Meat Yazawa, Hamburg/Steak – Gotanda

Top 20 Best Restaurants in Tokyo

The restaurant is hidden on a back street alongside the Meguro river in Gotanda. I noticed this restaurant one night as there was a queue when we walked past in the evening around 6pm. My husband mentioned that it is famous for steaks and that all the meat is A5 grade (the highest grade available), all Japanese (Wagyu) black beef and no reservations are taken. I was intrigued so we decided to pass by one Saturday night around 8pm and see if there would still be a queue at that later time. Of course there was and I notice now there always is.

The queue was about 20-30 people so we asked the waiter of the waiting time and he mentioned about 45 minutes. He was correct. The queue moved fast and in 45 minutes we were lead to our table. Inside, the restaurant looks like a diner with some booths and wooden tables and chairs. The setting is very casual and the restaurant seats around 40 people. There are blackboards displayed inside daily which list the prefectures where parts of the beef are from for the day. It mentions the cut for steaks i.e sirloin/ ribeye, the prefecture, ID of the cow and grade of meat, all A5!

I was surprised at how simple the menu was and amazed by the price. It was very cheap for A5 beef. Infact I heard that Meat Yazawa is a wholesaler of beef and supplies to many restaurants in Tokyo including the excellent Jumbo. Because they are a wholesaler they are able to get great quality meat and still able to serve it at extremely reasonable prices, hence the constant queue.

There are two main choices: steak or hamburg. Hamburg is a Western style dish adopted in Japan with no bread bun. There are several choices for steak ranging from JPY 4,000 to JPY 8,000. My husband choose the JPY 4,200 steak and I chose the Hamburg. The Hamburg has several options. First is the sauce with choices of demi-glace, soy sauce or ponzu. Then you have the choice to add additional toppings: cheese, egg, garlic chips as extras. I chose the demi-glace sauce with extra cheese. You have the choice to make the meal a set with soup/ salad + bread/rice which seemed a popular choice with many though we choose to order without the set. The steak can be ordered as you like, my husband chose medium-rare. However for the Hamburg they recommend medium which was fine with me.

We ordered a bottle of Argentinian wine which arrived cold! That is standard for Japanese restaurants that do not know much about wine but then we were here for the food.

My hamburg arrived and it looked great, very meaty at 300g, served on a sizzling plate with a small side portion of chips and sweetcorn. I was told that if the meat looked too rare and I preferred it more cooked I should leave it on the hotplate as the meat would continue to cook should I want it more well done which is a good idea. When I cut into the hamburg I could not believe how juicy it was.  Am not sure what I was expecting but it was amazingly juicy and succulent. The meat was delicious and definitely the best hamburg I’ve ever had.

My husband’s steak also looked good but was not so special, the hamburg was best and at half the price. My husband agreed, it is probably better to get one of the more expensive steaks if you choose the steak or opt for the hamburg. Looking at the orders of people around us the hamburg seemed to be the most popular choice.

This restaurant is a gem of a place with great quality food, nice relaxed atmosphere and very reasonable prices. Dinner for two including a bottle of wine at just over JPY 10,000.

Hamburg (300g): JPY 2,100 + demi-glace sauce JPY 105 + cheese JPY 120
Steak (300g): JPY 4,200

No reservations, menu in Japanese with pictures.