Why eat nine Quarter Pounders when you can eat this instead?

Our Japanese-language reporter Seiji knows a thing or two about dreaming impossible dreams. He’s had both his romantic and musical hopes dashed again and again, but still, his heart burns with the passion to rise to new challenges.

If Seiji spots a shooting star, he wants to chase it. If Seiji comes to an ocean, he wants to cross it. And if Seiji sees a stack of three gigantic hamburger steaks, he wants to eat them all.

There will be no further mentions of stars or oceans in this article.

Like any good anime fan, Seiji often finds himself in or near Akihabara, Tokyo’s mecca of otaku culture. But his most recent trip to the neighborhood wasn’t prompted by a desire to purchase anime merch with which to fill his home, but to eat at restaurant Gyusha and fill his stomach with beef.

Hamburger steaks in Japan are often made from a mix of ground pork and ground beef, in order to keep costs down. Gyusha’s three-patty lunch special, though, is all-beef, and made entirely from wagyu.

▼ It’s also crowned with a fried egg, because putting a cherry on top would just be silly.

The only side order included in this beefy lunch set is steamed white rice, but since there’s literally a full kilogram (2.2 pounds) of sizzling meat on the hot plate the waiter brings you, you can’t really blame Gyusha for not tossing in a chef’s salad.

Devoid of female companionship as he may have been, sitting in the restaurant, with this mountain of beef in front of him Seiji couldn’t help but feel that this was one of the high marks of manly decadence and adventure in his life so far. Taking up his fork, he stabbed the utensil into the pile and came away with a mouthful of meat, dripping with mouth-watering juiciness.

Seiji took a bite, and was thrilled to discover that Gyusha’s mammoth meal delivers on both quality and quantity. With his heart racing with excitement, he took bite after bite, alternating between the three dipping sauces the set comes with to keep from having any one single flavor overload his taste buds.

▼ Seiji opted for Japanese onion, garlic, and Italian tomato sauces, but salty green pepper and black pepper sauces are also available.

Before he knew it, Seiji had polished off the entire plate, a feat which left him happy and full.

If there’s one drawback to Gyusha’s amazing triple-decker hamburger steak lunch, it’s that at 4,800 yen (US$44), it’s not exactly cheap. However, that price is entirely reasonable for a full kilo of wagyu. Even better, Gyusha allows multiple diners to share the set, so you can always enlist a friend to help you with the enviable carnivorous task. And even if you’re a solo diner, Gyusha also offers more compact hamburger steaks, starting at 200 grams (7 ounces) for just 990 yen.

But before you go by yourself, could you give Seiji a call and see if he’d like to go with you?

Restaurant information
Gyusha / 牛舎
Address: Tokyo-to, Chiyoda-ku, Soto Kanda, 6-5-9
東京都千代田区外神田６−５−９
Open 11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., 6 p.m.-10:30 p.m. (may close early is restaurant runs out of meat)
Closed Sundays

Photos ©SoraNews24
[ Read in Japanese ]