Yakitori Matsuoka

Restaurant Details

Never mind its recommendation in the Michelin Guide Osaka 2024. A quick look through the dozens of five-star reviews for Yakitori Matsuoka on various review sites will reveal something quite unusual: almost every review is personally replied to by the head chef, typically in flawless English.

It’s no big deal to Yakitori Matsuoka’s head chef, Matsuoka Hiroki — he did, after all, spend four years working abroad in Canada, New Zealand and Australia in various positions, from a farmhand to a waiter in a steak restaurant, before returning to Japan to train in a Michelin-starred yakitori restaurant. It was a number of positive experiences with foreigners during his time overseas that convinced him that mastery of not just culinary arts, but also English, would be the key to opening many doors in future.

Sure enough, his restaurant draws healthy crowds not simply for having excellent English-speaking service, or for its proximity to the majestic Osaka Castle, but because the proof is in the poultry: Matsuoka simply puts out some of the most delicious chicken skewers in central Osaka.

In the same vein of kuroge wagyu beef and kurobuta pork, kuro-o jidori chicken is the third of Kagoshima’s famed meat products, and it is this chicken that is used exclusively in Matsuoka’s kitchen. While other jidori chicken are typically raised for between 80 to 100 days, kuro-o chicken are carefully raised for up to 150 days in a free-range environment, with clean water and air that gives the meat unparalleled flavor and texture.

This is compounded by Matsuoka’s exclusive use of top-quality Kishu bincho-tan white charcoal to grill the chicken, infusing the meat with a wonderfully smoky taste that fills the mouth when bitten into.

With each bird being so painstakingly raised, Chef Matsuoka ensures that no part of the chicken goes to waste. Not that he has to worry about wastage, though — every dish on the menu is in supremely high demand, especially the chicken heart, of which there is only one per bird.

Chef Matsuoka’s personally-assembled collection of ultra-rare whiskies and sake draws as many guests as his food does. He is particularly proud of his Juyondai, an ultra-rare sake from Niigata Prefecture, known colloquially as a “phantom sake” for its difficulty to procure. But Juyondai aside, guests can look forward to other rare sake varieties like Isojiman and Nabeshima, as well as elusive Japanese whiskies like vintage Hakushu, Yamazaki, and even Taketsuru.

Michelin Guide:

2024 - Recommended.

Yakitori Matsuoka Remarks

• Under ordinary circumstances, children under 15 are only allowed entry if the entire restaurant is reserved for a private booking, but exceptions can be made if they behave appropriately and are able to consume an adult course menu.

• Guests with dietary restrictions and/or food allergies should inform the restaurant beforehand. The restaurant might not be able to accommodate guests who make same-day requests.

• The restaurant reserves the right to refuse reservations to guests who have excessive dietary restrictions, particularly those of fish or vegetables.

• The course menu content listed below is an example, and is subject to change based on seasonal availability.

• The restaurant cannot always guarantee that it can provide guests with their preferred seating options after a reservation due to availability.

• The pictures provided are for illustrative purposes.

Yakitori Matsuoka Business Days

Yakitori Matsuoka Address

Kamimachidai Yoshizumi Heights 102, 1-4-17 Tohei, Chuo-ku, Osaka 542-0063

Yakitori Matsuoka Access Info

• Yakitori Matsuoka can be accessed via a 7-minute walk from Osaka-Uehommachi Station on the Kintetsu Osaka Line, or a 7-minute walk from either Tanimachi 6-chome Station or Tanimachi 9-chome Station on the Osaka Metro Tanimachi Line.

Yakitori Matsuoka Phone Number

Yakitori Matsuoka Cancellation Policy

Cancel your reservation at least 2 days before the dining start time to receive a full refund minus a 3.2% transaction fee.