Niku Fes is back this Golden Week, bringing one of Tokyo's biggest meat festivals to Odaiba. It’s celebrating its eleventh anniversary this year, which means there'll be live music as well as an extensive line-up of meat dishes.
You can feast on a range of food such as A5 rank steak, wagyu sushi, slow-roasted beef, beef bowls and kebabs from around two dozen restaurants across Japan. Make sure to also try dishes from one of the eleven restaurants participating in the World Meat Showdown. These restaurants have prepared hearty dishes inspired by the cuisines of nine different countries, and you can vote for your favourite.
There will also be sparkling sake from Ichinokura Breweries in Miyagi Prefecture and refreshing Belgian Hoegaarden beer to accompany your meal. You can enjoy desserts, too, including churros, crepes and kakigori shaved ice.
While there are plenty of benches to sit on, purchasing the VIP experience gets you a dining space for four people. You can reserve it in advance on the website for ¥12,000, which comes with free festival merchandise. Groups of up to ten people can go for a high-class VIP upgrade, which costs ¥80,000 and includes a bottle of champagne.
If you’re here on April 26, 30, May 1 or 2, the entire facility will transform into a beer garden from 4pm to 9pm, when all beer will be ¥500. The first 500 customers to enter from 4pm will also receive free Niku Fes official goods.
Need a break from all the eating? Head over to the stage area for music performances during the day. While the events on April 26, 30 and May 1 to 6 are free, others require an entrance fee between ¥2,929 and ¥5,929. You can see the performers and admission fees on the website.
Entry to Niku Fes is free and you can just buy food and drink as you go. But note that it’s entirely cashless; you can pay via credit card, IC transportation cards like Pasmo and Suica or through apps like PayPay.