Restaurant in Sakai, Japan
Regulars-only yakiniku. Eight seats. No exceptions.
Osamuchan is an eight-seat horumon yakiniku counter in Sakai's Nishi Ward, holding the Tabelog Bronze Award for eight consecutive years (2019–2026) with a 4.27 score. Dinner runs JPY 20,000–29,999 per head in practice. The catch: reservations are accepted for regular customers only, so access requires an introduction before logistics become relevant.
If you have been before, the honest answer is: yes, and the experience holds up. Osamuchan operates as a counter-only, reservation-required yakiniku and horumon specialist in Sakai's Nishi Ward, and it has won the Tabelog Bronze Award every year from 2019 through 2026 — eight consecutive years — while appearing in the Tabelog Yakiniku West 100 every year over the same stretch. A 4.27 Tabelog score and a 4.4 Google rating from 147 reviews confirm this is not a one-season story. For a returning visitor, the question is not quality , it is logistics. The venue accepts reservations only from regular customers, cash only, and seats exactly eight people at a single counter. Nothing about that has loosened with time. Plan accordingly.
Osamuchan is classified as a house restaurant, which is an accurate description: a small residential-scale space in Otorikitamachi, Nishi Ward, Sakai, roughly 851 metres from Tsukuno Station. The entire dining room is a single eight-seat counter. There are no private rooms. The intimacy is structural, not decorative , you are seated in a line, watching the grill, and the maximum party that can sit together at any one time is eight. Private hire for up to 20 people is listed as available, which suggests the space can be reconfigured or that the venue accommodates exclusive booking requests separately from the standard eight-seat counter service.
For a special occasion, the counter format works well when the group is two to four people. Larger groups will need to consider whether a single row of counter seats fits the dynamic they want. The venue is non-smoking, and drinks run to sake, shochu, and wine , a tight but functional list for a yakiniku meal.
Osamuchan's full name , Nama Horumon Dokoro Osamu Chan , translates roughly as a fresh offal (horumon) specialist. The sourcing emphasis is on fresh, raw offal cuts for yakiniku, which is a distinct position from the more common aged-beef yakiniku format. Horumon-focused yakiniku requires fresh supply chains and confident handling; the consistency of Osamuchan's Tabelog scores across eight years suggests the sourcing quality has stayed stable. At JPY 15,000 to JPY 19,999 per head (the listed average), this sits in the upper tier for yakiniku in the Osaka region. Review-based spending data pushes the realistic average to JPY 20,000 to JPY 29,999, so budget toward the higher end. Bring cash: the venue does not accept credit cards, electronic money, or QR code payments.
This is where most first-time visitors run into difficulty. Osamuchan explicitly states that reservations are not accepted for anyone other than regular customers. In practice, this means cold approaches , whether by phone or walk-in , are unlikely to result in a booking. The phone number listed is +81-80-5322-0036. There is no official website. Getting a seat here as a newcomer typically requires a local introduction or a connection to an existing regular. If you cannot secure that, the venue is effectively closed to you regardless of availability. This is a harder constraint than most reservation-only restaurants in Osaka, and it is worth being clear-eyed about before planning a trip around it. The venue is open Monday through Saturday, 16:30 to midnight, closed Sundays.
For other strong options in Sakai, see Kawaki for seafood and Oga for an alternative local counter experience. Browse our full Sakai restaurants guide for a wider view of the city's dining options, and see our Sakai hotels guide, bars guide, wineries guide, and experiences guide to plan around your visit. Elsewhere in the Kansai region, HAJIME in Osaka and Gion Sasaki in Kyoto are worth your attention for special-occasion meals at a different price point. For comparable counter-format intensity further afield, Harutaka in Tokyo and akordu in Nara offer their own takes on the small-counter format. Goh in Fukuoka, 1000 in Yokohama, 6 in Okinawa, Abon in Ashiya, and affetto akita in Akita round out strong regional alternatives across Japan. For international reference points on high-stakes counter dining, Le Bernardin in New York City and Atomix in New York City show how the format translates at the leading of a different market.
The single biggest barrier is not the price or the location — it is access. Osamuchan explicitly accepts reservations only from regular customers, so first-timers cannot book through standard channels. The venue is an 8-seat counter in a house restaurant in Otorikitamachi, Sakai, and cash is the only payment option. If you can secure an introduction, expect to spend ¥20,000–¥29,999 per head based on reviewer spending data, with the focus squarely on fresh horumon (offal) yakiniku.
Booking lead time is largely irrelevant because Osamuchan does not accept reservations from first-time visitors at all — only established regulars can secure a seat at this 8-seat counter. The path in is through a connection with an existing regular who can vouch for you. If that introduction is available, move on it immediately: seats for an 8-person maximum fill without surplus capacity.
The venue's full name — Nama Horumon Dokoro Osamu Chan — signals the focus: fresh offal (horumon) yakiniku, not prime beef cuts. Specific menu items are not publicly documented, so ordering will follow whatever the counter offers on the night. Drinks run to sake, shochu, and wine. Given a Tabelog score of 4.27 and eight consecutive Bronze awards from 2019 to 2026, the format is clearly working — arrive prepared for an offal-led progression, not a conventional wagyu-first yakiniku menu.
All eight seats at Osamuchan are counter seats — there is no table seating, private room, or alternative layout. The entire restaurant is effectively one counter, which means you are eating at the bar by default. The venue is non-smoking, has parking, and is classified as a house restaurant, so expect an intimate, low-formality setting rather than a polished dining room.
Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat 16:30 - 00:00
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