The Steakhouse!
This past Saturday evening ( 8.15.08 ) Ayu-chan and I went to a restaurant with two friends of ours, John and Keiko. This was a steakhouse we had been hoping to one day attend, since they were known to have “wagyu beef”, which is the top beef that Japan exports. We all know the most well known brand of wagyu called “Kobe beef”. It is one of the three top grades of wagyu beef, but unfortunately here in the states we dont get real “kobe” beef. We get kobe “style” beef, that is usually born and bred in similar way as wagyu, but raised here in the states…but their are rare Japanese steakhouse restaurants that actually import real wagyu beef from Japan, and we had found out ” The Steakhouse “ in torrance was one of those restaurants.
Our beginnings were simple, we ordered some red wines, and a nice white for Ayu. We ordered some appetizers. The first appetizer we ordered was duck, and additionally a albacore salad. The duck was very good, not so gamey in flavor, nicely marinated in a citrus sauce. The albacore was interesting…not something that I think we would order again…but we came to a steak place, so I am not sure we should have expected much for seafood. The side bread was delicious, and the wine was great. All in all, a good beginning to the meal, and we were all able to look past the albacore salad.
Earlier she had shown us the different cuts of meat available for us to have that evening. There were three choices of prime u.s.d.a. beef that looked excellent, and at the bottom of the serving tray were the two selections of Wagyu beef. One was a wagyu filet mignon, and the second choice was a wagyu N.Y. Strip Steak. Ayu and Keiko both chose the wagyu filet, I personally wanted the N.Y. Strip Steak, as from my experience filets are great, and very tender, but always need some sort of flavoring added to the steak to bring out that great taste, such as butter, bacon, or some other technique. So my choice was the N.Y. Strip of wagyu beef, and John chose the same after seeing the size of the filet.
Wagyu Filet Mignon
After a short wait we recieved our steaks on a hot sizzling cast iron plate. Granted, the steak looked like nothing special on top of the onion bed. I was a little bit hesitant at this point, but John soon took a bite and made one comment “Amazing”……and I heard Ayu and Keiko say the same about their steak. I soon took my first small bite, and I really had to agree with John…it was simply an “amazing” cut of beef. If you notice from the restaurant link there is fat marbled all through out the meat. When eating this cut of steak, the only thing I can describe the first bite would be, is that there is a burst of flavor. The fat has literally melted in the meat and therefore the steak is extremely juicy, with a sweet “fatty” flavor. I knew that the strip was the better steak immediately, since that it needed no extra flavor at all. I cut off a bite for Ayu to have, as she did the same for me with the filet. The filet was very good, but lacked some of the flavor that filled the N.Y. Strip. Though the radish/soy/garlic sauce that was available worked perfectly for the filet.
Wagyu N.Y. Strip
In the end we all left extremely satisfied, and very happy to have made it to ” The Steakhouse “ for John, and I’s first try of wagyu beef. If I was to recommend a steak at this particular place, do yourself a favor and try N.Y. Strip of Wagyu beef, it will be something uniquely different, and leave you wanting more. Of course if you also have any recommendations of great steak restaurants, I would be very glad to hear them also.
Oishi katta desu!!!
Good friends, and a great meal!
