Steak Otsuka — Restaurant in Kyoto

We don't have much experience with wagyu beef in Japan but from the two places we visited, Otsuka, in our opinion, served up the better value! It's a little bit far from Kyoto proper but if you're in and around Arayashima, it's a must-go.

The restaurant is located in a quiet neighbourhood, a small walk away from the station. The exterior and interior decor is bright, modern, and aethetically pleasing (#instagramfriendly) and we were promptly greeted by warm and friendly staff members, despite the language barrier. We were quickly seated, with English menus, in a sunny area right next to a window; we had just beat out the lunch crowd!

We ordered the Murasawa Sirloin Steak - a "fairly rare" wagyu beef also known as "Phantom Beef" - which came with a bowl of rice and side salad to fill you up. At ¥6400 for 150g, it was relatively inexpensive compared to the other wagyu specialty restaurant we tried. Personally, the taste and quality was more memorable than the other restaurant as well! Each piece was buttery, juicy, and tender, with an incredible beefy taste. Thinking about it now as I write this review makes my mouth water.

Aside from the steak, we also ordered the Beef Tendon Set (¥1300) to inexpensively supplement our meal. Although it obviously can't compare to the Murasawa Sirloin Steak, it was still a yummy and filling meal that I'd happily eat again. It came with everything that the steak had, plus a miso soup.

By the end of the meal, we both walked away feeling very satiated. As mentioned, looking back at the two wagyu restaurants we tried, Otsuka would be our choice for value and taste, especially their Murasawa Sirloin Steak and we will definitely be recommending them to any visiting family...

When I arrived at 10.15am there was already a line. There were quite a lot of grade of beef, so I was quite excited. When we finally got in on the second seating an hour later. I ordered the A5 Musuaka the most rare beef according to the menu. Within 5 mins of ordering the food came out, I was quite surprised the marbling didn’t look that great and when I asked the waitress if it was the A5 beef she hesitated for a while before answering yes. The steak is served on a hot plate (big no no) for me because you don’t get any type of char on the fatty beef I mean that’s the point you want some charred crust but it was rather bland as I noticed it wasn’t seasoned. And they gave a small tiny piece of wasabi, that dish cost 6400 Yen. So I went to the rest room and checked out the other peoples dish and saw a different type marbling on theirs I knew the waitress gave me the wrong beef order. I was furious because the waitress told me it was the right order. Secondly if you want to beef cooked on a hot plate till it becomes medium well to well done without any char then this is the place for you. It’s a touristy spot because more than half of the people waiting are tourist, so it’s kinda commercialized if you ask me. Don’t waste your time, try some other places like Hafuu in Kyoto where they have decent wagyu...

We got to the restaurant at 10 am and luckily put our name on the 7th place on the list. The long queue escalated pretty quickly as it got closer to the opening time, so make sure to be there before the restaurant open. We waited for around 15 minutes after the restaurant opened. Inside, there were around 24 seats, and on average 9 groups of 2-3 people can sit at the same time. So, the waiting time gap will start to get longer every 8 to 9 queue. We had Roast Beef set A and Flap Steak. Considering the price and the taste, Flap Steak was way beyond our expectation. The steak melted in our mouth, and every single piece of it make us wonder how the more expensive choices would taste like since even Flap Steak was really really great. On the other hand, Roast Beef Set A was more to average raw beef. Both my girlfriend and I agreed that Flap Steak was way better choice than Roast Beef Set A, so I highly recommend everyone to try steaks...