Yakini-chelin 2016 ☆(Tokyo Wagyu Guide)

☆Nikujyuku
Mr. Shin made a new start last year. He opened Nikujyuku inside the newly built complex in the middle of Ginza town. It is difficult to imagine Toranoana, his old home, from the atmosphere of the restaurant, however the yakiniku offered here at Nikujyuku is very close to that of Toranoana. There is a wide variety of people in Ginza, and we want all of them to bite into the beefs served in Nikujyuku. Both the freshness of the meats Nikujyuku procures and grilling techniques of Mr.Shin are outstanding. Nikujyuku is so good at Horumon (Wagyu offals and tripes) that we always compare Nikujyuku with Yuji, the most popular Horumon restaurant in Shibuya. To be honest, with better quality of serving, we feel Mr.Shin can make this restaurant far better if he get used to his new place. When his yakiniku sense comes back and is mixed perfectly with the finest meats, we will be able to experience the supreme yakiniku experience again.

☆Namaiki
Nowadays raw meats which used to be a perfect appetizer for yakiniku can only be eaten in the restaurants which obtained the approval from the Ministry of Health. But still it is seldom that we find in yakiniku restaurants raw meats that are high quality and reasonable at the same time. Namaiki, a sister yakiniku restaurant of Yoroniku (see ☆☆☆ section), opened in 2014 and it simultaneously became popular in the sense that it offers incredibly tasty raw meats in relatively cheap prices.
Even 5,000 yen set at Namaiki includes not only Wagyu yakiniku but also several appetizers and dessert. We recommend that you try this set when you visit Namaiki for the first time. It is also recommended that you ask the staffs there to upgrade the set when you become a frequent guest.

☆Denden
The ratings for Denden differ among its guests. Some praise, and others run down the restaurant. Nevertheless, we strongly think that once you see the yakiniku sense of Mr.Takaya, the owner of Denden, you will be surprised with it. Mr. Takaya diffuses his sense via high quality Wagyu beef. It is not the ahead-of-the-curve type of sense, rather old-style lavish sense. The beefs you can enjoy at Denden are of course very high quality. Especially Wagyu tongue and skirt are must-order menus.

☆Ichirin saitemo hanawa hana
Ichirin Saitemo Hanawa Hana located in the back street near Yushima station. Mr.Iyama and Mr.Yokoseki, the owner and the chef, used to work at Denden, then opened this restaurant together. Horumon (Wagyu offals and tripes) are the specialities. You can enjoy high quality horumons with relatively reasonable prices. In addition innovative Horumon dishes that Mr.Yokoseki makes are super tasty.

☆Ushigoro
Ushigoro has been continuously improving since its open. It was at first only the restaurant where its guest can enjoy so-so level beefs with so-so prices in so-so sophisticated location. Since then, Ushigoro started to open some second line restaurants or Teppanyaki style restaurants etc to get the mass hooked, but it gave a negative effect to real Wagyu fans. Only at Ginza and Nishiazabu shop you can enjoy its brilliant Omakase full-course dinner. Ushigoro uses Tamura beef, one of the top brand Wagyu beef, for this course. The tastiness and the marbling s of the beef are perfect. Ushigoro also improved its menus which used to be only imitations of other restaurants. Why don't you now try "NEW" Ushigoro ?

☆Satobriand
As you may noticed already, Mr.Sato, the owner of Satobriand, likes chateaubriand very much. Satobriand procures Wagyu chateaubriand in amount where it is usually difficult for average yakiniku restaurants and serves to its guests without freezing them. Burimeshi, Burisuki, and Burikatsu sandwich are its specialities. With those beef dishes, Satobriand offers its clients various way of enjoying Wagyu chateaubriand. No need to try other parts of the beefs here at Satobriand. Only The chateaubriand represents the Satobriand.

