Gyukatsu Motomura Shinjuku Main Branch — Restaurant in Tokyo

We arrived just before they opened at 11:00. Noted that there are two lines. One for people who have made reservations and the other not.

While waiting we were given a menu which was the same meal set with the options of 1) no drinks, 2) sodas and 3) beer, highball or sake.

Waited a short time about 10-15 mins and then asked what we wanted to order, we ordered the basic set and then were seated at a table.

The lit the burners at the table and the set meal came out a few mins later. The side dishes were explained and we were left to our food.

The appearance of the meat was different than the photos as it a thinner layer of bread crumbs.

The meat comes rare/ medium rare and they ask that you finish cooking it on the heated stone. As it’s placed in the stone, the meat sizzles… wait about 10 seconds and turn it over. 10 more second and it’s done.

Place it in one of the provided dipping sauces, place it in your mouth and enjoy!!!

I do not know what kind of beef they are using but it was very tender and juicy. Not a huge beefy favor like US mid west beef. Different but very good.

The wait staff speak limited English but enough for me to understand almost everything. Their English was much better than my Japanese.

Being my first time here i made a mistake in my order and would never come back and repeat that again. That was that I should had ordered a larger potion. It was so good.. that I...

Gyukatsu Motomura has been a longtime favorite of ours since before we had kids, and we were happy to find that the experience still holds up years later. This time, we visited the Shinjuku reservation branch as a family, and it was just as delicious — with a few thoughtful upgrades that made dining with little ones much smoother. The specialty here is crispy beef cutlet (gyukatsu), served rare and grilled to your liking on a personal hot stone. It’s tender, flavorful, and the DIY grilling adds a fun, interactive touch — even our older child got into it. What made this visit stand out was the ability to reserve in advance. Unlike many Motomura locations, this branch accepts bookings, and we secured a private room with the Specialty Set (¥3,300 per person). It came with small souvenirs to take home, and while more expensive than the usual sets (¥1,400–2,500), it was absolutely worth it to skip the long line and have our own quiet space.

Like other Motomura branches, the overall layout is still quite compact, but having a private room gave us the flexibility to eat more comfortably and at our own pace. It’s a tight fit for strollers — we folded ours and tucked it in the corner — and we didn’t spot any high chairs. That said, the staff were polite and efficient, and menus are available in English. If you’re not reserving, I’d suggest arriving right at opening time (11:30 AM or 5:00 PM) to...

Obviously a well known chain of restaurants with many branches, and this branch isn’t shy to advertise how they’ve been featured on instagram and TikTok at the front entrance. But I have to say that it was a really enjoyable experience and regardless of the hype and the recommendations from friends and family, personally I really did enjoy this meal!

When we arrived at the restaurant, we were fortunate with good timing in that there wasn’t a line at all. We ordered at the door with the waitress, then sat down, and within 5 minutes they placed a tray with the cutlet and side dishes in front of us! Extremely fast service, and being able to self-sear the meat to our preference was great as well. Great meat quality and flavour, a nice cabbage salad accompaniment along other nice side dishes, and a great experience overall!

One thing that I have a minor comment about is that near the end of the meal, the waitress came by with a QR code asking us to rate and review on Google 5-stars, and she was waiting for us to use our phones to read the QR code and review. I was going to review regardless, but it felt a little awkward at the end of the meal.

Overall though, good price for quality and quantity, and I would also join the group of people recommending trying any branch...