grill stereo

Awhile back, I was walking to my appointment after eating at Boulangerie Goût and saw this long line out in front of a shop.

When I got home, I searched for the place with the line on Tabelog (Japan's Yelp) and found Grill Stereo.

A tiny shop, they are only open for lunch during the weekdays.

No wonder all the salarymen (businessmen) and OL (office ladies (business women)) in the area were lined up to eat there.

They have 4 items for their lunch menu...a daily special, hamburger plate, menchi katsu(deep fried hamburger) and hayashi rice (hashed beef) plate.

After 13:00, you can order other things from their menu.

The thing about these small yoshoku-ya (restaurants that serve Japanese style western foods), or any eatery in a business district, is that they are driven to serve as many people as they can in a small amount of time..."time is money".

After walking in, the chef rattled off something which I didn't quite catch, unconsciously I replied with a "yes", and wham!...I had ordered myself the daily special...

The food came out rather quickly and I started to eat.

The daily special was ebi fry (fried shrimp) with a homemade tartar sauce (more mayo than pickles) and unlike the standard tartar sauce you find in Japan with egg (like egg salad). There was also a hamburger patty..750 yen (tax included).

With the meal came shredded cabbage, and a little dollop of potato salad. The potato salad was more like mashed potatoes with lots of onions in it.

You should know that potato salad in Japan often tends to be like whipped mashed potatoes.

Anyway, the shrimp were cooked perfectly and the hamburger was moist too. The demi-glace sauce was a bit thin, but had lots of flavor.

I appreciated how they gave me just enough rice, sometimes shops give way too much rice.

I'm glad I was able to try this place without having to stand in line....I'll be back.

Grill Stereo
3-4-9 Tanimachi
Chuo, Osaka
Phone: 06.6942.6433
Hours: 11:00-15:00
Closed Saturdays, Sundays & Holidays