[Matsuo Genghis Khan Takikawa Head Office] Secret Sauce and Tender Grilled Sheep Meats Are Very Tasty

Matsuo Genghis Khan

Matsuo Genghis Khan (松尾ジンギスカン) is a famous mongolian barbecue chain restraunt founded in 1956, and their head office is in Takikawa city located between Sapporo city and Asahikawa city, and is affectionately called "Matsujin (マツジン)" by Hokkaido people. Mr. Yoshihiro Matsuo (松尾 吉洋) is a company president now. Mongolian Barbecue (Genghis Khan) of Hokkaido has 2 styles, Takikawa style (滝川流) and Tsukisamu style (月寒流), and the Matsuo Genghis Khan is one of the most famous Takikawa style mongolian barbecue restraunts. It is also a feature that they produce and sell sheep meats and sauce themselves. Except the Takikawa, their branch restraunts and franchise restraunts also open a business in the Sapporo, New Chitose Airport, Kitahiroshima, the Asahikawa, Abashiri, Kushiro, Chitose, Iwanai, Iwamizawa, Shinjuku, Akasaka, Ginza and so on.

I visited the Matsuo Genghis Khan Takikawa Head Office to eat their mongolian barbecue. First I guess that visitors are surprised at large buildings, and A 4-story main building and a 3-story annex building are built at the site. Ordinary customers can enter the only main building. A Japanese garden is at the main building, and carps swim in a pond. Customers can enjoy meals while seeing the garden through windows. A souvenir shop is on the 1st floor of the main building, too, and customers must go the restraunt through the souvenir shop. The restraunt on the 1st floor of the main building is large, and has cleanliness. All seats are table seats, so I suppose that family customers also enjoy meals.

Speaking of the Takikawa, Canola Flower Fields is famous. Takikawa Canola Flower Festival is held in late May. Except that, Takikawa Sky Park, Roadside Station Takikawa, Maruka Highland Lookout, Science Museum for Child, Colonizers' House are relatively popular tourist attractions. Hot springs gush out in the Takikawa, and a day trip onsen can be enjoyed in Ebeotsu Onsen and Takikawa Onsen.

Canola Flower Fields

There are about 60 canola flower fields in Takikawa city. Planted area changes every year, but the total area is about 150 ha. The canola flower planted area seems to be the largest area in Japan and is in full bloom from late May to early June, during the period the canola flower field in the Ebeotsu district (江部乙地区) is opened to general public and tourists can enjoy a scenery of the canola flower field like a typical Hokkaido scenery. Because an observatory deck is built, tourists can look over the canola flower field from the top. The yellow canola flowers and the blue sky will take our breath away. There is a restroom in the site. A parking lot is not provided, and the tourists can park their cars on the shoulder of the road. Read More

Ebeotsu Onsen

Ebeotsu Onsen (えべおつ温泉) is a hot spring place in Takikawa city located in the northeastern part of Sapporo city. Ebeotsu Onsen Ryokan (えべおつ温泉旅館) is built in front of Ebeotsu Station. Restraunts and convenience stores are relativelt near here. The distance between the Ebeotsu Onsen and the center of the Takikawa is around 10 km, and it is little far away. It is the origin of the Ebeotsu Onsen that an angler found a cold spring source in Taisho period. After that, it succeeded in drilling hot spring in 1982, and 2 types of springs can be enjoyed at the Ebeotsu Onsen. Read More

Mongolian Barbecue of Hokkaido

Genghis Khan (ジンギスカン * Mongolian barbecue) is one of the most famous local dishes of Hokkaido, and is a dish to grill sheep meats and vegetables, and is called the comfort food of Hokkaido people. Except the Hokkaido, the Genghis Khan is also a familiar local dish in a part of Iwate Prefecture or Nagano Prefecture. The reason why the Hokkaido is closely related to the mongolian barbecue is that 5 national sheep breeding ranches were built in Takikawa (滝川), Tsukisamu (月寒), Tomobe (友部) in Ibaraki Prefecture, Hojo (北条) in Ehime Prefecture and Kumamoto (熊本) after Japanese goverment declared a production increase of wool in Meiji period. In those days, Japanese had no custom of eating meat, and did not like the taste since the sheep meats had unique taste. But the Genghis Khan is one of devised dishes for using the sheep meats as well as the wool without being wasted. Indeed, the sheep meats are different from beef and pork, and have the unique taste, so it has people divided between those that like it and those that hate it. On the contrary, the unique taste may captivate the Hokkaido people's taste buds. Read More

Mongolian Barbecue

Although I visited here to escape their busy time around 14:00 on Saturday, 5 groups of customers enjoyed their meals. A waitress shown me my table, and I sat a table seat. The garden could be seen from my seat. It was nice location. I read a menu immediately, and I ordered a single serving of lamb and mutton, mushrooms and udon noodles. The total price was JPY 2590. They had various meals on the menu, for example, lunch menu or rolled sausage. After waiting for aboout 5 minutes, the mongolian barbecue meals with vegetables were served. By the way, they have original mongolian barbecue pan, special order products, and have improved on it since long ago. This is five-generation mongolian barbecue pan at present.

How to grill their mongolian barbecue is as follows. 1. Customers put the vegetables around the bottom of the pan, and pour barbecue sauce into the pan. 2. the customers put the sheep meats on the top of the pan fully. 3. just wait for grilling. By the way, I mistook the way of grilling their mongolian barbecue although they kindly told me. In addtion, this barbecue sauce is raw. The customers should not drink the raw sauce, and have to use it in the pan. This sauce are made from apples, onions, gingers and soy sauce with several types of confidential spices.

I mistook the way of grilling the cooking ingredients. But the sheep meats were tender, and the barbecue sauce soaked in the vegetables, and those were tasty! Their proverb says "Sheep meats are grilled on the top of the pan, and meat juice come out, and those juice and the barbecue sauce soak into vegetables on the bottom of the pan". Last I put udon noodles around the bottom of the pan. Those juice and the barbecue sauce soaked into the udon noodles, and were very tasty! Thanks for the meal!

Mongolian Barbecue and Atmosphere of Restaurant Can Be Watched on Youtube

Movie of Mongolian Barbecue

List of Accommodations

Refer to following websites for the accommodations in the Takikawa. You can get information regarding online reviews and photos.

Ebeotsu Onsen Ryokan(旅館えべおつ温泉)	HP	Booking	Jalan	Rakuten
Ebeotsu Onsen Ryokan Annex "Mitate"(えべおつ温泉別館「みたて」)	HP	Booking	Jalan	Rakuten
Hotel Suehiro(ホテルスエヒロ)	HP	Booking	Jalan	Rakuten
Hotel Miurakaen(ホテル三浦華園)	HP	Booking	Jalan	Rakuten
Takikawa Fureai-no-Sato(滝川ふれ愛の里)	HP	Booking	Jalan	Rakuten
Hotel Oikawa(ホテルおい川)	HP	Booking	Jalan	Rakuten
Business Hotel Kotobukiya Ryokan(ビジネスホテル 寿屋旅館)	HP	Booking	Jalan	Rakuten
Miyako Ryokan(みやこ旅館)	HP	Booking	Jalan	Rakuten
Takikawa Campsite Kita-no-Tamayura Marugoto Sorachi(滝川キャンプサイト「北のたまゆらまるごとそらち」)	HP	Booking	Jalan	Rakuten