A5 Wagyu - 横浜瀬里奈
Before coming to Japan, I had always heard about how Wagyu was some of the best beef in the world. Wagyu (和牛), however, refers simply to the four main breeds of cow native to Japan. By itself, it doesn’t give you much information about the quality. For that, there is a rating system! A true steak-lover should look for what is referred to as ‘A5’ Wagyu - the highest rank cut of beef in Japan.
Wagyu was always on my “must-try” list, but since February, and our Coronavirus lockdown, I was beginning to think this experience would be left unchecked. With things calming down in Japan finally in early June, we took our opportunity to give this a shot before flying home. And I’m glad we did.
With our good friends Yasuko and Lowell in tow, we headed for a high-end steak restaurant just a 15-minute walk from our apartment. This restaurant has various courses available, but only one contains A5 grade Wagyu - of course, this is what we all selected.
The meal consisted of eight or nine dishes, depending on whether you count the small cup of Umeshu (Plum Wine) that was given at the start.
The first real dish was a small plate consisting of a slice of duck, boiled shrimp with a fried shrimp head (to be eaten in its entirety), and a small bowl of ceviche. The ceviche was perhaps the most interesting, as there was a sort of cream cheese included which was unexpected but very pleasant.
Next up was something I’m not sure I had ever experienced before; cold soup. This was a cold potato soup and tasted much like other potato soups I have experienced in the past. It was good but I think I would have preferred it warm. Don’t come after me cold-soupers.
From here things started getting really exciting. I’m a sucker for grilled scallops so when the chef began grilling up four huge scallops alongside a cast-iron pan filled with butter, my eyes widened. The result was a magnificent four bites of buttery scallop deliciousness that was gone way faster than I wanted it to be.
Following the scallop was a grilled vegetable course containing potatoes, mushrooms, and asparagus. All were grilled to perfection with butter and salt resulting in some of the best-tasting vegetables I’ve ever eaten.
The final dish leading into the main event was a small fig salad. This was a pretty simple salad with a light citrus dressing that went down easy. Upon completion, I threw my plate to the floor, smashing it into many pieces, and demanded steak satisfaction.
The chef asked how we wanted our meat cooked. We were all relieved when he recommended medium-rare, as that was our plan going in. He began grilling.
It didn’t take long for the steak to reach a medium-rare on the hot grill.
In the end, he cut the steak into bite-sized pieces and placed them upon a bed of delicious onions. The plate was then placed on top of a small stand, which contained a magical blue chemical that was lit on fire to keep the plate nice and warm.
I had to go out of my way to slow down while eating. There would have been no issue gobbling everything down in moments and wondering where my money went. I made sure to place my chopsticks down between bites; constantly telling myself to be patient while discussing how delicious it was with our group.
And oh how delicious it was. The steak was, surprisingly, served alongside a plate of four sauces; rock salt, black pepper sauces, a soy sauce-based sauce, and a chili sauce. I didn’t do too much with these as the steak was so mouth-wateringly delicious on its own. However, I did lightly brush a few pieces in rock salt and that was also incredible.
When the steak came to an end, the chef cooked some fried rice and gave us each a small bowl. I felt a bit bad for the rice. It’s like being given top billing in the talent show right after David Copperfield has just flown out of the auditorium. How do you follow that!?! It was good and all, but David Copperfield literally just flew himself out of the auditorium!!
After the rice had been consumed, we were ushered to the bar area for dessert and coffee. In classic Japan style, dessert was a slice of melon possibly worth more than the steak itself. (This is only half-joking; even in our local supermarket a “perfect” cantaloupe can run you $40+ USD.) But, a delicious melon and a delicious coffee were a fantastic end to a fantastic night. Kanpai to one of our last special meals in Yokohama!
