Came here on 1 night whilst craving for Yakiniku - in a way, kind of regretted choosing to review and try here instead of sticking to Iroha 伊呂波, which is much better.
If I was here for the Pay What You Want Lunch offer, at least I could choose to pay what they deserve, but during dinner, I feel like my meal wasn't very good to be honest, considering we paid $795 or so for 2 people. We chose one of the many Set Menus, which is priced at $498 from memory. Also had to pay extra $20 for small appetizers of chinese 'four seasons beans' haha and some Tofu with no taste.
Here's a breakdown of the Set dinner for $498 - It has since changed a little from what others got for the same price, as the Wagyu Sashimi is not on the list anymore but the price is the same. If I only knew beforehand,.... hmmmmm... wouldn't have come here for dinner.:
1) Salad with Tobbiko. Nice onion, garlic and vinegar based dressing albeit a plain salad.
2) 2 x Large Prawns - quite fresh and tasty on the Yakiniku grill.
3) 1 x Larger Scallop pre-diced - very fresh as well. Comes with herbed butter and grilled inside its own shell. May be personal but I've never really liked scallops cooked this way, but the positive thing is it was definitely fresh.
4) Beef Tongue - super thin yet super tough, also very 'so'. Very not edible to be honest.
5) 特選但馬和牛 - This was a very dishonest act by the restaurant. Very disappointed by their misleading advertisement. By Japanese's strict definitions, 但馬牛 must be from 兵庫県, as the genetics and steer line is what made 神戸/兵庫県牛 famous world wide in the first place. The genetics of every other famous 和牛 in Japan are all fully or partially derived from this highly marbled yet smallish sized steer's genetics, each cow traceable back to many generations (近江、松坂、飛騨、山型県米沢、前沢、信州、佐賀、etc. ) Even most Australian Wagyus are derived mainly from the 但馬牛 line mixed with another famous 和牛 strand with a bigger steer size.
The we got was hardly marbled, even though it was soft. Its from the leg, as admitted by the staff. The definition of 特選和牛 was therefore way off the line, as 特選 in Japanese grading terms is the highest class of Wagyu possible in most restaurants (except in exceptional cases) and must be A5 grade in colour and marbling. Here, the Wagyu wasn't even A3 grade, more like A2 grade. See the photo to determine yourself.
6) 伊達赤豚 with Tomato. This wasn't well marbled but was tasty, the tomato inside added a good flavour to the meat. Not impressive, but above-average.
7) Assorted Vegetables - from memory, Corn Cobb, Green/Yellow Peppers, Eringi Mushrooms pre-sliced, 1 Shiitake Mushroom, Japanese Leek, Onion.
8) Dessert - Some kind of Hokkaido Pru-lin Pudding, not dissimilar to a Panna Cotta albeit in a glass, served with berries
ADDED:
Belly of 米沢 beef, with adequate marbling equivalent to about A3-A4. However too much garlicky taste in between.
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Overall, too expensive and the food is so-so, even below average. I think I won't be as exploratory next time - although with the new Pay What You Wish lunch set, I might be tempted to go there and be a bastard, pay only $10HKD when I leave, just to get my revenge on serving me bad wagyu.
Wagyu that's mis-advertised
Wagyu that's mis-advertised
Good subtle marination. This is 米沢 Wagyu Belly.
Good subtle marination. This is 米沢 Wagyu Belly.