Osaka Eats: Matsusakagyu Yakiniku

As mentioned in my previous post, I saved the best for last.  And here it is!  But first, a little back story:  The night after we ate in Dotonbori, when we got back to our hotel, I immediately went online to search for good restaurants in Osaka.  We were quite lost amidst all the restaurants we saw, and didn't want to take the chance of trying the wrong ones since we only had a few days to spare.  I wanted something that came highly recommended by all - be it tourists or locals and one restaurant that I came across was Matsusakagyu Yakiniku.  How highly recommended was it?  #1 out of 5806 restaurants in Osaka (according to Tripadvisor)!!!  Need I say more?  Sadly, we had just had our fill of wagyu beef that night so I passed and went on to search for other restaurants to try.  Besides, the address was far too confusing (someone mentioned it was located in some alleyway) and being unable to read Japanese, we definitely had to pass.  Fast forward a few days later, it was our last day in Osaka.  We were running around like headless chickens because of last minute shopping, and we already had one restaurant on our lunch list:  Ichiran.  We haven't had the chance to have any tonkotsu ramen yet and Ichiran was among one of the highly recommended ramen restaurants in Osaka.  As luck would have it, when we arrived in Ichiran, the place was closed!  We couldn't read why, but it was scheduled to reopen a week after.  Boo.  Seemingly lost, we wandered around, until Hubby went into one of the alleys to look for food.  Most of the restaurants were still closed, so we walked on until a familiar signage caught my eye.  At first, I wasn't really sure what made me stop and look at the signage.  It looked strangely familiar and then suddenly, *DING!!!*  Lightbulb moment!  Lo and behold, we were standing right outside Matsusakagyu Yakiniku!

The excitement died down as soon as it started when we realized that a. no one was outside , b. the door was closed thus c. the restaurant might be closed.  Luckily, I married a very persistent husband who, seeing the closed door, went on to open it and marched inside.  We were greeted by a surprised server who thankfully can speak English and informed us that they only accept cash during lunch.  

The extremely small dining "room"

After our agreement to the "cash only" basis, we were ushered into this small yet cozy dining room.  It was cramped; there were only two of us but we felt like we couldn't fit another person in there anymore.  But who cares?  We were there for the food!  So we browsed for a while, debating what to get since everything sounded so good.  Finally, we agreed on 2 combination sets, then got another order a while after *wink* (will explain this a bit later).

Lean Parts

Marbled Parts

Rare Parts

Sets

Part Chart

Combination of Marbled and Rare Parts Set

An order of Maboroshi No Misuji

Sizzle, Sizzle

The verdict?  Words cannot express how extremely delicious the beef was!  Orgasmic x 1000000.  Crazily good!  The tenderness of the beef, coupled with the heavenly aroma sent us into a glassy-eyed euphoria.  Yes, it was the best piece of meat we have tasted in our whole life.  EVER.  Hubby and I initially just chose 2 combination sets to try, but we got so overwhelmed with how good one particular part was, the maboroshi no misuji (only one comes from each cow, according to the menu), that we decided to get another order of just that part!  Eating wagyu will never be the same again once you've tried the ones served in Matsusakagyu Yakiniku.  I've never given this rating before but I'll happily give it 10 out of 5 stars!  Matsusakagyu Yakiniku, I will be back.  And that's a promise.

Matsusakagyu Yakiniku is at 1-1-19 Namba, Chuo-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture 542-0076, Japan