Yakiniku Komachi

In Ichijoji, one of the most hotly contested areas for ramen in Kyoto, there is a popular yakiniku restaurant called Yakiniku Komachi, which specializes in Japanese black beef. The restaurant is popular for its reasonably priced Japanese black beef and is known in Kyoto as “the yakiniku restaurant where reservations are not taken”. I have tried many times to visit this restaurant, but each time I was disappointed to find that the restaurant was fully booked.

After being disappointed several times, I finally gave up and called the restaurant one month before my desired date of visit and managed to get a seat. It was quite a challenge just to reserve one seat for one person, though. Well, that aside…

A hidden gem tucked away in a quiet residential area…Yakiniku Komachi is like this…

Yakiniku Komachi is tucked away in a quiet residential area just west of Ichijoji’s so-called Ramen Street. The restaurant is so integrated into the surrounding landscape that it is difficult to find, especially at night. There are no large signboards or prominent signs, so if you are going to the restaurant for the first time, Google Maps is a must. In addition, the entrance to the restaurant is not facing the street, but is located a little further in, so be careful of that as well.

According to the information from the restaurant’s Tabelog, there are 36 seats in this hideout-like restaurant. There are two counter seats, and the restaurant is also suitable for solo yakiniku diners. Although it claims to be a restaurant specializing in Japanese black beef, there is no sense of oppression that would impose a sense of luxury, and the restaurant feels comfortable enough for anyone to feel free to use. Unfortunately, however, smoking is allowed in the restaurant, so it is not suitable for families with children…

How was the volume of the food I ordered at Yakiniku Komachi, a restaurant specializing in Japanese Black Beef?

Let me introduce all four items I ordered at Yakiniku Komachi, a restaurant specializing in Japanese black beef, in order…

Tongue (price: 530 yen including tax)

I really wanted to order the “Yoseatume (980 yen including tax)”, which is a collection of leftover meat of the day, but they said it was already sold out, so I ordered this Tongue (530 yen including tax) as a starter dish instead. The plate itself shown in the image above was brought to our table, and at first I thought, “Maybe they mistook my order with another table”. 

Because this is for one person. When I counted the number of plates, there were 16 in all. If you order this much for several people and then eat and drink like that, you will probably be very satisfied with 3,000 yen, right?

Yes, Yakiniku Komachi has two kinds of spices for seasoning, “Herb Salt French Mix” and “Lemon Peel & Black Pepper”, in addition to a light sweet sauce, but with 16 pieces of meat, you can enjoy each flavor to its fullest. However, the meat is originally seasoned with salt and pepper, and I personally prefer to eat it as is without any additional seasonings.

Wagyu Extra-Top Loin (Price: 1830 yen including tax)

The next dish brought before us was the Wagyu Extra-Top Loin, which was described as “very popular” in the menu book. This, again, is the one shown in the image above, for one person. There were eight pieces of meat in all, probably nearly twice the volume of other yakiniku restaurants.

As you can easily imagine by the sashi (graininess) of the meat, this meat is very tender. But you can also enjoy the chewy texture of the meat. And when chewing it, sweet fat is juiced from the cross section…. No wonder it is so popular. Incidentally, lemon peel and black pepper went well with the meat. I wondered where I could find this seasoning, but when I looked for it on the Internet, I found that it is usually sold at a supermarkets. I think I’ll buy some at home as soon as possible…

Omi Beef Garlic Skirt Steak (Price: 1580 yen including tax)

The third dish is Omi Beef Garlic Skirt Steak. This dish also contains 8 thick slices of meat for one person, and the volume is very generous.

I wondered, “Is this real Omi beef? The meat was so fluffy, elastic, and juicy with plenty of juice that I didn’t care if it was Omi beef or not as soon as I ate it. At this price, with this volume, and with this quality of meat, there is nothing to complain about. Incidentally, the seasoning is originally rich with grated garlic, so you can enjoy it as it is, but for me personally, the “Herb Salt French Mix” was most to my liking.

Hormone in the Pot (Price: 1,380 yen including tax)

The last dish to be brought to my table was this Hormone in the Pot. This visual is often seen at all-you-can-eat yakiniku restaurants these days…

Inside of this jar is a long piece of tecchan (beef intestine), about 60 cm in length. If using the scissors to cut it into 5 cm pieces, there would easily be more than 10 pieces, and the volume was overwhelming until the very last piece.

The hormone is already seasoned with miso sauce and is served as is without any sauce or seasoning provided at the table. The meat was thick and plump, and when I bit into it, the juices from the meat combined with the special miso sauce were just pouring out… I was tempted to add a draft beer at the end of the meal.

I finished the above four dishes and paid the bill. I ordered quite a few dishes, but in fact, it had been more than two hours while I was enjoying these four dishes, and it was almost time to close the restaurant. The amount of meat was so large that it would have taken a long time to cook each piece carefully. I thought to myself, “It’s no wonder they say it’s so hard to get reservations…” Smoking is not allowed, which is a bit of a disappointment for me, but other than that, I honestly have nothing to complain about.

Example of Yakiniku Komachi’s Assorted Menu (prices include tax)

• 3 kinds of tongue (salt, sauce, green onion) 1,780 yen
• Komachi platter (Wagyu beef ribs, Omi Harami, Wagyu beef short ribs, Wagyu beef extra tenderloin) 4,800 yen
• Kalbi platter (Wagyu Kalbi, Wagyu Chubu Kalbi, Negishio Kalbi) 3,300 yen
• Loin (Wagyu beef loin, Wagyu beef diced loin, Wagyu beef negi salt loin, Wagyu beef special loin) 4,800 yen
• Hormone set (Hoso, Red kidney bean, Mino, Grilled liver) 2,900 yen

店頭でお持ち帰り用の肉を売ってます…黒毛和牛専門店 焼肉こまちへのアクセスは、最寄り駅の叡山電鉄・一乗寺駅から徒歩9分

Yakiniku Komachi, a restaurant specializing in Japanese black beef, also sells take-out meat…

Looking in the refrigerator, I found beef tendon, tongue block, and hormone yaki set…and maybe because it was winter, there was also a motsu nabe set. This is just my imagination, but if you can get such a large quantity of yakiniku at a restaurant, I think the take-out meat is incredibly cost-effective. If you have a yakiniku party at home, you might have a great time if you buy meat here.

Here are the details of the restaurant…

P.S. If you are looking for delicious BBQ in Kyoto, please stop by this article below…