BBQ is invariably on my mind. Whether that’s the traditional Western BBQ style of whacking a variety of meats on a grill and watching it sizzle to crispy perfection, painstakingly lathering up some skewers with sauce time after time to elevate the flavours, or getting a curated selection of incredible produce and letting someone do the cooking on the grill right in front of you. Kazama is the latter of those 3, where they do all the cooking so you don’t need to lift a finger, kind of…

Firstly, I should start by saying that this is in Taichung. But, within 1hr you can be in Taichung thanks to the incredible HSR system in Taiwan. Use this link to get buy one get one free tickets on HSR (and they are often discounted, too!).

There are 2 Kazama branches in Taichung, this one being the branch nestled inside the Tiger City Mall in the West of the city, right next to the amazing Lin Hotel.

As you head to the top of the mall, you go across a walkway (it probably looks better at night) and follow the signs for Kazama. It’s kind of mysterious and adds intrigue to the whole BBQ experience you’re about to go through.

As you go through the heavy golden doors at the entrance, you walk up this magically lit staircase up to the main restaurant area.

The restaurant is vast inside, allowing for what feels like around 50 BBQ’s to be happening all at once throughout each individual sitting time.

The Menu at Taichung Kazama BBQ

Their menu is pretty simple to understand as they have an English section on it, but due to regular (seasonal) changes, it’s probably best for you to look on their website for the most up-to-date information. You can check out their menu linked here.

Wagyu Beef 2 person meal – $2580

House Salad w/ pomelo vinaigrette 風間沙拉 （柚子醋）

Salad at a BBQ joint is truly welcomed. Especially a salad of this magnitude. You’re getting some crispy, fresh lettuce in here, dotted with fresh tomatoes, red onions, and liberally doused with that pomelo vinaigrette. It’s top-notch salad here at Kazama, and I enjoyed all of it.

Selected Japanese Wagyu 和牛二品

Now onto the main event, the Wagyu selection. Beef on beef on beef. Slivers of glistening wagyu call at you from the cold slab put on your table, which just gets the excitement going. In terms of value for money, I think Kazama is somewhat difficult to beat when compared with BBQ joints in Taipei. I mean, this spread, plus all the other extras, for 2 people, for $2580 feels like a steal…or does it?

Harvest Fruits Rib Finger Meat 豐收果物牛肋脊肉

This dish was needlessly theatrical with the dry ice sitting at the bottom of this wooden tub. But, nice nonetheless, I guess. Immediately the pineapple flavours started to spread around the table, and my infatuation with sweet and savoury started to become clear right then and there.

Now let me be clear here, you don’t have to do any of the cooking at Kazama’s BBQ. BUT, I strongly recommend that you do. Why? The server for our table was also cooking at 2-3 other tables at the same time – maybe they were short-staffed that day, or maybe this is the general set-up here. So as soon as the meat starts smoking on the grill, you have to be on it and turning it so as not to let it char. For the most part, he did a good job with ours, but the worst is the chicken below…

Oh. My. Days. Wagyu beef is nothing to be joked about. Especially when it comes to slapping it on a BBQ and watching (and hearing) it sizzles. Get in my belly. The delicious buttery texture of this particular wagyu was unreal. It literally melted in my mouth, and my tongue was coated with this sensual fatty, silky, awesomeness.

Deep fried meatballs

These were pretty decent, truth be told. Lashings of ketchup and mayonnaise, piping hot, and well seasoned, they burst with beef flavour when you bit into them. They may have changed on the menu now, but if you see them, I would recommend getting them. They were really filling, too!

Tofu pot

This seems to have also changed on the menu, a lot like the meatballs above. But, I wouldn’t be too sad about this change… It wasn’t bad, not in any way, but it also wasn’t anything to write home about, either. It didn’t really do anything, apart from maybe add a bit of spice into your meal. Rather non-descript, all around.

Pork neck steak 豬頸肉

I wouldn’t order this A la carte. But, as it came, I ate it. The thick-cut neck was better as it had some substance. But the thinly sliced neck was chewy and tough, and I didn’t care for it at all.

Boneless chicken leg 無骨雞腿肉

When your food is served in a mason jar then it kind of piques your interest. The sweet and sour smells poured out of the jar when the lid popped, and I got excited. After all, BBQ chicken is something to behold, when done right.

But, was it done right?

No, it wasn’t. It was incinerated on the outside, to the point where it needed to be removed from the grill otherwise it would be inedible. But, it wasn’t yet cooked on the inside. As said above, because our server was spread over 2-3 other tables, he wasn’t quite as attentive with ours, and as we were eating we weren’t necessarily focusing on the cooking part of the meal. However, being aware that it was burning, I dragged it to the side off the heat. The server returned and put it back on the heat, then left again… Why? You’re going to disappear and let me chicken burn? Oh no, no, I am not having that.

After a few back and forths, it was cut up and presented to us. But, rest assured, as soon as his attention was focused on BBQ (cremating) someone else’s meat, I slapped each individual cut piece of chicken back onto the BBQ and made sure that the chicken was thoroughly cooked through.

Freebie

We were fortunate to snag a free bit of pork for our BBQ by ‘liking’ Kazama on Facebook, and then showing it to the server. Give this a try when you go, too, for some free meat! But, I wouldn’t be too worried if it doesn’t work, as if I would have paid for this pork I would have been disappointed…

Banana Tiramisu 香蕉提拉米蘇

It would be rare to find a BBQ place that did amazing desserts. If you know of any, please let me know in the comments below. Kazama isn’t one. The ‘tiramisu’ was fine, but almost blasphemous to call it a tiramisu.

Lightning choux pastry puff 閃電泡芙

This was better, simply because the puff pastry was better. The cream on the top was nice (albeit rather too heftily dusted with cocoa), but it was light and delicate enough to pull it off. I would get it again, but I wouldn’t go wild for it.

The bottom line

Is it worth it? No, I don’t think so. I feel like Taipei has better BBQ food than Kazama in terms of quality, but this price is difficult to beat in the capital.

Would I go again? No.

Where else would I recommend for BBQ food? Toria BBQ spot in Taipei is a great shout, as is Oh my! BBQ 原燒 and also Akatombo on Yongkang Street is awesome, too!

Where is it?