If you want to eat yakiniku, head to Habikino! 4 carefully selected restaurants in the Kansai region's leading meat mecca, offering exceptional freshness and volume.

Habikino City, located in southern Osaka Prefecture, is known for its ancient historical sites and fig production (and, of course, as the birthplace of pitcher Yu Darvish!), but it has also had a thriving meat industry since ancient times. Yakiniku lovers will also be familiar with the many famous yakiniku restaurants serving fresh local meat and offal, making it a yakiniku mecca.

This time, we will introduce four carefully selected yakiniku restaurants around Eganosho and Furuichi, which are just 16 minutes by express train from Osaka Abeno on the Kintetsu Minami Osaka Line to the holy land.

01. Yakiniku Kojima Main Branch

A powerful, long-established restaurant that has continued to evolve for nearly half a century in Habikino, the mecca of yakiniku!

Hi! I'm Ura, a meat lover. This time I'm enjoying yakiniku to the fullest in Habikino, the yakiniku mecca of southern Osaka. I was so excited I couldn't sleep last night! So, the first place I'll be visiting is Yakiniku Kojima Honten, a long-established restaurant founded in 1978. This restaurant is a famous place that is frequented not only by local yakiniku lovers, but also by meat wholesalers from the area.

Glancing sideways at the palm trees, you pass through the noren curtains and slide open the sliding door to find yourself in a yakiniku paradise. A well-established counter reveals the neat and tidy kitchen! Just this view is enough to make you want to eat a big meal. We started off with the lunchtime special "Rare Japanese Black Beef Hamburger." Rare hamburgers have been trending lately, but Kojima's is on another level. Developed by a chef with a Michelin three-star restaurant, this is a masterpiece that maximizes the texture and flavor of 100% Japanese Black Beef. The surface is seared in a special skillet, then the egg yolk is crumbled into the incredibly smooth, rare center, and then served with a special sauce based on yakiniku sauce. It goes without saying that it pairs perfectly with rice!

Rare Japanese Black Beef Hamburg Steak!

幻の生白センマイ

Top skirt steak

02. Yakiniku Isshin

I was impressed by the restaurant's meticulous attention to detail and the beauty of the meat!

The second stop on our pilgrimage was Yakiniku Isshin, a 15-minute walk from Eganoshou Station. Its bright interior and charming blackboard menu are a pop-style spot. This restaurant is a licensed raw meat restaurant, so its specialty is raw meat. The meat is prepared with exquisite care. So, we immediately ordered the "Two Kinds of Sashimi Platter" (1,400 yen). The recommendation for the day was a platter of "Sankaku," the highest quality cut of belly meat, and "Kamenoko," a type of thigh meat with fine fibers and little fat. The "Sankaku" boasts a savory and sweet flavor that melts in your mouth, while the "Kamenoko" boasts the exquisite aroma and umami of lean red meat.

2 types of sashimi

Wagyu beef tartare

"Isshin's Box" is a yakiniku treasure box, with meats lined up on a tiered display in a box! From the more than 20 types of meat available at any given time, the owner carefully selected nine of the day's recommended cuts, all of which are main course cuts. On this day, there were three types of tongue on the top shelf: "Tongue Tongue," "Tongue Pieces," and "Tongue Naka," so I tried each one. This is what a king would do. "Tongue Tongue" has the richest fat content and flavor, "Tongue Pieces" has a delightful crunchy texture, and "Tongue Naka" has the quintessential beef tongue flavor. I guess my favorite is "Tongue Tongue"? It also pairs perfectly with wine.

A box of heartfelt

03. Yakiniku goou

Overflowing with manliness! The volume of the King's Yakiniku is incredible!

The third place we visited was Yakiniku goou Habikino Main Branch. It's written as "King of Cows" and pronounced "Go-ou." We decided to order the recommended grilled shabros (1,628 yen including tax) and grilled sukiyaki loin (1,628 yen including tax)...and were surprised at how much they were, far exceeding our expectations. Both included two large cuts of rib roast! For a price that's big enough to overflow the hot plate, it's a bit too much for a man!

I had the grilled shabu-shabu loin with ponzu sauce and plenty of green onions. The wild yet gentle flavor of the fat was incredibly strong. Before I knew it, I had finished both pieces. The grilled sukiyaki loin was dipped in egg and served with rice. Is there anyone in the world who doesn't like this? Not only the meat, but the rice splashed with the sweet sauce and meat juices is already a dish in itself!

Baked Chabros

Grilled sukiyaki loin

Next up was the regular menu item, loin. I ordered a regular loin, but what arrived was a superb loin with beautiful marbling. What, is this normal?! The Gyuoh is insanely big, weighing in at almost 200g. First, I grilled it with salt to enjoy the flavor of the meat, then tried it with garlic chips. It was mind-blowing.

Loin

04. GaryuYakiniku Sozaemon

Discover the best yakiniku restaurant along the national highway in the holy land

The final stop on the pilgrimage is "Garyu Yakiniku Sozaemon," located south by car from Furuichi Station and marked by a huge "Yakiniku" sign visible from Prefectural Route 27. The entrance has a porch with hanging chairs, reminiscent of a cowboy saloon from the pioneering days of the West. Inside, the restaurant has table seating and sunken kotatsu seating, and the heat source for the smokeless roaster in the center of the table is charcoal.

I sat down, checked the menu, and found my favorite, Marushin (the center of the thigh). The Marushin at "Munezaemon" is so beautifully trimmed that I was entranced by the cross-section. The meat, grilled over the gentle heat of the charcoal fire, was perfectly cooked, with a strong, red meat flavor. I'm grateful for the history of meat and fire.

Marushin

Next, I ordered the tail (330 yen including tax), which can be ordered individually. The bone of the tail has a fun texture and a unique flavor, so before I knew it, I was sucking on the bone forever. Ugh, give me some sake!

Tail

And to finish off my pilgrimage to the holy land of yakiniku, I had the "Hormone Hot Pot for One" (1,430 yen including tax). It was the best horumon hotpot, with plenty of tetchan and rare skirt steak cooked in a sweet and spicy sauce together with vegetables. To finish, I ate the classic udon noodles in a broth soaked in the fat of the tetchan. Ah, I'm so glad that Japan has four seasons, including winter.

Hormone hotpot

Habikino is the city of meat. Residents of the city may think of it as both close and far away, but we highly recommend taking the 15-minute ride on the Kintetsu Minami-Osaka Line with excitement! From the ever-evolving long-established Kojima Honten, the exquisite raw meat restaurant Yakiniku Isshin, the manly Gyuoh, and the yakiniku-filled Sozaemon, we felt the love for yakiniku and the pride of this meat-loving town at every restaurant we visited. You really have to get out there to experience it all.

*This article was migrated from “Shittonka Osaka.” The information provided is current as of December 2023 and may differ from current conditions. Please check the official websites of each store or facility for the latest operating hours and details.