Blazing a Yakiniku Trail in the Kansai Region of Japan

Translating to ‘grilled meat’, yakiniku is a favorite Korean-Japanese eating pastime and hybrid that requires an empty stomach and a pair of your finest pair of sweatpants (or other elastic, stretchy garb when you balloon up like Violet Beauregarde after meat gluttony). In Japan, you can expect a happening yakiniku joint on almost every corner – especially in the Kansai Region – a Bermuda Triangle for premium beef bovines that have, in all likelihood, lived a better life than 99% of us (for God’s sake, they massage and feed some of them beer). 

But this post isn’t just to celebrate the golden ruling triumvirate of wagyu beef yakiniku that can be found across all corners of the Kansai Region (and Japan), this is a yakiniku epic, consisting of yakiniku joints from far and wide: premium, mid-range, and budget. What I can confidently declare is that if you are eating yakiniku in the Kansai Region, you are in the right place. From high-end Matsusaka wagyu restaurants in Kyoto to bustling offal haunts in the heart of Temma, all the way to all-you-can-eat and drink G.Y.O.B. (grill your own beef) joints in the South of Osaka, the Kansai Region is a yakiniku murderers’ row – and after all, it’s my beefy Wonderwall. 

Here is a list of five of my favorite yakiniku restaurants in the Kansai Region – primarily Osaka and Kyoto. I will return to Kobe for a longer stint (hopefully) in 2024 so that I can keep adding to this list.

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