A note on the words: yakiniku is Japanese tabletop grilled meat. Here the signature is garibata (garlic butter), warmed in a dedicated cup on the grill and used as a hot dip for the meat; miso-bata is the miso-and-butter version. Harami is beef skirt steak, served raw as yukhoe (Korean-style seasoned raw beef with an egg yolk) and marinated for grilling. Horumon means offal for the grill; here giara (the cow’s fourth stomach) with green chili, and beef liver. Donabe is an earthenware pot for cooking rice to order, and shime is the closing dish of a night out.
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Garibata Ushimatsu on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Garlic lovers, thank you for waiting! It is time for Hangover Meshi (meshi = meal)!
I want to eat gaaarlic!
Everyone has nights like that, right? There is a recently opened place called Garibata Ushimatsu that I had been wanting to visit! When I called before, they were full, but this time they said they had an opening!
It is about a three-minute walk from Azabu-juban Station, a new spot run by Yakiniku Ushimatsu, the popular yakiniku (grilled meat) restaurant in Nishi-Azabu. As the name says, the star here is “garibata” (garlic butter). The style is to dip grilled meat straight into sizzling hot garlic butter — something you would never picture from the refined Yakiniku Ushimatsu, though there is no doubt it is going to be delicious. Apparently they casually stay open until 3:30 in the morning, so a guilty late-night garibata session sounds pretty good too!
Now then, stepping right inside, the interior is spacious.
This time we were in a private room at the back, and it was a rather peculiar side-by-side private room, ha. Still, I can see how that might be a good way to save space.
First, cheers with a draft beer!
So good!
First up, I ordered the limited-quantity yukhoe (seasoned raw beef) made with rare Wagyu harami (skirt steak). It has the solid lean savory flavor you want from harami, and the more you chew, the more its sweetness slowly comes through. Break the egg yolk into the rich sauce and coat the meat, and the sharp edges of the seasoning round out into something smooth and mellow. The more you think of harami as a cut meant for grilling, the more you may be surprised at just how tender raw harami can be! That is Ushimatsu quality for you. Quantities are limited, so if you spot it on the menu, order it without hesitation!
This is the signature dish that carries the shop’s name. Because it mixes different parts of the tongue from the tip to the base, it is fun how the texture changes bit by bit within a single plate. First they show you how to grill it: the garibata goes into its own special cup and is warmed right on the roaster to make a hot garibata sauce.
Then, once you grill the tongue on the roaster until it is nice and crisp, you dip it generously in the piping-hot garibata and take a bite. The aroma of garlic and the richness of the butter come together with the fat of the tongue, filling your mouth with one big punch of flavor… it is way too good, ha!
Garibata yakiniku is quite a shock!
Next is a plate of harami marinated in their special sauce and loaded with plenty of garlic. Harami is a favorite of mine, so just imagining it paired with garlic is enough to send me over the moon! The moment you lay it on the roaster, the savory aroma of the sauce and garlic rises up, making you want another drink right then and there. The harami is tender, and with every chew, the sweetness of the sauce and the meat juices come pouring out.
And when you grill it all the way through until it is thoroughly cooked, that toasted aroma goes up another notch. Dip it in the garibata on top of that, and you have garlic layered on garlic with nowhere left to run! A punchy plate packed tight with savory flavor. This is delicious.
Alongside the Garibata Tongue, this is the shop’s other signature dish. Harami marinated in a slightly sweet special sauce is paired with plenty of ginger. When you grill it, the scent of ginger passes cleanly through your nose, leaving a surprisingly light finish despite the sweetness of the sauce.
Apparently the house style here is to tip everything on the plate onto the roaster at once and grill it all together in one go.
Even so, I still end up dipping it generously in the garibata sauce anyway… ha.
For horumon (offal), this is the one! I have been hooked on giara lately and end up ordering it whenever I see it. It is the cow’s fourth stomach (abomasum), a cut also called aka-senmai. What makes this dish so good is that while the fat has a deep sweetness, the fresh, sharp heat of the green chili cuts right through any heaviness.
Grill it slowly until the surface is nicely browned and just the right amount of fat renders out; bite into it and a plump, springy chew gives way to a rush of sweetness. It seems some people also praise it for its freshness and clean bite, so if you like horumon, you should definitely give it a try!
Speaking of horumon, you cannot skip this one either: Wagyu liver coated in a sweet-and-savory miso sauce.
As you would expect from an Ushimatsu offshoot that prides itself on fresh horumon, the liver has no off-putting odor at all! With beef liver, cooking it thoroughly all the way through is the rule, and the nice thing here is that even when fully cooked, it keeps a rich, velvety texture. The sweetness and depth of the miso match the deep flavor of the liver, with a gentle spicy kick showing up at the end.
Craving just a little more garlic and butter, I ordered this other tongue dish — essentially the miso version of the Garibata Tongue. A spicy miso sauce is worked well into the meat, and when it hits the grill, the savory smell of scorching miso is irresistible. The sweet-and-spicy miso layers with the richness of the butter for a thick, full-bodied flavor. The staff enthusiastically told us that piling it onto freshly cooked earthenware-pot rice is the way to go, but since we had been drinking quite a bit, we passed on the rice this time.
Ahh, garlic is so good — completely satisfied!
Garibata Ushimatsu lets you enjoy the flavors of a famed Nishi-Azabu restaurant in a much more casual way. I found that the namesake garibata is an all-rounder that works with tongue, harami and horumon alike — whatever meat you dip into it, the aroma of garlic and butter lifts your spirits right up.
After drenching everything in that much garibata, I do not think it was even that bad the next morning… ha.
Here is hoping I run into more delicious food today too!
Garibata Ushimatsu Menu
Signature Garibata & Harami
The shop recommends grilling the meat thoroughly until cooked all the way through
From tongue tip to base; grill and dip in garibata (garlic butter)
Spicy miso sauce; great with freshly cooked rice
Earthenware-Pot Rice
Cooked to order; takes 20 to 30 minutes
For shime (the closing dish), the shop recommends saving a little rice and pouring the special tongue curry over it
Raw Wagyu Dishes
Served with mustard soy sauce
Appetizers
Grilled Cuts (Wagyu)
Grilled Offal (Wagyu Horumon)
A La Carte Dishes
Oxtail simmered for 4 hours, then grilled in one chunk
Finished right in front of you in a sizzling iron pan
Soups
Closing Dishes (Shime)
Shaved Ice & Sweets
Drinks
Jasmine shochu tea highballs, sake, and natural wine (on a separate wine list) are also available
*From the in-store menu at the time of our September 2026 visit. Prices include tax, and items may change. Please check at the restaurant or on booking sites for the latest details.
Garibata Ushimatsu (Yakiniku / Azabu-juban Station, Roppongi Station, Akabanebashi Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.6
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
