Maguro Koya
Maguro Koya things to do, attractions, restaurants, events info and trip planning
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Stream of consciousness notes: Hand written sign advertises the restaurant from the inside of a top window pane; Japanese talk radio is on medium volume playing through a single-speaker 80s transistor radio; the temperature in the restaurant is easily 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27c) as the kitchen is less than 5 feet from the tables at it's furthest point; a few locals are eating here with us, but not packed, and not a tourist in sight; light bulbs hang bare from the ceiling by lamp wire. This is the type of place where I was surprised to find an English menu. It is off the beaten path and beyond the foot traffic where others go. We stumbled upon it after not wanting to wait in the lines of the restaurants a couple of blocks away. I ordered the toro tekka don and my wife orered the tataki. The blue fin was the best toro I've ever tasted. I was unable to peer over the bar table to watch the prep, but I'm wouldn't be surprised if it was directly sliced from the tuna to-order. My wife loved the tataki, and after I tasted it, I placed an order for myself. The soy vinegar really makes the dish, and the texture of the cabbage is an interesting contrast to the consistency of the fish. For the cost of 700 yen, you can't go wrong. Unpretentious, authentic, and high quality. As a tourist places like this are not easy to discover. If I ever make it back to Nara, I will certainly be eating here again.
Zack SZack S
00
This place is not run by the same old owner anymore. It is run by a middle aged man and the whole place lack the Japanese hospitality,serving sub standard/mediocre maguro. Once you entered, they just want you to order quickly and get on with your meal. We came around 12:15pm and there were empty tables inside, hardly any queue. There was not a single Japanese customer too. Mostly tourists and foreigners. We should have noted this sign but because of the high Google reviews, we decided to give it a try. We ordered the high quality fatty tuna bowl at ¥2700 per bowl (2 bowls) and our children ordered the lean tuna bowl and the medium lean tuna bowl. We also ordered an extra serving of Al carte high quality fatty tuna (¥2500) and another medium fatty tuna for our children to try. The Ala carte tuna plates were a far cry from the picture we saw on their menu, menu picture shows 7 thick slices but we received 6 small square slices. When I asked the chef (the middle aged owner), he said it was the same as he served by weight, please see the pictures attached and see if that was a blatant lie.The Ala carte high quality fatty Tuna pieces were not premium too, when we tried to pick up with the chopstick, the piece of tuna just fell/ disintegrated into small pieces. The rice bowl was served with the worst sushi rice I have ever eaten n in my life, it was more like plain rice with a tinge of uneven sprinkle of sushi vinegar, most unpalatable! And the miso soup was plain and tasteless, no seaweeds, no spring onions, just like miso paste diluted into hot water. The rice bowl came with 7 slices of tuna and a small Portion of rice below. The tuna were just mediocre. Hence at ¥2700 for this tuna bowl, it was expensive. Although I was hungry, I did not finish the rice and that showed how bad it was. This place is a trap for tourists and their locals stay away now. If you look carefully at all the photos on their Google listing now, the old restaurant even have counter seats and an old man serving behind the counter. This restaurant now has done away with all the counter seats. And a high counter which only shows the face of the chef. It was a regrettable lunch and worst service in all the restaurants I have visited in Japan.
JC FangJC Fang
70
You can go if you not treasure your time or money. Wondering why this restaurant had any 5 stars review. We went this restaurant at around 2:30 pm. There about 10 people lining up. We trusted the review and waited. While there are about 6 vacant tables (16 empty seats). The staff keep the queue lining up , and not let people sit down and read the menu first. It was very interesting , if you know what I mean. Got seated at 3:30 pm. The taste of food is okay. They weighted the rice to keep the taste and portion accurate (didn’t say it is good or not). You can see the portion of the food in the photo. It costed ¥3700. A bowl of Tuna Rice and Miso soup. You can judge on your own. It is no longer a traditional Japanese cuisine shop. It is like a bad serviced fast food shop. Not sure they welcome tourists. Because they acting rude to all tourists as I seen. You can still go to this restaurant, if you don’t expect any services or delicious food, and you can queue for over an hour. I hope this restaurant can be improved, but I will not go again anyway. It was quite an UNIQUE experience in Japan. Now I think those 1 star reviews were actually so fair.
Fred HoFred Ho
40
Had to wait around 25 minutes outside before being seated. When we got to our seat it lacked an ordering tablet. The waiter, not noticing this went to chit-chat to the other waiter and didn't notice me attempting to ask for help, so we had to switch seats on our own accord. After ordering it took ~30 minutes to get our food which was quite frustrating. We ate our food which, all things considered was very good, especially at the given price point. When paying my card declined, so I asked to pay with suica. The waiter then fumbled about with machinery for around 30 seconds at which point i offered to pay with cash. The waiter tried to communicate in English (even though I used Japanese when communicating back to them), but they lacked confidence in the language and ended up being mostly quiet and un-helpful. All in all, it was a nice looking restaurant with good food, but the service was nothing to be proud of.
Zilian Lander (Ziltriz)Zilian Lander (Ziltriz)
00
First up was our brunch trip to @magurokoya before we visited Nara deer park, for the deers. Adults had chutoro rice bowl while the kids had karaage tuna rice bowl. It's a dream because it was a nightmare curating food for the kids. Best part is we realised the prices for food in Japan is not expensive, cheaper than Singapore actually if you don't include hawker food. The food was good, so much value for money. Quaint little place with an old man and his wife serving the food. Besides us, there was also an ang moh family and zilch Singaporeans. I guess when you go out of hype's way, you tend to stumble upon such gems. Definitely a must try if you're taking the train to Nara. Stop by here for a meal before chasing them deers! By the way, the place now has been renovated. Much more upmarket but same old man. Update again when we visit next year!
Nigel Lian (Baktao)Nigel Lian (Baktao)
00
I've been here every year I visited Japan (with my current visit would be 3 times in a row). This year the taste is disappointing. The old couple is nowhere, replaced by some younger chef and waitress. The atmosphere is more like a modern resto rather than the authentic shop like it used to be. In terms of taste I feel that their tuna is still good (I order the double high quality fatty tuna bowl). However, the rice is a major turn down. It used to be more sticky and has a more pleasant sweet taste, but now the rice is hard and almost tastes like regular rice. To be honest, this resto used to be one of my major reasons to visit Nara, now I don't think I will go to Nara just to eat tuna anymore. I hope you can bring back the old recipe and make Maguro Koya taste like how it used to be.
Kartika Puspita SariKartika Puspita Sari
10
Nearby Attractions Of Maguro Koya
Kofuku-ji
Nara National Museum
Nara Hotel
Todai-ji Nandaimon (Grand South Gate)
Higashimuki Shopping Street
Gango-ji
Gango-ji
Onyado Nono Nara
Kintetsu-Nara Station
Himuro Shrine

Kofuku-ji
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Nara National Museum
4.4
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Nara Hotel
4.4
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Todai-ji Nandaimon (Grand South Gate)
4.6
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Nearby Restaurants Of Maguro Koya
Nakatanidou
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Tonkatsu Ganko Nara
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SAKURA BURGER
Genkishin (Nara)
Mentouan
Cafe CONCE カフェコンセ
CHAMI - Specialty Coffee Roaster - Nara, JAPAN
Starbucks Coffee - Nara Park Bus Terminal

Nakatanidou
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Click for details

Rokumei Coffee (Nara)
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Tonkatsu Ganko Nara
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Kamameshi Shizuka Kouen-ten志津香
4.1
(855)Click for details
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