Steak Otsuka Review - Kyoto

Before we went to Kyoto, we did a lot of research on restaurants.  One of the places that continues to pop up is Steak Otsuka.   Needless to say, we included this in our itinerary.   The restaurant is located close to the Arashiyama bamboo grove, which we planned to visit anyway. 

We started our day by taking the bus from our hotel to the bamboo grove.  Because we wanted to save money, we didn't actually purchase JR Pass and opted for the regular train and bus passes.  The bus takes longer but we actually enjoyed the bus ride because people are so polite!  The only thing we found challenging with the bus is the tiny seats for our big bums. LOL.  Other than that, the bus ride was always comfortable, always clean, always on time, and always pleasant.  A word of caution, though: it was a bit difficult to know exactly where we get off (there was very little English translation in Kyoto's buses, and just Kyoto in general if compared to Tokyo), we relied heavily on the bus schedule on our phone via Google, which shows the movement of the bus.  It was surprisingly fairly accurate that we didn't miss any of our stops.   

Anyway, we left our hotel about 30 minutes late, and the bus ride took a bit longer.  Thankfully my parents arrived in the Arashiyama area way sooner than us!  

This is the signage that's posted on the street leading to the restaurant.  Don't forget to check their website before you go, because their hours might be different than what we have here (Oct 2018)

Here are some tips and tricks on what to do if you want your Steak Otsuka experience to be as painless as possible:  

1. Plan your day to start with the Arashiyama bamboo grove in the morning 
2. Before you start your trip through the bamboo grove, please make your way to the restaurant first to put down your name first thing in the morning!  This is a must. From what I've seen on the internet, looks like they usually put the paper & pen outside around 9 - 9:30am.  My parents put our names down at 10am, and we were 9th in line.   
3. After you put down your name, then you can venture through the bamboo grove!  I really enjoyed our walk through the bamboo grove.  It's so nice and calming.  Do wear comfortable shoes and clothing, it's not a short walk if you intend to go the entire way.   
4. Return to the restaurant before the opening time.  Depending on how many people were ahead of you, it is possible that you're the lucky ones who can get into the restaurant in the 1st wave.  If you're unlucky, then you wait for another 45 minutes for the first group to finish eating.  Make sure that you are present in the area on a timely manner!  They will not wait for you, and will skip your name if you don't put your hand up after they call your name.  
5. We were not very lucky; there was a bigger group ahead of us, and we ended up having to wait for the first wave to finish eating in the restaurant.  We waited for about 40 minutes.  
6. If you do have to wait for the 1st wave to finish eating, do not worry, there are plenty of seatings in the waiting area.  There is a small chance that you might not be able to get any seats while waiting; just be prepared to be standing around for a while.  We had some snacks, drinks, and good music on our headphones while we wait so it wasn't too bad.
7. Dress comfortably according to the weather forecast.  The waiting area is an open area, so it might get cold or wet depending on the weather.  We were lucky to be blessed with a sunny weather when we were there

Between the four of us, we ordered 3 steaks, mostly because my mom and I don't usually eat that much and we didn't want to over eat.   We ordered:  A3, A4, and A5

 This is the interior. It's a cute little resto.  Very simple yet cozy 

Verdict:  It was the most delicious steak we have ever tasted, for a very, very reasonable price!!!  It was not expensive for the quality of steak that we got.  Between A3, A4, and A5, we thought that the quality of the A3 was already great.   A5 was a little bit too fatty for us; it just melts in your mouth and it melted too fast.  We preferred the A3 and A4, because they still have a little bit more bite.  Bottom line, they were all delicious!!!  The tender and savoury steak that we've ever tasted at that price point.  I'm pretty sure we went to heaven and back. LOL.  Such high quality meat!! 

After we had the steak, we felt like we needed to go for another walk, because it was so yummy and fatty.  It was an unforgettable experience for us, and we look forward to going back again to Steak Otsuka!