European diplomats woo Japan beef bowl chain Matsuya for coveted menu spots

TOKYO — A number of European countries are cozying up to Matsuya Foods Holdings Co., the Tokyo-based operator of beef bowl restaurant chain Matsuya, with ambassadors making fervent pleas on social media for their countries’ signature dishes to be added to Matsuya’s menu.

The chain has been offering gourmet specialties of some foreign countries for several years, and customer feedback has been favorable. It all started with Chkmeruli, a traditional cuisine of Georgia in Eastern Europe, that Matsuya revived for a limited time in February and March this year. The Matsuya version of Chkmeruli — chicken cooked in garlic cream sauce and cheese — came with rice and miso soup as a set meal.

The dish made its menu debut in 2019 as one of the delectables from around the world that Matsuya offered ahead of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. In an online vote dubbed “Matsuya revival menu general election” conducted in July and August 2023, Chkmeruli took the top spot, followed by Japan’s Chicken Nanban — fried crispy chicken with tartar sauce — more than 10,000 ballots behind.

Georgian Ambassador’s social media pitch

During the “general election,” Georgian Ambassador to Japan Teimuraz Lezhava called for people to vote for Chkmeruli via his official X (formerly Twitter) account. After the Chkmeruli set meal returned to Matsuya outlets, he posted photos of him enjoying the dish at a Matsuya with friends and others on his account, followed by 336,000 people as of April 7. During the monthlong offer, Matsuya sold more than 900,000 servings of Chkmeruli, and ended up pulling it off its menus earlier than scheduled.

As a longtime resident of Japan, including his childhood, the 35-year-old ambassador told the Mainichi Shimbun, “I’ve occasionally had a hard time as I’ve been living here since when Georgia was not well known. I’m happy to find any topics (concerning Georgia) being introduced, and I was moved when the Chkmeruli set meal made its debut here.” He has felt the enormous impact of his home country’s specialty making it onto the major restaurant chain’s menus, as it not only raised Georgia’s profile in Japan but was also a good conversation starter to deepen friendships with Japanese politicians.

Aiming to follow in Georgia’s footsteps

Other countries are also doing “active diplomacy” to emulate the Georgian meal’s success. Upon a request from the Polish Embassy in Japan, Matsuya began trialing a Polish-style “mielone” minced meat patty set meal at some stores on Feb. 20, and is preparing to add it to its outlets’ menus nationwide.

Lithuanian Ambassador to Japan Aurelijus Zykas tweeted on his X account, “Please introduce Lithuanian dishes, too.” Meanwhile, the Austrian National Tourist Office (ANTO) in Tokyo tweeted, “Austria is enviously looking at Matsuya’s menu development, but how about Viennese Fiakergulasch?” — referring to the country’s stewed beef with paprika.

According to the company, these X posts have led to face-to-face meetings with officials from both Lithuania and Austria in March and April, and the company is now developing dishes based on their descriptions.

“We initially hadn’t expected collaborations with government agencies, and we’re surprised by the feedback,” revealed a Matsuya Foods Holdings public relations official.

An ANTO official commented, “Not many people in Japan have a clue what Austrian cuisine is about. We hope that they will feel familiar with it through Matsuya restaurants, which are very close to their everyday lives, and eventually travel to Austria someday to savor not only the dishes there but also their background.”

For foreign specialties to make it into the Matsuya lineup, they need to go with white rice in a set meal style. For this reason, Matsuya officials have been struggling with how best to season the collaborative dishes. They are visiting restaurants serving various countries’ cuisines and seeking advice from their Lithuanian and Austrian contacts as they go through multiple iterations of trial offerings.

“Our dishes will not taste exactly like the authentic ones, but we hope our customers will enjoy the Matsuya-style flavors. We’d like to disseminate cuisines from around the world in the Japanese style,” said the PR representative.

(Japanese original by Sachiko Miyakawa, Digital News Group)