahead is essential rather than optional, especially at weekends. Reservations go through CSC Collectives by email at yakiniku-yama-oku@csccollective.com, WhatsApp on (852) 4497-5412, or phone on (852) 5394-3681. If wagyu and grilled meat are your thing, it pairs naturally with another of the season's meat-led openings, the Argentinian steakhouse Don Pedro in Sai Ying Pun.
Yakiniku Yama Oku — The Essentials
Note: Yama Oku had just soft-opened at the time of writing, so menus, prices and hours may still settle — confirm directly with the restaurant before you book.
Where is CUBUS, and how do you get there?
Yakiniku Yama Oku sits on the 3rd floor of CUBUS, the slim, Ginza-style dining tower at 1 Hoi Ping Road (開平道), close to the junction with Leighton Road in the heart of Causeway Bay. It is a quiet pocket of an otherwise frantic district, with Lee Garden Three and the Lee Gardens cluster just around the corner.
The nearest MTR is Causeway Bay (銅鑼灣) Station. Take Exit F1 and head towards Lee Garden Three and Leighton Road; depending on your pace it is roughly a five- to ten-minute walk. If you are coming by taxi, "CUBUS, Hoi Ping Road, Causeway Bay" is enough to get you to the door. Because the whole experience happens at a single counter, aim to arrive on time so you do not miss the opening cuts.
Is it worth a visit?
For anyone who loves Japanese beef and the theatre of a chef's counter, Yama Oku is an easy yes to put on the list. The combination is genuinely distinctive in Causeway Bay: serious wagyu sourcing, a kappo format that turns dinner into a performance, and a room small enough to feel like a secret. It is exactly the kind of intimate, single-counter opening that rewards planning, much like the Japanese rooms we flag in our guide to the best Japanese restaurants in Hong Kong.
A few honest caveats. It has only just soft-opened, so service and the menu will still be finding their rhythm. Dinner is a real splurge — the lunch sets are the smart, lower-risk way to test the kitchen first. And with twelve seats and two chefs, this is built for a calm, unhurried meal rather than a big group night out. Book early, go in hungry, and let the counter set the pace.
Frequently Asked Questions
Plan Your Counter Seat
Pick a lunch set to test the kitchen, book one of the twelve seats ahead, and let YumChaNow keep you first to the next big Hong Kong opening.