Ikinari Steak – Shinsaibashi, Osaka
We found Ikinari Steak accidentally as we were walking through the streets of America-mura. Here in Osaka, it’s a pretty young area to be in – lots of little interesting shops, most of the American fast food chains are here, vintage shops, specialty bike shops, record stores, etc. Anything with the word STEAK in it appeals to me. I’m a carnivore through and through even if I’m not necessarily proud of it.
We stopped by the door to read the signboards – it somehow looked a lot like Pepper Lunch. Meh, we thought, dismissing it at first since the thought of eating in a chain-type restaurant didn’t appeal to us. Mayabang. We walked around s’more and couldn’t get the steak out of our minds so we found our way back.
The restaurant was smokey as hell! And we were surprised to find that there weren’t any chairs!
When we got there, we found out that we had to order our steaks at the counter. I was surprised to find that the ribeye was the cheapest cut. That’s usually what I get so I was thrilled at this fact.
The minimum order for a ribeye steak was 300 grams so this great butcher-chef man cut me a perfect piece.
Weighing 305 grams, I was informed that I’d be charged ¥1,977 (Php 711) which is kind of a bargain for this beautiful cut. Just look at the marbling on that thing, jeez!
We waited patiently as the steaks were grilled. I think it took about 10-15 minutes to get our orders out. Or longer I don’t know. I felt tired standing around.
And then it was ready! The steak was evenly grilled, seasoned to perfection (just salt and pepper), topped with garlic butter and toasted garlic chips and served on a bed of buttered corn and onions.
I ordered some garlic rice (¥200/Php 72) on the side and found that their version tasted just like Pepper Lunch’s beef pepper rice. So good.
As requested, the steak was cooked to a perfect medium – just the way I like it. It’s really so tender and because of all that marbling it literally melts in your mouth. This was cooked so well – it’d pass Masterchef standards.
The aftermath. They also have this soy-based steak sauce in a pitcher that you can slather your meat with – chose not to use it cause it made the dish too salty for my taste. I took the big fat bits off and chose not to eat them because I’ve been literally eating everything in sight so this kind of lessens the guilt?
The ribeye at Ikinari Steak is surprisingly one of the best steaks I’ve ever had. I never imagined that a fast-food high quality steak restaurant could ever exist but here it is and it’s strange and perfect. Can you believe they have a wine menu in there? Somehow, not having a place to sit didn’t bother me as much once I started eating. If you ever find yourself in Japan and you don’t care about smelling like grilled beef, give it a shot and tell me your thoughts.
Ikinari Steak
Stage 9 Building,
1-8-15 Nishi-Shinsaibashi, Chuo-ku, Osaka
Phone: 06-6120-9129
Subway: Shinsaibashi
Opening Hours:
11am-11pm (Lunch 11am-3pm on Weekdays only)
Click for Directions
