Gyukatsu Tomita — Restaurant in Osaka

I came across many reviews about the famous fried steak in Osaka and decided to give Gyugatsu Tomita a try. We arrived around 5:30 PM, and as expected, there was a line. Since we were a group of five, we waited about an hour, but fortunately, the line wasn’t too long because it was a weekday and the weather was quite cold. A quick tip: make sure to line up properly and wait for the waitress to call you. We noticed several people walking straight up without realizing there was a queue, only to be sent back to join the line.

Once seated, the waitress handed us the menu. I highly recommend ordering the double meat (260g) set menu. I initially went for the standard 130g steak but ended up ordering an extra portion because the meat was so delicious! The meal comes with side dishes, miso soup, and rice. I also added yam paste to my rice, which was a tasty addition. If you order the meal set, you can request an extra serving of rice as well.

The food exceeded our expectations, and the service was excellent. Just keep in mind that this is a typical Japanese restaurant, so the space can feel quite tight. I would definitely return, but I’d aim to avoid the lunch or dinner...

This is also anohter highly recommended restaurant online. If we didn’t read the reviews, we would have walked away from waiting in line. Also I was very glad to read they take cash only, so we were prepared without going through any frustration.

The line took about 20 minutes, and you have to wait on a steep stair way which was interesting. The restaurant is located on the scond floor and seat perhaps 30 people. The staff will take your order before you enter the dining area, so there’s no wait to get your food once you get seated. That helped the line go faster than expected which I thought was very throughtful and clever.

We ordered the beef cutlet with grated yam set meal 130g and 260g and liked them a lot. My husband was annoyed with the line but was quite impressed with the quality of the meat and the fun of grilling your own cutlets. He said 260g was a lot of meat, for me 130g is just about right. I liked the grated yam on my rice, but for people who don’t like “sticky” food, you might want to skip that add-on.

Overall, we were glad we went to Gyukatsu Tomita and would recommend...

Good food, selective service. Last time I was in Osaka I randomly walked up their stairs in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week. I was alone and it was good food and quick service. I recommend the place to quite a few people visiting Osaka.

On my recent trip back, I found my hotel very near the restaurant so I decided to return. They close at 9 so I went at 8. There was a little bit of a line and I was waiting on the stairs about 15 min. The girl came down and tells the guy in front of me something and he says 2. She looks at me and he says no. She moves on to me and says we're closed. I said do you close at 9? She says yes but there are people ahead of you. I said I'm just 1 person. She's like sorry we're closed. I said so you're going to serve him but not me? She repeated, sorry we're closed. No one was behind me. As I walked out and down the stairs, 2 guys walked in. I made it a point to see if they would be denied as well, and big surprise, I did not see them walk out. I won't be telling any more of my traveling friends about this...