Tokyo, Osaka restaurants offering all-you-can-eat beef for two and a half bucks on Meat Day

Limitless shabu-shabu for less than the price of a fast food beef bowl.

From its name, most people would expect Japanese restaurant chain Onyasai to offer a huge variety of salads and other vegetarian fare, After all, Onyasai literally translates to “warm vegetables,” and is usually used to refer to a medley of steamed veggies.

▼ Onyasai

Ironically, though, Onyasai’ restaurants specialize in shabu-shabu, a type of meaty hotpot. That means the chain is eager to take part on Japan’s periodic “Meat Day” celebrations, often held when the date can be written with the numerals 2 and 9, which can be read as ni and ku, the components of the Japanese word niku, or “meat.”

So on February 9 (2-9), Onyasai will be offering all-you-can-eat beef for just 290 yen (US$2.50)

▼ All this will cost you less than a Yoshinoya beef bowl.

However, this amazing deal is only available at two Onyasai locations: the branches in Tokyo’s Roppongi neighborhood and Osaka’s Umeda Kita Onyasai. But since we couldn’t bear to wait until February 9, we talked the staff at the Roppongi branch into giving us a sneak preview of the 290-yen course, and during the meal we managed to stop salivating just long enough to snap these photos.

While all of the meat is juicy and delicious, the star of the show is the extra-thick sukiyaki, which is 29 millimeters (1.1-inch) thick.

Like the other meat in the course, the extra-thick sukiyaki is Japanese kuroge wagyu beef. But while you can have unlimited refills of the other cuts of beef, the special Meat Day promotion only includes one serving of extra-thick sukiyaki per person in your party.

On the upside, whereas shabu-shabu is usually a cook-it-yourself dish, the Onyasai staff will prepare the extra-thick sukiyaki for you right at your table.

With our chopsticks quivering in anticipation, we brought a meaty morsel to our mouth…

…and it just might have been the most delicious sukiyaki we’ve ever eaten!

Given how popular the promotion is bound to be, making a reservation through Onasai’s smartphone app is advisable should you want in on this non-stop meat parade. If you see us there, give us a wave, but we’ll forgive you if you’re too busy eating to actually say hi.

Restaurant information
Onyasai (Roppongi branch) / 温野菜（六本木店）
Address: Tokyo-to, Minato-ku, Roppongi 7-13-6, Kondou Building 2nd floor
東京都港区六本木7-13-6コンドウビル2F
Open 5 p.m.-4 a.m. (weekdays), 4 p.m.-4 a.m. (weekends)
Website

Onyasai (Umeda Kita branch) / 温野菜（梅田北店）
Address: Osaka-fu, Osaka-shi, Kta-ku, Nakatsu 1-1-38
大阪府大阪市北区中津1-1-38
Open 5 p.m.-midnight
Website

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