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A very simple, at home-feeling shop serving up a really solid hamburger steak. 

For more info on what a hamburger steak is, check this article: Gold Rush. 

I lived in this area for some time and that is why I found this place, but that is exactly why I wanted to write about it. 

While it isn’t the best thing I have ever eaten, the quality and service were still excellent, and I wanted to be able to tell you that no matter where you are in Japan, there are always places like this lurking around. You just have to look. 

The restaurant itself is located down a stairway that leads to an open-type shopping area I guess you could call it (it’s still outdoors just on the bottom level). 

There were a few restaurants down here too, and I probably would have thought I would get mugged walking down there without any idea of what it had, but thankfully, Matsumoto had their sign up on the upper level (sidewalk). 

I went during lunch and it was a simple menu.

One thick hamburger steak with your choice of sauce on top, rice (you can increase or decrease the portion size of this), a consomme soup,  and the little black dish is Hijiki Seaweed that’s been simmered down in soy sauce, mirin, and sugar. It is a very traditional palette cleanser type thing in Japan. 

I went with their signature demi-glace sauce and it was very good. They also had things like cheese and gravy toppings which looked delicious.

The patty is made out of 100% Japan beef, and so you can rest assured that the quality is not lacking.

Eating a hamburger patty with rice may seem odd, but to me, it was a revelation. It changed the way I view approaching beef patty’s and that they don’t just belong on a bun. 

They also had a little bit of vegetables and pasta on the hot skillet which soaked up the sauce nicely (don’t ask me why there was pasta). 

Overall, a very harmonious dish with the soup and seaweed acting as nice pauses in between beef and rice. 

They had quite a bit of seating with lots of tables, but it was a long, narrow restaurant, so I think 2 people might be the sweet spot.

Matsumoto is also just a really good example of the kind of restaurant that exists all over Japan but that visitors almost never find because it has no reason to market itself.

The locals who live in Arakawa already know about it, they are going to keep coming regardless, and that steady base of regulars is what keeps these places alive for decades.

When I lived in the area I probably went four or five times over a few months, and not once did I leave feeling like I hadn’t gotten my money’s worth.

The demi-glace sauce in particular is something I think about more than I should — it had a depth to it that suggested it had been on the stove for a long time, and paired with a 100% Japanese beef patty on a bed of white rice it is one of those meals that is greater than the sum of its parts.

If you are ever around this area then stop by, because you will certainly get some nods of approval from the locals that come here. Trust me.

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