☆Kobau
Neither to look at the meat nor to know the information of the meat let you know the taste of the meat. We think final judgment can only be made after you actually eat the meat. However when you select which yakiniku restaurant to go, it is impossible to eat the meat beforehand. So in order to find a good yakiniku restaurant with high probability, we always check and require 2 things. 1) Who raised the cow: Even within the same brand of beef, everything including feeds and age is different if the farmer is different. The high level farmers carefully select cows with a good strain and raise them with lots of time and efforts. 2) Who bought the cow: There are some meat whole sellers which can distinguish only top quality beefs from others. They refused to buy the others even if same farmer wants to sell several cows. Kobau is the restaurant where those 2 requirements are fulfilled. We definitely say Kobau is the best yakiniku restaurant in Ginza area.

☆Fumiya
Have you visited the yakiniku street in Asakusa where many yaskiniku restaurants stand close together? Every restaurant seems very small and old-fashioned. Everyday lives of the owners' family coexist with the restaurants. Among those restaurants, Fumiya is outstanding. The meats used are very fresh and the owner cuts the beef every time he gets the order from his guests. The original yakiniku sauce is also very tasty. No luxurious performance can be seen, but the owner's diligent and careful job. Fumiya is also known as the parents' home of Mr.Takayama, the owner of Carneya.

☆Korakuen
Nambu line, the local railway across Yokohama area, is very familiar to me. Beijing has been the most popular yakiniku restaurant on the line for the long time. But at last we found another great yakiniku restaurant located near Yako station. Though the inside of the restaurant, Korakuen, is far from clean and tidy, the 50 years old restaurant uses incredibly high quality meats. The homemade sauce of Korakuen is so garlicky that it makes people awake even after 3 days all-nighter.
Grilling by the female master is totally different from what is regarded as a standard. The master even starts smoking while we are eating. Nevertheless, the master's behaviors is something makes the yakiniku at Korakuen even better. JPY 5,000 is enough to order until you are stuffed. We have never noticed until recently that there is such a good yakiniku restaurant in this area.

☆Tahei
On the back street near Namba station, you can find old and small yakiniku restaurant Tahei. It opens at 11:30 in the morning and frequent customers visit the restaurant soon after that. They all order what they individually want for lunch, and leave the restaurant very quickly.
The guest here at Tahei don't regard the yakiniku as a food for special occasion, rather a usual daily meal. Every time the owner get the order, he cuts fresh meats and marinate them with its original sauce. We think that the sauce here in Tahei is one of the tastiest sauces among all yakiniku restaurants. This sauce bring the yakiniku at Tahei up to high level.

☆Matasaburo
Aged beefs got in on the fad several years ago and are still touted among Wagyu industry. Nowadays, it is rare that we eat Wagyu beefs without aging to a certain degree. The definition of "Aging beef" is vague, however people often call the beefs with aged smell and aged taste “Aging beef”. Unfortunately "Aging beef" that can be eaten in many restaurants are not real aged beef, rather deteriorated beef. However, Ms.Arai, the owner of Matasaburo, makes perfect aged beef.
Ms.Arai put her heart into the aged beefs she make. No excessive appeal is there, but the simple aged beef which Ms.Arai thinks very tasty is in front of us.

☆Tokuyama
In Iida, the local town with the ratio of numbers of yakiniku restaurants per person is the highest in Japan, people often cook yakiniku with grills borrowed from butchers and make the original yakiniku sauce by themselves.
In its old days, all of the process from raising cows to eating those meats was done within the city. However, only the slaughter part of the process is done outside the city nowadays. As a result, the town is a bit quieter recently.
Nevertheless, the quality of Tokuyama, well known yakiniku restaurants in Iida, is amazing. When the owner of Tokuyama throws a beef tallow into the yakiniku roaster, it’s time to start enjoy the yakiniku of Tokuyama. Don’t eat the fresh vegetables too much as additional vegetables will be served every time you finish the plate. The incredible freshness of the meats and the owner’s carful job are outstanding. Many frequent guests comes to Tokuyama one after another. Iida is obviously the utopia of yakiniku.