We investigate whether now is a good time to grab some beef cutlets in a popular tourist area of Tokyo.
Given the unprecedented numbers of foreign tourists in Japan over the past year, we’ve been curious to see how the recent Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ warning to Chinese citizens not to visit Japan in the midst of a diplomatic dispute has been affecting the crowds at some of the most popular Tokyo sites for inbound tourists. We’ve also recently begun checking out the impact on restaurant queues such as at the Ichiran ramen location by Shinjuku Station’s Central East Exit, which normally has large tour groups of Chinese visitors waiting in line.
On this particular day, our Japanese-language reporter P.K. Sanjun wasn’t craving tonkotsu ramen but gyukatsu (breaded and deep-fried beef cutlets). He even had a restaurant in mind to satisfy the craving: Gyukatsu 123 in Tokyo’s Akihabara district. From what he could remember, this place is especially popular among Asian tourists and there’s usually a long line winding down the street. He made his way over and got there about 20 minutes after its opening time of 11 a.m…and was shocked to see that the line was as long as ever.
He had mistakenly assumed that the line would only get long after noon-ish, so this was a big miscalculation. Including himself, he counted 20 people waiting to get in. It definitely seemed like the travel warning had made zero impact on this restaurant…but hang on. Once he had joined the ranks and listened in, he realized that almost all of the conversations he heard were in Korean. In fact, he didn’t hear a single word of Chinese. From the looks of things, there was also one couple of Westerners, but he wasn’t close enough to hear what language they were speaking.
Another interesting observation he made was that he appeared to be the only solo diner. Everyone else was with at least one other person, with most in groups of three or four people. There was a group of four men speaking Korean in front of him and a group of three women speaking Korean behind him.
P.K. was finally able to enter the restaurant at 12:40 p.m. after an hour and 20-minute wait. Given that he was the 20th person in line, there were only 13 seats inside of the restaurant, and the fact that it took him that long to get in, he figured that this was probably the kind of restaurant that doesn’t prioritize a fast customer turnover rate in the first place.
He was considerably hungry at this point and ordered the 1.5-times-bigger gyukatsu set meal for 2,555 yen ($16.50). It was a work of art and he couldn’t help but admire its visuals before digging in. The diners on either side of him were also taking lots of photos when they received their food.
As is sometimes that case at gyukatsu restaurants, the breaded cutlets arrived very rare, and it was up to him to cook them on the provided mini stone grill to his desired wellness level.
The sight and smell of the beef sizzling enticingly on his grill only made his appetite grow even more. He cooked them to his own definition of perfection and began chowing down. Thankfully, they were perfectly delicious beef cutlets that fully satisfied his craving.
P.K. chatted with a staff member about the current customer makeup and learned that about 80 percent of them are now from Korea. He also heard the staff call out gamsahamnida in Korean, which he imagined was likely to be an everyday occurrence there.
In conclusion, while we can’t say for certain that the travel warning has decreased the number of Chinese customers coming to Gyukatsu 123, there still appears to be just as long of a line as always. Whether the lack of certain tourists opened the door for others to replace them is up for debate, but regardless, you should prep yourself for a significant wait if you’re hoping to stop by on your way to visit the new nine-floor arcade in Akihabara.
Restaurant information
Gyukatsu 123 / 牛かつ壱弐参
Address: Tokyo-to, Chiyoda-ku, Sotokanda 3-8-17, Watanabe Building B1F
東京都千代田区外神田 3-8-17 渡辺ビル B1F
Open 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
Website
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[ Read in Japanese ]