Kobe Beef Steak Mouriya Gion 神戸牛 ステーキ レストラン モーリヤ祇園 (Kyoto, JAPAN) ★★★☆☆

Just like last year, I made sure to include a teppanyaki lunch on our Kyoto itinerary, primarily so little nugget could once again enjoy those coveted front row seats to watch the chefs work their magic over the sizzling iron griddle. But unlike last year, I decided to go with a familiar name this time around.

Founded all the way back in 1885, Mouriya is a Kobe-based teppanyaki institution best known for its premium Kobe beef. We had the pleasure of dining at one of their branches during our trip to Kobe in 2012, and ever since, I've always associated the name with exceptional beef and polished service. It felt only right to pass on that experience to our little one.

After checking in at the reception of Mouriya on bustling Gion (神戶牛肉Mouriya 祇園), we were escorted upstairs to the second-floor dining area, where we walked past a beautifully appointed private room overlook a tranquil zen garden. A peaceful little oasis, even in the heart of Kyoto.

As a party of six, we were seated at our own semi-private bar counter, which gave us the perfect view of all the action. 

Before the cooking began, the chef came over to present the stars of the show — an impressive line-up of steaks, including a mix of domestic A5 and Kobe beef, both rump and sirloin cuts.

Condiments were already laid out: a little wasabi, salt, and miso sauce — plus a generous pile of garlic chips, which I was surprised to see ready so early in the game.

We kicked off with a warm bowl of pumpkin soup, silky smooth and subtly sweet — a nice way to ease into the meal.

That was followed by a crisp garden salad dressed in a tangy balsamic vinaigrette.

Then the beef started rolling in. Domestic rump steak – Leaner than expected, but still tender and juicy. A solid start.

These were accompanied by some grilled eggplants which was tasty but nowhere near the juicy ones we've had in the past.

Next up some A5 sirloin steak. Beautifully seared with a richer fat content than the rump, giving it a more luscious mouthfeel.

Last but not least, some prized Kobe sirloin which were the undisputed star. Well-marbled, velvety soft, and easily the most flavorful cut of the afternoon.

Some meaty mushroom cooked with butter. 

The sweet potato came with a nicely charred crust on the outside.

And finally, some grilled bean sprouts before the fried rice.

As always, the meal ended with the obligatory teppan-fried rice — the part little nugget had been waiting for. Our chef didn't disappoint, flipping ingredients around with practiced flair. The rice was fragrant and delicately seasoned with fresh chives, onion, and plenty of garlic.

Very classic. Very comforting.

We got just enough room for dessert and tea so this was the perfect end to a fairly heavy meal.



It was a filling lunch, but was it a satisfying one? The beef — especially the Kobe sirloin — lived up to its reputation. But if I’m being honest, I felt the meal leaned a bit too heavily on the meat (Perhaps I'm getting old). There wasn’t quite enough of a supporting cast (i.e. vegetables or inventive sides) to balance things out. A bit more variety would’ve elevated the overall experience.  

Food Rating: 6.2/10

Price: ￥￥￥￥

Address: 7-1 Yamatocho, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, 605-0802, Japan

Closest Metro Station: Gion-Shijo / Kyoto-Kawaramachi

Tel: +81 (0)75 532-4129

Website: https://www.mouriya.co.jp/

Opening Hours: 11:30am - 9:00pm daily

Mon Cher Ton Ton Roppongi (Tokyo, JAPAN) ★★★★☆

More than a decade ago, my buddy V has already been telling me about Seryna (瀬里奈) and its teppanyaki restaurant Mon Cher Ton Ton in Roppongi. It was then the place to see and be seen. In fact, a few Hong Kong movie stars and their children used to frequent this branch of the Japanese teppanyaki specialist. I didn’t have the luxury of checking this place out personally. The closest I came was a lunch at their Shinjuku branch which has now been closed for good.

A decade later, I finally get that chance and I am bringing the whole team with me.

The first thing we saw when we went downstairs to the dining area was the restaurant’s shell-shaped teppanyaki counter table. Very eye catching.

I didn’t splurge on any Kobe beef this afternoon. Not after the awful experience we had in Kyoto a month ago. Instead, I was getting everyone some wagyu beef and scallops from Hokkaido.

While our chef started firing up the teppan, we were offered a small Japanese vegetable salad to whet our appetite. This included some green beans, sweet corn and more.

It was followed by another snack, roasted beef served over strips of radish.

At the same time, she’s getting the garlic chips ready.

 

Little nugget’s eyes were rolling as soon as he saw the Hokkaido scallops sizzling on the hot plate.

These were perfectly seared to golden brown color.

And served with anchovy butter and ponzu sauce. The butter was way better choice than the ponzu sauce.

Another salad 🥗 while we watched our chef go to work with our beef.

The main event.

I went with the tenderloin which was really meaty with a nice charred crust. There were three kinds of sauces (or condiments) to complement the meat, almond, chopped onion, and peppercorn.

Look at the color of this. Perfect!

It took a while for us to finally finish our wagyu. Next up, some pickles and miso soup to go with the garlic fried rice.

