Eat Japanese Beef at Matsuzaka Gyu Yakiniku M (Hozenji Yokocho), Osaka - Japan

Unlike me who likes to eat beef since I was a kid, my husband (Ivan) never like to eat beef. But it changed since we were going to Japan, and had a dinner at Mouriya. Actually, at the first time he didn't want to eat beef in Kobe. However since I was insisting him and told him that Kobe beef has different taste with other beef, he decided to give it a try. Ever since then, every time we're having trip to Japan, he always asked me to find a good place to eat Kobe beef.

We've tried Kobe beef that cooked in teppanyaki style twice, and both of them gave us a great experience. However, at our last trip, Ivan requested to find a restaurant that served Kobe beef in yakiniku style. Since we only stayed in Osaka and Kyoto, I was looking for a great restaurant at these cities. At the end, I found a popular restaurant in Osaka who serve a good quality beef. It's Matsuzaka Gyu Yakiniku M.

Before I write about our dinner at this restaurant, let me explain about beef in Japan. As you know, a good quality beef in Japan has marbles on its meat. This kind of beef has a very tender texture and a good taste. Generally, people will recognize this beef as Kobe beef. But not all of them is Kobe beef. Kobe beef is just a name for a "special" beef that comes from cow raised in Kobe. If it's raised in Hida, then it called Hida beef. All of these cows have been specially treated and fed to produce a good quality meat.

At Matsuzaka Gyu Yakiniku M, they serve Matsuzaka beef, which comes from cows that raised between Izumi and Miyagawa river in Matsuzaka city. At this place, every cows are fed beer to create a healthy appetite and given a body massage with a mixture of shochu. This treatment creates a smooth blood circulation throughout the body of our cows. So even it's not Kobe beef, this restaurant also serve a great quality beef with a lot of marbles on its meat.

Since we know this restaurant is very popular, we made reservation in advance at their website. They have several branches in Osaka, but we chose to have dinner at Hozenji - Yokocho branch which is more famous and also close with our BnB. We booked a table for dinner at 5PM, and came around 10 minutes earlier. At this hour, we saw many people wait at the small alley for the restaurant to be opened. Well, it's typical Japanese restaurant which has discipline in time. They'll only allow guests get in when it's exactly 5PM - which is their opening hours for dinner. I heard some people who haven't make reservation was rejected because all tables full for that hours, so I advice you to make reservation in advance.

After we got our table ready, the restaurant staff gave us the menu and told us about it. So they have 2 kind of menu. First, an ala carte menu where we can order a beef platter which consists many kind of meat and we can share it. Second, it's a full course menu where we should pay for each person, and they'll serve starts from appetizer, main course (with some parts of beef), and also dessert for each person. Since the second option sounds too much for us, we chose the first option where we could share this beef platter for all of us. We ordered Matsusaka Beef DX Platter which consists of 6 different parts of Matsuzaka Beef, and also some vegetables.

Matsusaka Beef DX Platter for 2 peoples ¥13.800

Not long after that, the waitress came again and served this plate of beef on the table. He put a "beef fat" at the cooking place so it won't be sticky. I thought he also gonna cook for us, but he's not. At this place, we need to grill the beef by ourselves. The staff only teach us how to grill the beef and how it should be cooked. It's kinda hassle for us who have toddler, but we tried to enjoy it. For seasoning, they just gave us salt and soy sauce - which more than enough to season their beef. Beyond our expectation, the beef was really great. The meat was really tender and it also tasty.

Garlic Rice in Hot Pot ¥780

To complete this beef dishes, we also ordered the side menu such as Garlic Rice in Hot Pot and also Matsusaka Beef Miso Soup. While their Miso Soup was quite tasteless, their Garlic Rice taste amazing!! Basically, this garlic rice is just a portion of rice, with some small beef cuts and also fried garlic - which put at the small hot pot (personal size). When they serve it, they'll pour a special sauce, and we need to mix it immediately. I'd said this dish was really delicious, and even Winston (a fussy eater) kept looking for this food after finished a portion.

Matsusaka Beef Miso Soup ¥680 - contains tofu, beef, ....

... and sweet potato

Well, our dinner at Matsuzaka Gyu Yakiniku M wasn't disappointed at all. We love their dishes where the beef has a great quality as well. Besides, their price also not too pricey for Japanese beef dishes. Must try when you're in Osaka.






Matsuzaka Gyu Yakiniku M (Hozenji Yokocho)
Address : 1-1-19 Namba, Chuo-ku, Osaka-city, JAPAN 542-0076 (click here for the location at Google Maps)
Phone : +81 662112917
Opening hours : Mon - Sun 5PM - 12AM (Last order 11PM) & Weekend lunch (Sat, Sun, Holiday) 12PM - 3PM (Last order 2.30PM)
Website : http://www.matsusaka-projects.com/english/