Japan Super Budget Dining – What's the best way to spend 1,000 yen at beef bowl chain Matsuya?
Eleven local recommendations for eating on the cheap at this famous restaurant chain.
Welcome to Episode 25 of Japan Super Budget Dining, our in-depth series where we explore what 1,000 yen (US$7.02) can get you at some of the country's best-known chains.
This time, we're off to Matsuya, one of Japan's leading beef bowl chains, where our Japanese-language reporters are using their local expertise to share with us their top recommendations. The only rule is that none of the meal ideas exceeds the 1,000-yen limit, a requirement that's becoming increasingly difficult with rising costs, so let's get to it and see what they recommend below!
▼ Masaunki Sunakoma's 'Beyond 1,000-yen Set'
Set Meal of Hamburg Steak in Brown Sauce Topped with Cheese (1,030 yen → 960 yen with app coupon)
Free large rice upgrade
Total: 960 yen
▼ 'I cheated death with a coupon! The melty cheese and savoury sauce makes this wild combo worth the gamble.'
▼ Go Hatori's 'Meat Mountain Mega-Serving'
Beef Bowl with Large Serving Simmered Beef ＆ Onion on Regular Serving Rice (580 yen)
Beef Plate Side Dish (370 yen)
Total: 950 yen
▼ 'I kept piling on meat until my bowl looked like a beef volcano. Pure happiness!'
▼ Takashi Harada's 'Secret Lunch Set That Takes the Classic Breakfast to the Next Level'
Sausage & Egg Breakfast Set (490 yen)
Large Beef Plate Side Dish (480 yen)
Total: 970 yen
▼ 'I turned breakfast into lunch by adding a mountain of beef. Pro tip: Eat it at 11 a.m. for maximum brunch-style satisfaction!'
▼ Yuuichiro Wasai's 'Ultimate Takeout Drinking Combo'
Stewed Chicken Curry and Rice Single Item (660 yen)
Mini Beef Plate (200 yen)
Cold Tofu (100 yen)
Total: 960 yen
▼ 'This isn't just food, it's beer's best friend. Takeout lets me savour Matsuya like it's a drinking snack!'
▼ Seiji Nakazawa's 'All-You-Can-Eat Rice, Hamburg and Tonjiru Set'
Set Meal of Hamburg Steak in Brown Sauce with Tonjiru pork miso soup (1,000 yen)
Free extra rice (select locations)
Total: 1,000 yen
▼ 'I exploited a location-specific promo for unlimited rice. Two bowls in, I was in carb heaven!'
▼ P.K. Sanjun's 'Beef Mountain Bibimbap Bowl Set'
Beef Bibimbap Bowl (630 yen)
Beef Plate Side Dish (370 yen)
Total: 1,000 yen
▼ 'Matsuya's bibimbap is criminally underrated. Adding beef? Now it's a feast!'
▼ Furusawa Takamichi's 'Classic Beef Bowl Set'
Large Beef Bowl (630 yen)
Raw Egg (90 yen)
Potato Salad (240 yen)
Total: 960 yen
▼ 'Simple, timeless, and perfect. Adding the potato salad was a stroke of genius.'
▼ Yoshio Ueda's 'Food Coma Set'
Set Meal of Hamburg Steak in Brown Sauce with Tonjiru pork miso soup (1,000 yen)
Free extra-large rice
Total: 1,000 yen
▼ 'I ate so much I couldn't move for three hours. Worth it.'
▼ Ahiruneko's 'All Hail the Chicken King'
Stewed Chicken Curry and Rice (780 yen)
Side Salad (150 yen)
Total: 930 yen
▼ 'The chicken curry is a god-tier dish. Adding salad could be viewed as heresy but I did it anyway.'
▼ Mr Sato's 'The Rebel's 500-Yen Lunch'
Small Beef Bowl Set (500 yen)
Total: 500 yen
▼ 'Why waste 1,000 yen? Spend half, then buy Starbucks with the rest. Freedom!'
▼Mariko Ohanabatake's 'Early Bird Breakfast Hack'
Cheese Omelette Over Rice & Pork Soup Set (550 yen)
Extra Grated Yam (120 yen)
Mini Beef Plate (150 yen)
Side Salad (100 yen)
Total: 920 yen
▼ 'This feels like a hotel buffet, and the omelette bowl with cheese and black pepper is absolutely divine.'
