Eating the famous Matsuzaka Beef at Steakhouse Satou

6 April 2015

After savouring the famous Kobe beef at a restaurant in Tokyo’s Ginza area, we planned to make a trip to a suburb in Tokyo where there is a famous steakhouse serving the equally good, if not better, Matsuzaka beef. Matsuzaka Beef comes from the Matsuzaka region, and is consider the top brand of beef in Japan, alongside Kobe beef.

The steakhouse, called Beef Satou, is located in Kichijoji. From Shinjuku Station, we took the westbound JR Chuo Line train heading towards Takao for about 30 minutes. Kichijoji is the 8th station from Shinjuku. There is a covered shopping area on the North exit of the station and the restaurant is located on the 2nd floor, on top of a butcher shop which seems popular too as there was a queue formed buying takeaway stuff from the shop. There was a separate queue for the restaurant.

We arrived at 12 noon and there was already a queue outside for the restaurant. The line of people included both locals and tourists, including a couple with a small child in front of us. We looked at the menu while queuing and made up our mind easily on what to eat later. Although there were cheaper lunch sets, we told ourselves that we must try the best beef in Japan. 

Menu at Steakhouse Satou in English.

Once we made it past the main door, we found ourselves queuing on the steep and narrow stairway leading up to the restaurant. The stairway is about 3 feet wide and we stood on one side while allowing barely enough space for those who had finished their meal to exit on the other side. When we reached the top of the stairway, we were asked for our orders. We ordered the 200g Sirloin Steak (Chef Recommendations) for 10,000 Yen each. After receiving our orders, the staff went below to fetch our steak.

The staff showed us the Matsuzaka beef that we ordered. The guy in front of us suddenly told the staff he wants to change his order. He changed his order from the lunch set to the Chef Recommendation once he saw the quality of the beef. Irresistible for him too!

The restaurant only has about 12 small tables and we were fortunate to get seats in front of the chef and hence we got to see and take photos of the cooking.

Salad as appetisers while the beef is being cooked.

Seasoning the beef with salt and pepper just before dicing them. 

Grilling on the metal plate (teppanyaki style). Note the queuing customers at the top of narrow stairway and taking photos while waiting for the next available table.

A couple of minutes each side for our medium rare beef.

Covering the beef with the metal cover for a minute or so.

Final product – Medium Rare A5 Grade Matsuzaka Beef steak with fried bean sprouts, mushrooms, sliced carrots and garlic.  So soft and tender that we could eat it with chop sticks and not a fork and knife.

This picture shows the marbling on the diced beef. “Melts in your mouth” tenderness and juiciness.

I must confess that this was even better than the Kobe Beef I had a few days ago in Ginza. If I ever visit Tokyo again, I would try to eat this grade of beef again.

Address:

Steakhouse Satou
1-1-8 Kichijoji-Honcho,
Musashino-shi,
Tokyo.

Lunch: 11:00 am - 03:00 pm; Dinner: 05:00 pm - 09:00 pm. 

Try to arrive before opening time to avoid long queue.