Shinya (新家) is a chicken yakiniku restaurant and butcher in Matsusaka, Mie. You grill the chicken yourself at the table, in the sweet miso sauce the area is known for. We had lunch there on a Wednesday in October 2026 and paid ¥8,500 for three. It was delicious, but we ordered far too much. Order a little at a time.
Say “Matsusaka” in Japan and most people think of beef. Locals have a cheaper favourite too: chicken yakiniku (鶏焼肉). It started with farming families who kept laying hens. When a hen stopped laying, it went on a little charcoal stove at home, coated in a sweet, savoury miso sauce. That home cooking grew into a local staple, and Matsusaka now has a run of small shops that do nothing else.
It isn’t yakitori. There are no skewers. The meat comes to the table raw, in bite-size pieces with the miso sauce already on it, and you grill it yourself.
We went with my son Kayne and our guide, Misae, who knows the area. From the car park, Shinya is a smart black building with 精肉 とり焼 新家 in big white brush letters. The front door opens onto a butcher’s counter, and the restaurant is behind it.
What is Shinya known for?
Shinya opened in 2014, and the family has been in the chicken trade since the generation before. That’s why there’s a butcher’s counter by the door selling raw chicken by the 100 g. The restaurant serves the same meat.
At the table you choose your cuts and they arrive on black plates, glossy with miso sauce. Each table has a round grill set into it, with a steel extractor hanging over it, so the smoke goes up the pipe rather than into your clothes. Our table had a tablet for ordering.
What we ordered
We wanted to taste the two chickens the area is known for side by side: 若鶏 (wakadori, young chicken) and 親鶏 (oyadori, older hen, the bird the dish started with).
Young chicken (若鶏, ¥600 a plate). Tender, with crispy, fatty skin once it’s had time on the grill. Kayne and I both liked this one best.
Old chicken (親鶏, ¥600 a plate). Thinner pieces, darker meat and a deeper flavour, almost like wild bird. Misae liked this best. I found it too chewy, and the skin was tough. Try it once to see what the fuss is about, but if you like your chicken tender, stick with the young.
Harami (ハラミ, ¥600 a plate). Chicken skirt, the thin muscle under the ribs. It was delicious, but it cooks fast and goes from juicy to dry very quickly. Watch it.
Breast (むね, ¥500 a plate). Lean, so it overcooks just as easily. With too much meat on the grill at once, ours dried out.
Karaage (唐揚げ, ¥600 a serving). Japanese fried chicken. Kayne ate it, plus everything else on the table.
On the side we had medium bowls of rice (¥350 each) and a daikon salad (¥450). The salad was shredded daikon radish with tomato, mizuna greens, nori and a sprinkle of tiny dried fish, which made a fresh break from the grill.
Total for three: ¥8,500, tax included, with two soft drinks.
Our tip: order in rounds
This was the lesson of the day. We didn’t know how big the plates were, so we ordered everything at once: nine plates of meat plus karaage for three people. The meal was delicious, but we struggled to finish, and none of us wanted chicken again for a while. We’d booked a yakiniku dinner for that evening, and we were still so full that we cancelled it.
Ordering everything at once caused a second problem. With the grill crowded, we couldn’t keep an eye on each piece, and the harami and breast overcooked.
Here’s what we’d do next time:
- Start with one plate per person, plus rice. A plate each of young and old chicken is a good opener.
- Cook a few pieces at a time and eat them straight off the grill. It’s better food and a slower, more relaxed meal.
- Order more on the tablet if you’re still hungry.
Good for families?
Yes. It’s all chicken, so there’s no fishy smell, and grilling your own food at the table keeps kids busy. Kayne doesn’t eat seafood and is usually our fussy one, and he cleaned up everything, karaage included. Karaage and rice make an easy safe order for any child who’s unsure about the miso sauce.
Take the taste home
Don’t walk straight past the butcher’s counter on the way out. Shinya sells its own miso sauce, the one you coat the meat in before grilling (焼く前にからめる味噌だれ), at ¥400 for a small bottle and ¥800 for a large. There’s also a dipping sauce (つけだれ) at ¥450. With a pack of chicken thigh from the same counter, you can make Matsusaka chicken yakiniku at home.
They also do takeaway karaage, tebasaki (chicken wings) and crispy chicken-skin chips, which they fry after you order, so allow a little time. There’s a 鶏まぜごはんの素 too, a mix you stir into hot rice to make chicken rice (¥350).
When to go
Shinya is open year round. Chicken yakiniku isn’t a seasonal dish.
- Closed: Sundays and over New Year
- Weekdays: lunch 11:00–14:00, dinner 17:00–21:00
- Saturdays and public holidays: 11:00–21:00 straight through
Visiting Shinya
| Name | Shinya · 精肉 とり焼 新家 |
| Address | 三重県松阪市立野町437-1 (437-1 Tateno-chō, Matsusaka, Mie) |
| Phone | 0598-20-8929 |
| Hours | Weekdays 11:00–14:00 and 17:00–21:00 (last orders 13:45 / 20:30). Saturdays and holidays 11:00–21:00 |
| Closed | Sundays, New Year |
| Reservations | We walked in at lunch |
| Parking | Car park in front of the shop |
| Getting there | We drove |
| Ordering | Tablet at the table |
| We visited | October 2026, Wednesday lunch |
| We paid | ¥8,500 for three (prices as of October 2026, tax included) |
| Take-home | Raw chicken by the 100 g, miso sauce ¥400 / ¥800, karaage, wings and skin chips |
How to order
Our table had an ordering tablet. If you’d rather ask the staff, these phrases help:
- 若鶏のたれを一つお願いします。
Wakadori no tare o hitotsu onegaishimasu.: One plate of young chicken in miso sauce, please. - 親鶏も一つお願いします。
Oyadori mo hitotsu onegaishimasu.: And one plate of old chicken, please. - とりあえず、これでお願いします。
Toriaezu, kore de onegaishimasu.: That’s all for now. (We’ll order more later.)
My Japanese is poor, and with a Japanese speaker at the table it’s easy. Without one, it helps to have our free printable ordering cards. Point at what you want, including your allergies, and the staff will understand.
FAQ
What is Matsusaka chicken yakiniku?
Bite-size chicken coated in a sweet, savoury miso sauce and grilled by you at the table. It started with local farming families cooking their old laying hens, and it’s a different dish from yakitori, with no skewers.
Young chicken or old chicken: which should I order?
Order one of each. Young chicken (wakadori) is tender with crispy skin. Old chicken (oyadori) has more flavour but is much chewier. Our table split: two of us preferred the young, our guide preferred the old.
How much should I order at Shinya?
Less than you think. Start with about one plate of meat per person, plus rice, and order more as you go. We ordered nine plates of meat for three and couldn’t finish.
Is Shinya good for kids?
Yes. There’s no seafood smell, and kids enjoy the table grill. Karaage and rice are an easy order for fussy eaters.
Can I buy the miso sauce?
Yes. The butcher’s counter at the front sells it: ¥400 for a small bottle, ¥800 for a large.
When is Shinya closed?
Sundays and over New Year. On weekdays it closes between lunch and dinner (14:00–17:00).
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