THE MEAT SHOP

Meal: Dinner Day Visited: Thursday Budget: ¥5,000/person Closest Station: Sapporo Reservation Needed?: Yes Payment: Cash; Credit; E-Payment Kid Friendly?: No English Menu?: No Our high expectations were met tonight at the Meat Shop! The restaurant is on the 5th floor of a building that doesn’t do t...he restaurant justice. However, the interior of the restaurant is very well appointed. Our wagyu beef and pork roast were delicious; the pork was wonderfully prepared (not an easy thing). We also really enjoyed the two-person meat appetizer and found the deer pate particularly tasty. The edamame is also highly recommended! Service was friendly and the overall experience was excellent. The restaurant is a bit expensive, but certainly worth it!

Visited March 2022

Unfortunately, I must report that The Meat Shop has continued to decline precipitously since my previous two visits, perhaps as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic... The service and particularly the communication with customers has fallen to such a poor level that I will never return. On... a business trip in September 2020, I tried to reach the restaurant by phone to place a takeout order, however after ringing multiple times for over 30 minutes with no answer (and yes, I know it was the right number as they answered earlier in the day), I put down the phone and walked to the shop. On arrival, I waited for over five minutes at reception, with staff seeing me and acknowledging my presence, but doing nothing to welcome me, find a seat for me, communicate how long it would be until I could be seated (75% of the seats in the restaurant were empty), etc. Basically, just ignoring me. Surely it is a miss not to communicate with customers over the phone ... or in person. And got me to wondering ... if they can't even be polite enough to speak to me, can I trust them to cook my food? So I turned around and left. Only then did the clueless manager chase after me, but by then the damage was well and truly done. As above, I'll never return. There are so many friendly and delicious places in Sapporo, no need to support a place that features downright rude staff and managers who can't communicate. The reason I needed to call/visit was because the online menu didn't (at the time) include their usual meats (the menu is only in Japanese--I read Japanese, so not an issue), so it is really confusing trying to order meat from "The Meat Shop" when the menu includes only salads and other non-meat dishes. Again, a communication miss. And at a time when nearly everyone in Hokkaido is doing their best to wear masks to prevent further spread of the coronavirus, none of the staff were wearing masks. Again, not really thinking about their guests' health or wellbeing. I wish I could be more positive, but unless you enjoy being treated like a second class citizen, you'll be much happier elsewhere. The Meat Shop is the worst restaurant I have ever experienced in Japan ... and I have been here for nearly 25 years at time of writing. You have been warned...

