Shabuwara Kuromon Nipponbashi Store — Restaurant in Osaka

tl;dr - this was the best meal me and my girlfriend has ever eaten in our lives, PLEASE give it a try! this was one of two restaurants we decided to eat more than once in our 3 weeks in japan, it was just that good.

long review: let me start by saying to any americans that might be reading this review that japanese people rate restaurants very differently. in the US, most people default to 5 stars for everything unless something goes wrong during the meal or they get violently sick. in japan i've noticed that most people default to 3 stars and it takes something above and beyond or extraordinary to get that 4 or 5 star status. so when i saw that this place had 4.9 and it was located just a few minutes walk away from my airbnb, i knew i had to try it.

despite closing at 11pm we tried arriving around 9:30 on a sunday and was met with a 'sorry we are closed' sign, stating that they had finished service early because they ran out of stock. we decided to reschedule for the next day which was completely fine, but i can see how this can be disappointing for someone who might try to show up on their last day in osaka, so if you're trying to plan for dinner here, i'd suggest going early.

we showed up the next day at around 7:00 and was seated in a pretty quiet dining room. the interior is really nice, clean, and modern.

we were given a option for a japanese, english, chinese, or korean menu, and we noticed the various servers there also speak these languages as well (though i don't think cantonese, i just heard the one mandarin speaking server), so its really foreigner friendly! the staff was wonderful, all super attentive and helpful throughout the whole meal.

they have two options, sukiyaki or shabu shabu, we went with sukiyaki since back home in the bay area, we have basically no option for a traditional sukiyaki experience, and it was unbelievably good.

the sukiyaki meal, unlike the shabu shabu one only comes with an egg for dipping. since we were so used to having a bunch of dipping sauces for hot pot in the US, we thought we'd pay extra for some of the shabu shabu section's sauces, which i feel like the employees thought was a little weird, and quickly realized we made a mistake. there's no need for extra sauces. the sukiyaki broth is so flavorful on its own and combined with the egg it's already perfect. but as a side note their sesame sauce and plum ponzu sauces are also really good.

we went with the premium roppaku kurobuta, wagyu naniwa beef, and later an extra plate of their USDA prime beef, and all three options were amazing and super tender.

the bowl of veggies looked small at first compared to massive american portions that i was familiar with, but it ended up being a very balanced meal that i was satisfied with, but didn't leave me overstuffed.

we were so happy with the meal we decided to come back again on our last day in osaka, it was by far the best food experience we had on our whole trip, probably in our lives. the worst part about eating here is that it's now our favorite restaurant and it happens to be 5,300 miles away :'(

good news is we're already in the works of planning our second japan trip for 2024 and this will 100% be a stop...

Had high hopes because of the high reviews. From the states but I've had shabushabu and Sukiyaki many many times. This was just basic. The spicy soup base for the shabu was good. The yakiniku base and sides was the same as any other place. The meat however was a disappointment. They slice it thinner than paper. It makes it look like you're getting more than you are when they present it all fanned out, but for the mixed meat sukiyaki, you get about 4 slices of ham, and 4 of beef, extremely thin. Forces you to buy extra meat for a whole meal. It's expensive too, for the basic no wagyu prices.

The staff was hard to get ahold of, barely came to the table and we finished our drinks and would have ordered more but they didn't come by at all after we ordered except to drop off the food. Also we were there before they opened for dinner, and right at opening they said we had to sit at the counter because all tables were taken. After 10 minutes they offered us a table. Still only two tables in the restaurant taken. An hour later people were showing up and told all tables were taken, and the restaurant was still half empty, with most people forced to sit at the counter, although those tables had been empty for an hour. Why are they making people wait for these "reservations" that aren't even showing or there? Very strange.

Was hopeful based on the reviews that this place would blow us away. It was okay, but not amazing. A...

I was unsure once I got here if I wanted to eat or not, but hunger got the best of me and I had scouted the place previously and the reviews were all good. High rating. So I went!

I DO NOT regret it! Possibly the BEST sukiyaki I've had in Japan and I've been here for months! 🤩 I recently had ¥12.000 shabu shabu in Kyoto and it was not even close to the ¥5.000 wagyu beef lunch I had here (Large size, they also have Medium and Small which are cheaper).

ABSOLUTELY GO HERE! Not too crowded, tables have enough space between booths. The staff is AMAZING! Attentive, kind and absolutely adorable. The food is superb, good sizes, tasty as hell and prices are very reasonable, maybe even a bit cheap in my opinion for the quality you get. You also get free rice until you're full which we didn't eat, but it's a nice gesture.

Had lemonade, the local Minoh beer, cola to drink which was also good.

I can't believe I'm rating it 5 stars, but even if I'm trying I can't find a single flaw. I will definitely come back! Again,...