牛丼ではない。牛めしである。 : Matsuya

「宅急便」はヤマト運輸が商標登録している名称である。つまりヤマト運輸以外は使うことできないのだ。では、「牛丼」はどうであるか？実は元祖牛丼屋である吉野家は商標登録をしていない。つまりどこのお店でも「牛丼」を謳うことができるのだ。しかし松屋では「牛めし」とネーミングしている。そこには打倒！吉野家といった意思が込められているのかもしれない。だから今日は「ネギたっぷり旨辛ネギたま牛めし」を食することにしたのだ。

Matsuya's menu is amazing. How amazing is it? It's really varied. Well, it's only for a limited time. For example, in addition to the regular menu, they are now selling "Malaysian-style stewed beef rendang" and "Plenty of cod roe tartar chicken". What's more, from April 9th, they will be selling "Ethnic Cuisine stir-fried beef with plenty of green onions - Lomo Saltado style -", which is surprising. They must be desperate to keep their customers from getting bored. Matsuya was originally a Chinese Cuisine restaurant. It was called "Chinese Restaurant Matsuya". However, it closed after only three years. It probably didn't get on track and wasn't profitable. That's why they copied Yoshinoya and started Gyudon (Beef bowl). This was a success. In other words, Matsuya is a restaurant that keeps trying. I tried it with that in mind, but Gyudon (Beef bowl) at Matsuya tasted like the usual Matsuya Gyudon (Beef bowl).

Having received top secret information that Matsuya's Gyudon (Beef bowl) had been revamped, I immediately went to try it. When I got there, it wasn't top secret at all. There were even posters hanging up. If you look at the fact that they are advertising it so heavily that they have posters hanging up, it just means they are confident in the taste. Matsuya, the largest company in the industry, may have made a big bet. It could also be interpreted as the reigning champion trying to pull away from the second-placed and below. It seems that the sauce has been changed in this renewal. This is the 33rd renewal in fact. My impression after eating it was that it seemed to have become stronger. Apparently the renewal took place on January 1st. Thinking about it now, I have already eaten Matsuya's Gyudon (Beef bowl) this year. I didn't notice the renewal. What a shame.

It's strange, but why do all the major chain Gyudon (Beef bowl) restaurants have a "ya" at the end of their names? "Yoshinoya," "Sukiya," and "Matsuya" all have a "ya" at the end. Of course there is a difference between "ie" and "ya," but all three have it. Perhaps the other two companies copied Yoshinoya, the original Gyudon (Beef bowl) and changed "ie" to "ya" because they thought there was no artistic value in just copying. If they were going to change it, I wish they'd differentiate it more with the taste. There is a difference, but it's not a big difference. I was thinking about this while eating Gyudon (Beef bowl). By the way, am I the only one who thinks Matsuya's Kioicho store sounds more natural when called Kojimachi rather than Kioicho? Perhaps it's the creative side of changing "ie" to "ya" that led them to do so.

「瓦葺」。これを読めて意味がわかる人はそう多くないと思う。松屋は東京の江古田で産声を上げた牛丼チェーンである。以来メキメキと成長を続けて、現在では日本国内最大の牛丼チェーンにまでなった。いや、牛丼チェーン自体が日本にしかないのだから世界最大の牛丼チェーンと言える。
その味は確かに美味い。元祖牛丼屋である吉野家に負けずとも劣らない確かな味だ。吉野家ばかりではなく時には松屋を利用するのもいいことだと思う。両者には確かな違いが存在するのだから。
冒頭の「瓦葺」は「かわらぶぎ」と読む。松屋のスタッフならば知っているだろう。株式会社松屋フーズホールディングスの代表取締役社長の苗字であり、先代で創業者の苗字であることを。

久しぶりに松屋で牛丼をいただいた。気づけば、多種多様なメニューを展開している松屋。カレーや定食、お子様メニューや、最近では中華料理の提供も。客を飽きさせまいとした涙ぐましい企業努力だ。経済的な営利を求めるのは、企業という営利団体として非常に正しい。そんな松屋だが、牛丼を軽く見ちゃいないだろうか？いや、久々に食べたが美味しいじゃないか。もっと推すべきだと思う。よくわからん定食やカレーばかりが店内で目立つが、本来は牛丼屋。牛丼で潔く勝負してほしい。松屋の次なる営業戦略に期待したい。