Salam and Hello Everyone.
Are you looking for a convenient place that serves all kinds of Japanese food? Well, this halal restaurant MATSURI got you covered. Let’s check the place out!

Located in central Osaka, MATSURI is one of the most popular halal restaurants in Japan among Muslim tourists. Apart from its well-known DIY takoyaki menu set, the restaurant serves all kinds of Japanese food, from ramen, Kobe beef, and Japanese curry rice to side dishes like dashimaki tamago (Japanese rolled omelette with dashi) and miso soup.

If you’re a vegan, you can rest assured, as MATSURI also has vegan-friendly dishes, including symbols on each menu to indicate whether it’s vegan. (^_-)

Dig In From Main Dishes to Desserts

When I visited Matsuri, I had quite a hard time choosing the menu since there was so much variety that made me ‘waku-waku‘ (excited).

FYI, at the time, the DIY takoyaki set– that you can try cooking takoyaki yourselves –was suspended ever since the Covid-19 situation. If you REALLY want to try this DIY set, I recommend you try asking the restaurant beforehand.

I ordered a couple of things since it’s my first visit (hehe). My main dish was the Chicken Cutlet Curry Rice since I’ve been carving for some Japanese curry rice. And there’s not a lot of places that serve authentic Japanese-style curry rice.

Of course, I had miso soup to warm myself up (it was cold this day)— so tasty.

Japanese curry has a thicker consistency than Malaysian curry and some Indian curries. The chicken cutlet had a beautiful crunchiness on the outside and tenderness on the inside. The curry had a nice mild sweet-savoury taste that goes well with the cutlet.
BUT as a Malaysian, I would have liked some spiciness to it.

I also tried a little bit of the WASABI Ramen because this is the FIRST halal restaurant in Japan I’ve seen and been to that serves WASABI RAMEN— this is rare!

Pop Quiz: What does my reaction means?

Answer: the wasabi smell kicked my nose (lol). I’ve tasted better ramen but the taste was not bad. It definitely helped open up my nostrils. If you have clogged nose, why not give this dish a try?!

Since I’m in Osaka, I cannot miss out on trying OKONOMIYAKI. Okonomiyaki is a Japanese grilled savoury pancake dish, mainly related to two distinct variants from Hiroshima AND Osaka. Can you see the dancing bonito flakes on top of it?

It’s hard to find a restaurant serving Muslim-friendly/halal okonomiyaki. I’m glad MATSURI have the dish. It was savoury and a little bit salty (maybe because of the mayonnaise) yet scrumptious, especially when it’s still hot.
I was getting full by the time I ate this dish, so you might want to eat this while sharing with your fellow travel companions.

For dessert, I had Fried Baumkuchen. On top of the Baumkuchen, there was adzuki bean paste drizzled with condensed milk. Like they say: “Anything fried is delicious”, and this was true.
But it could be too sweet for some people, so keep that in mind when you order this.

There’s More Than Just Food!

MATSURI has a prayer space, with a wudu facility included, for you to pray. It also has a souvenir corner filled with Muslim-friendly/halal products. When I visited here, there wasn’t a lot of options. But the restaurant is planning to add more products to this corner.

I got this Baumkuchen (the yellow one). I think it was about 500 yen; It was so good with a mild (a soft kind of) sweetness. Loved it!

Despite the petite size, MATSURI has a lot to offer. I could understand why many people love this restaurant. The food was great but one thing I wished I had done was bring a spicy condiment along with me (lol). Nonetheless, I do want to visit here again to try other dishes.
If you don’t have the chance to visit different kinds of halal restaurants, then this place is perfect for you!

Have you tried any of these dishes? Let me know in the comment section below!!

■ MATSURI

Address	3-27-17 Yoshino, Fukushima-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka
Tel	06-6940-6633
Open	11am-2pm, 5pm-9pm
Close	Wednesday, Thursday
Instagram	https://www.instagram.com/halal_matsuri/

We have a network of Japanese companies keen to expand into the Halal market in Malaysia & Indonesia.
If you are interested in connecting with sustainable technology companies in Japan, simply JOIN the network from below. We will match the right one for you!