Fried rice with garlic, and oil from the grilled tenderloin and sirloin. There were a ton of rice crispies but I thought the texture was a little too much on the hard side.

They moved us to another section for our dessert and tea.

A cold espresso-type of sauce to pour on top of the hojicha ice-cream.

Tea was very very light. I gotta find my caffeine fix somewhere else.

Little guy wanted a picture of the shell when everyone has left the bar table. He wanted it all to himself.

Seryna (and Mon Cher Ton Ton), a celebrated institution in Tokyo known for its exceptional shabu-shabu and teppanyaki offerings, never disappoints! It was nice to finally get the chance to eat here at their flagship restaurant in Roppongi. Both mom and little nugget were happy campers. Now, it's time to shift our attention to shopping.

Food Rating: 6.9/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: B1F, 3-12-2 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0032, Japan

Closest Metro Station: Roppongi

Tel: +81 3-3402-1055

Website: www.seryna.co.jp/monchertonton/roppongi/

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 2:30pm (Sat - Sun), 5:00pm - 9:30pm daily 

Takietu Teppanyaki at Wyndham Grand Shenzhen 瀧悦鐵板燒 深圳溫德姆至尊酒店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

The birthday for Jelloman’s mom is coming up and we have planned a short day trip to Shenzhen for her over the weekend with a teppanyaki lunch as part of the celebration festivities.

Located inside Wyndham Grand Shenzhen (深圳溫德姆至尊酒店), Takietu Teppanyaki (瀧悦鐵板燒) has been lauded as one of the bargain deals in recent memory. Their teppanyaki lunch set including half of a lobster comfortably priced at 398RMB for two persons (minimum 2 people) had caught a lot of people’s eyes recently. In fact, even a TVB programme did a feature story on the restaurant in 2024 raving about their lunch set.

Everything worked out as planned in the morning. We crossed the border well before 10am and had a relaxing breakfast near the exhibition centre which was followed by a couple of hours of arcade games. Just before the noon hour, we slowly headed over to Gangxia station (岗厦站) where Wyndham Grand Shenzhen is situated. It was right outside Exit D so we didn’t have to walk very far.

Apart from the main dining area that sits around 10, Takietu offers a number of private rooms each sitting around 6 to 8 people. We were offered one of the small private rooms at the corner (no extra charge) as they already knew that we were there for a special occasion.

It took a while for us to get started mainly because our chef was trying to sort out all the ingredients. For us, we could only play the waiting game as it was an omakase experience without a fixed menu.

Lunch finally kicked off with a small Japanese style salad. To no one’s surprise, it was served with a sesame based dressing.

Then, came a Japanese chawanmushi (茶碗蒸し) with mushrooms atop.

At this point, our chef finally fired up the stove to set things in motion. All that while we enjoyed some assorted vegetable tempura. This including an eggplant, sweet potato, carrot and zucchini tempura.

Finally, we got some real teppanyaki food!

Each of us got a seared scallop served on some grilled porcini mushrooms and a pool of Beurre Blanc sauce. Slow but fine start!

While we were still enjoying our scallop dish, our chef was seen preparing some garlic chips, which are arguably one of my favorite food on earth, especially from a teppanyaki meal.
I thought the garlic chips were intended for the garlic rice at a later stage but turned out they were accompanying the beef mushroom roll. This was pretty decent.

We were already looking ahead to our grilled lobster but there was one more dish sandwiched in between, steamed oyster. The oysters were steamed with diced garlic and what I thought was fresh miso to balance out the briny flavors.

And at last, little nugget’s favorite grilled lobster served with spaghetti. The spaghetti was nicely tossed with a tomato based sauce.

Yeah, the lobster was served up with a mildly flavored sea urchin sauce on top. Pretty nice. 👍🏻

We caught a break in action following the lobster dish with some grilled vegetables which were primarily bean sprouts, bean sprouts and bean sprouts. 🌱 

It was then followed up by a small bowl of miso soup.

And when everyone was thinking dessert (or fruit), our chef began working the stove again. It was time for some fried rice.

     

After flipping the rice back and forth, it was ready to be served. This came with different types of onions, chives, egg and minced beef. The bite was certainly not bad but less to the fanfare, most of us already had too much to eat around this time.

Dessert was a small piece of dragon fruit and pineapple. Was the pineapple pickled or did it really come with so much acidity? 😣😖

For about 200RMB per head, I don’t think we can ask for more (food). Yes, I thought the kitchen didn’t look organized to start things off (so it took longer than I thought) and the food quality was not exactly top notch but all in all, it was a nice teppanyaki experience and I was happy my first one in Shenzhen was not met with any major complaints.

Food Rating: 5.5/10

Price: ¥¥

Address: 3/F Wyndham Grand Shenzhen, 2009 Caitian Road, Futian, Shenzhen, China

深圳市福田区彩田路2009号温德姆至尊酒店三楼

Closest Metro Station: Gangxia (岗厦)

Tel: +86 (755) 8866-2982

Opening Hours: 11:30am - 2:00pm, 5:30pm - 10:00pm daily

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/bd/w-Bi