So there you have it — 11 meal ideas for Matsuya that won't break the bank at 1,000 yen or less. While there were some clear overlaps, particularly in the way of hamburg steak sets, this just proves how popular these dishes are with locals. So next time you want to eat like a local, at breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner, pull up a stool at Matsuya and order yourself a meal to remember. And if you're looking for more cheap meal recommendations, head on over here to find out what 1,000 yen will get you at the Lawson convenience store chain!
Photos ©SoraNews24
● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
[ Read in Japanese ]
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Kyodo News
17 hours ago
- Kyodo News
Japan telecom giant NTT Docomo to end own emoji after 26 yrs
KYODO NEWS - 5 hours ago - 10:40 | All, Japan Japanese telecom giant NTT Docomo Inc. will retire its set of original emoji whose release 26 years ago helped shape the visual language of today's digital communications. The carrier's Android smartphones and feature phones marketed from June will not come with the Docomo emoji set. Announcing the decision in late May, the firm said they had "fulfilled their role" while noting that Google's emoji had become more common globally. The new mobile phones will adopt Noto Color Emoji by Google or Samsung emoji instead, it said. The Docomo emoji were introduced in 1999 with the company's i-mode service, an Internet-capable mobile phone system that the company also plans to terminate, in 2026. Emoji became massively popular in Japan as an element of texting, especially among teenagers in the 2000s, with some creating emoji-only messages, before taking root globally. In 2016, NTT Docomo's set of 176 emoji was included in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, with the museum stating, "Filling in for body language, they reassert the human within the deeply impersonal, abstract space of electronic communication."
The Mainichi
20 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Middle-aged men learn to take better selfies for dating apps at Tokyo event
TOKYO -- An event aimed at helping middle-aged men take better pictures for dating apps was held in the Japanese capital May 31. Love and marriage-seeking consultant Kikuno, 45, spoke at the event which had the goal of helping men create a better impression through their profile pictures. Emphasizing how photos are the most important thing on dating apps, she gave the attendees -- eight single men in their 40s to 50s -- pointers such as that yellow lighting should be avoided as it makes skin look dull, and noted the tendency for men their age to not smile as much. Using outer camera better Kikuno advised that using a phone's out-facing camera can result in clearer photos. Some participants then went to taking new profile shots at an outdoor seating terrace, thinking carefully about the angle, distance and other factors. Better photos by undoing a button Saito, the pseudonym of a 42-year-old company worker from the city of Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture, had struggled with feeling shy and ended up with a stiff expression when taking selfies. When the group was taking photos outside, Kikuno explained how having their dress shirts too tight or showing wrinkles would be a detractor, and asked them to try undoing one button. After the event, a smiling Saito said, "I'm glad I was given quite specific techniques. It's got me to enjoy taking selfies." One photo can change impression Self-employed Nomoto (pseudonym), 53, from Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward, said, "Until now, I had been taking pictures so that I'd be in the middle of the angle of view without paying much attention. It's amazing how a single photo can change the impression so drastically." The event was coordinated by Aisaac Inc., a developer and management company of a dating app for those in their 40s and up based in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward. (Japanese original by Tsuyoshi Goto, Opinion Editorial Department)
The Mainichi
21 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Japan telecom giant NTT Docomo to end own emoji after 26 yrs
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japanese telecom giant NTT Docomo Inc. will retire its set of original emoji whose release 26 years ago helped shape the visual language of today's digital communications. The carrier's Android smartphones and feature phones marketed from June will not come with the Docomo emoji set. Announcing the decision in late May, the firm said they had "fulfilled their role" while noting that Google's emoji had become more common globally. The new mobile phones will adopt Noto Color Emoji by Google or Samsung emoji instead, it said. The Docomo emoji were introduced in 1999 with the company's i-mode service, an Internet-capable mobile phone system that the company also plans to terminate, in 2026. Emoji became massively popular in Japan as an element of texting, especially among teenagers in the 2000s, with some creating emoji-only messages, before taking root globally. In 2016, NTT Docomo's set of 176 emoji was included in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, with the museum stating, "Filling in for body language, they reassert the human within the deeply impersonal, abstract space of electronic communication."
