Gyukatsu Motomura Nishi Shinjuku Branch — Restaurant in Tokyo

Overall feedback: I'm not a big meat eater, but I really enjoyed both the taste and the experience. The beef itself wasn’t seasoned, yet it was incredibly light, tender, and unlike any regular steak. What amazed me most was how they managed to coat the beef with crispy breadcrumbs without actually cooking it. I found that cooking each side for just a few seconds brought out the best flavor—despite the lack of seasoning, the taste was surprisingly satisfying and didn’t feel heavy at all. They provide sauces and wasabi for extra seasoning, but personally, I thought it was already delicious on its own.

Wait time: None! We visited on a Saturday at 3:50 PM, and our food was served in less than 5 minutes after ordering.

Price: ¥1,930 per person for the small portion

Portion size: The small portion was filling for one person, as it also included soup, salad, and dessert (warabi mochi)

Crowd: Surprisingly, about 80% locals during our visit, which speaks to its authenticity. I was honestly expecting 90% tourists like us 😅

Location: Conveniently located in Shinjuku near the pedestrian area. It’s a small underground spot, so you might miss it at first, but if you pay attention to the store signs, you’ll find it!

Additional note: Since you’ll be grilling the meat at your table, it’s natural for your clothes and hair to pick up the scent. However, like many Japanese restaurants, they provide a fabric spray to freshen...

the most affordable wagyu without compromising the quality 🙏

The set meal I got cost ¥2900 ($31 AUD). This included 1.5 cutlets, sauces, rice, tororo, cabbage, a drink & dessert (and even a rice refill!).

I saw quite a few Gyukatsu Motomoras during our trip but we just walked into this one because there was no line (there was a line when we left though).

Everyone got their own stone grill and instructions. Grilling our own beef to medium rare was really fun and mindful. The beef was impeccable, super rich, tender and fatty. The crunchy breading added a new texture to the every bite. There were a few sauce options such as salt, wasabi and soy sauce.

This might have been my first time having tororo, and it was really delicious with the rice. It's a sticky texture made from yam and seasoned beautifully.

We also discovered a new love for warabi mochi. It's not super sweet; the texture is more jelly-like, and the soybean sauce is lovely.

Be warned, you will absolutely smell smokey...

One of the best experiences for beef katsu.

It has been a great meal, dine in only. Comes with a set, either without drinks, with drinks or beer.

Cold tea is served as well, upon ordering a basic set. There’s some side dishes, grated yams, cod fish roe and miso soup. The usual cabbage is served with beef katsu, do mix in yuzu sauce for a flavourful experience, it goes great with rice too! A scoop of mashed potatoes is served as well, its a bit peppery but surprisingly refreshing.

The steak of beef is fatty, each piece is nicely sliced, not too thin, just right for every mouthful. I would recommend to split into 2 to 3 bites per piece to prolong the fatty beefy experience.

Rice with barley can be refilled once.

Only downside is it’s never enough, so get the 1.5 to 2 portion because it’s just so good!

Queueing is likely required though, thus do proportion some time to queue, took me roughly 15 minutes only in the waiting line

Highly recommended for such a good meal in...