Visited September 2020

Visited last minute while on a recent business trip that I couldn’t postpone further... unfortunately during the coronavirus outbreak. I had been here once before, a couple of years back, so I knew the location and menu. Ordinarily I wouldn't dine out during an outbreak, but I was staying at the h...otel across the street and couldn't prepare meals myself … and I can only eat so much salad from the convenience store! Based on my previous visit, I doubted the place would be very crowded so thought it might be safer than somewhere further afield or more crowded. The location of the Meat Shop is reasonably convenient--easily walkable from several of the nearby downtown hotels as well as both Sapporo station and Odori station. However, it's not super well signed on the exterior of the building, so you may need to hunt around a little to find it and locate the elevator at the back of the building. As above, on my previous visit the restaurant was pretty empty, and it was no different this time. When I arrived, I was one of two parties, total three people; and when I left, there were six guests total (capacity is probably 30 diners). The interior is done in a sort of “New York modern” theme and is quite comfortable. On arrival, I was amazed that during the outbreak not one of the staff was wearing a mask. ☹ All seats were open--there was no effort to separate diners, and no other preventive measures had been taken in consideration of either guests’ or workers’ health and safety. Definite gap to what other shops are doing… I was seated quickly, shown a menu (please note that they do not have English menus and they don't really cater to those who don't read Japanese). They offer a few cuts of beef, lamb, venison and pork plus salads and side dishes. The fellow who took my order was helpful enough in terms of knowing the menu, but I was pretty spooked that he wasn't wearing a mask! I ordered a T-bone and a salad and was a bit surprised that he didn't ask how I wanted my steak prepared. The meal took a while to prepare and be served, but ultimately it was pretty good in terms of presentation, preparation and flavors, particularly considering what was a fairly reasonable price. Portions were good size (I had asked for a larger cut of meat--it's sold by weight) and the food was pretty good for the money, though it is not cheap eats. One comment: the meat arrived very rare, and I would have been happier with a bit less red. If you like your steak quite bloody, you're in luck! My sense after two visits now is that the restaurant offers a decent deal for the food. The only issue is that on both visits, the staff consistently have demonstrated that they have particular way they like to do things—e.g., not asking how guests want their meal prepared, not allowing substitutions, not wearing masks, not having guests socially distance, etc. If their way works for you, you'll be happy. But there's no flexibility and not a great deal of thought toward customer service—a kind of 'take it or leave it' approach, which is highly unusual for Japan, especially in this price range and when everything else about the place is pretty right. Throughout Japan, restaurants that are at half the price point of The Meat Shop (or less) provide much more attentive and flexible service, so it’s no wonder they aren't busier. As above and as others have noted, they don't really cater to those who don't speak and read Japanese: they are narrowly focused on a domestic clientele who aren't too discriminating when it comes to level of service; travelers from overseas are even less a market for them during these times of coronavirus. In summary, for a decent price, you get a central and comfortable location, decent quality food that is in line with the price range and customer service that isn’t horrible … but which, unfortunately, repeatedly has not up to snuff and is not very considerate of guests. I've reflected all of these factors in my overall rating of average. I wish I could be more positive, but it totally fits. Let me emphasize once again that the restaurant is definitely not bad, but do you really want to pay JPY8,000-10,000 (~USD80-100) per person or more for an experience that is no better than 'not bad?' While there's currently not much value or delight to be had at The Meat Shop, this could actually be helpful as they are unlikely to be crowded at any time of day or night, meaning you should be able to get a seat without reservations or any other difficulty. If you can speak/read Japanese and you can't get in elsewhere, it'll work in a pinch. Just keep your expectations for the service modest and you'll be fine. With a bit of training in customer service, manners and health & safety, this place has a lot of upside as a comfortable go-to place in a convenient and relaxed setting. Of course, that would make it more difficult to get it...! Until then, it's only so-so but could work when you can’t get a table elsewhere. Hope this helps!

Visited July 2020

Waiter failed to explain the menu in English. Finally managed to order salad and meat plate. Salad came fast and we ate it in no time. It tasted ok. But then, our last evening in Sapporo in it's prime time, waited for 45 min my dish. Others got dishes before me. Asked waitress where's my meal. She b...arely understood and said something to chef. Didn't reply anything back. After 10 min complained to waiter. Then he said that we'll get it in 5 min. After 10 min finally got it. I suspect that at this point they started making it, because it was COLD dish. There's no way it would take one hour to make it, even if there was queue. It tasted only ok, was greatly overpriced and left me hungry. We had so much to do in Sapporo, and wasted a lot of our time with this horrible experience.

Visited July 2017

This establishment was not on the main tourist drag but it was worth the extra effort to find and was rewarded with a very good, albeit pricey, meal. We arrived not long after they opened for lunch and we waited less than 10 minutes for a table, pretty quick. Though the staff did not speak much Engl...ish, they did provide English menus, so we were able to point to what we wanted to order. The beef was quite tasty and tender. If you aren't familiar with Japanese steaks, it's generously marbled with fat, so the resulting end product is flavorful, tender beef that just melts in your mouth. It was a little pricey for lunch, but worth very delicious morsel. The kitchen is in the front in the dining area, so be prepared to smell like steak when you leave the place. When we got the bill, it even came with a cute cow-shaped paper clip, which I took with me (after asking the gracious staff if it was ok). I thoroughly enjoyed the quality meal I had here; it's definitely worth the effort to find this place!

Visited October 2015