We went back to Japan once again during the winter, and yes, we had loads of great food. The first spot we went was Gyukatsu Motomura in Tokyo. They have many locations throughout Japan, and we went to the one located in Akihabara. It was interesting to see the Akihabara today, and yes, it is a bit eccentric manga culture there. Going back to Gyukatsu Motomura, we did not have a reservation, and there were a good amount of people lined up outside. The restaurant is located in the basement level, so the line went down the stairs to their entrance. This is a spot my gourmet sister found, so we were very excited for the awesome food.
When it was finally our turn to get the table, we were so happy and ready to eat! The inside was not so large, a handful of booth tables, and counter seats by their kitchen. As their name suggests, they focus on Gyukatsu, or beef cutlet. The interior is very Japanese with their decorations, very relaxing and spacious.
We asked for some hot tea, and they brought us a large pot with stone cups and saucers, so we can refill the tea whenever we want. How convenient, I appreciated that so much!
Their menu consists of different types of Beef Cutlet Set. A server brought us interesting stone structures and lit fire in the inside. We were getting more excited, as we had no idea what this restaurant was all about… The meat is prepared medium rare, then you get to cook them on the hot stone to your liking. How fun!
We went with their Beef Cutlet Set with three side dishes (1,930 yen). It comes with Barley Rice, Miso Soup, Pickles, Dipping Sauces, Japanese Grated Yam, Spicy Cod Roe, and even a little dessert, Warabi Mochi. You get one free refill on the barley rice, if you need more. And of course, you can get refills on soup and additional bowl of rice for a small fee. They had mountain of sliced cabbage, small potato salad, and wasabi by the cutlet as well. I can’t believe we got so much of these quality dishes for around $13 (Dec 2023)!
I got the “normal” potion of the beef cutlet, and my hubby got the 1.5 potion which makes the set 2,600 yen. You can also get 2 cutlet potion (3,060 yen) if you are super hungry.
As mentioned above, the meat is not cooked much, and with that, you get to have some fun with the hot stone! You can cook the meat to your liking, weather a little bit or completely. I cooked it to maybe medium well-ish? It was so tender, juicy, and delicious! The breading is light, and lightly fried, so not greasy at all. I liked how we get to have our meat just the way we want, and get to eat them hot right off the stone.
We got two kinds of dipping sauce; soy sauce and sesame dressing kind. Also, we have rock salt and wasabi as well. The meat is so good, it really didn’t need any additional flavor, so a dab of salt and or wasabi was perfect. Although the soy sauce and sesame dipping sauce were really good too. Then the grated Japanese Yam, one of my favorite ingredients! Just pour that over a hot bowl of barley rice, and I was super happy! I went to a restaurant specialized grated yam in Shizuoka a few years ago, Tororo Honmaru, and I loved it so much!
Another side dish was spicy cod roe, another favorite ingredients. It’s like they read my thoughts and prepared the side dishes just for me here at Gyukatsu Motomura! It was fresh and yes, delicious. Grated yam and spicy cod roe on my rice and I am happy! Then the Warabi Mochi with sweet kinako powder. What a way to end the perfect meal!
They have bathrooms in the back, one for women only, and another one was gender neutral. As we often lines for the women’s bathroom, and not so much for men, this is really clever in my opinion. The bathroom was clean and well organized, with TOTO toilet as most Japanese restaurants have, which is great. And, another Japanese “omotenashi” shown at Gyukatsu Motomura, is that they had toothpicks and mouthwash, so that you are prepared to look great with fresh breath again after eating all these amazing food! None of their food had strong smell, but hey, it is always nice to freshen up your mouth after a meal.
We had such fun meal here at Gyukatsu Motomura. The service was courteous and polite, and the food was super delicious. I really enjoyed cooking my meat piece by piece. I do have to mention, the fire inside the stone square does not last forever, so don’t take too long cooking and eating. My sister once again showed us another fun, delicious, and awesome spot! And the day is young… she is going to take us to more tasty spots so stay tuned…
Gyukatsu Motomura – Floor B1, 1 Chome−15−18, Sotokanda, Chiyoda City, Tokyo, Japan
牛かつ もと村 – 東京都千代田区外神田1-15-18 奥山ビル地下一階