Gyukatsu Motomura Ikebukuro Branch — Restaurant in Tokyo

We decided to eat at Gyukatsu Motomura in Ikebukuro, where our AirBnB was located. Easy to find and right upstairs by 7-11. Came here right when they opened. It’s located on the 2nd floor. Good thing we came early as it filled up fast! The restaurant is pretty small, tight and not good for big groups; mostly for a group of 4 but if you come early, you may be able to reserve how many tables.

We ordered their beef culets with beer combo. Each of us had different portions of the cutlets. I only got one order. My hubs got one and a half order of the cutlets. My bro-in-law got two orders! The price at $19 for 1 combo, $24 for 1.5 cutlet combo order and for the 2 cutlets combo was about $27; including beer. That was not bad for a combo and good size beef. The cutlet was tender and juicy. You can cook it on the little grill to your liking. It comes with rice, soup, cabbage salad, sauce and a little dessert as well. I love the miso dressing for the cabbage or whatever you like it with.

Staff were friendly and helpful. There were many other selections as well. I would recommend if in Japan and this area. I would come...

A great experience. I heard that the popularity of these restaurant chains really exploded due to being a popular trend on social media, but this is for good reason as the food and dining experience here is great.

We came for lunch on a Monday and there was no queue or wait times. When I was researching which Gyukatsu place to visit, this one seemed to consistently be reported as less of a wait time than other locations and we also experienced this for ourselves.

The lunch set was good value. You do not often see beef some in a katsu style, but the combination definitely works. Do not sleep on the portable grills you are provided, while they maybe look like a fun gimmick they actually enhance the flavour of the meat significantly by giving it both a fresh grill taste and also from allowing you to cook the meat to your liking. The beef was well marbled and melted in our mouths.

Definitely a must try experience if you are visiting Tokyo, and I highly recommend this location in particular. Ikebukuro is also known as an anime district, so if you are interested in that then you can plan your visit...

If you want to pick a chain restaurant for a beef dish to visit in Tokyo this is it. The meal is either 1400-1500 yen for 130g beef or 2200-2300 yen for the 260g depending on the cut of meat. The meal comes with the beef katsu, a bowl worth of cabbage, a scoop of potato salad, rice, mentaiko (Pollock roe) for your rice, some pickled vegi and a miso soup. My wife couldn't finish all the beef (lucky me), but if you're a big eater don't even think about it just order the 260g

This is Gyukatsu which is a beef steak that's battered and flash fried, as you can see from the pictures it's nearly raw inside and you grill it to your liking at your table. The katsu is crispy on the outside and melt in your mouth on the inside, I'm not sure what beef it is because the menu didn't specify but that marbling is still better than any Canadian beef.

The service was great, the servers came to explain how to cook the katsu and there's a picture guide at each table for those who are worried about the language barrier. Just FYI this is a major chain so google their location and see which one is...