This is definitely one of my most memorable dining experiences. I still remembered how the Beef melted in my mouth. A MUST try for beef lovers. Honestly…it is the best beef I have ever tried in my life. Hands down! Just writing this post makes me want to fly to Tokyo and eat it again.
I have tried many teppanyaki restaurants in North America, and nothing can compare to what I had in Ginza Ukai-Tei.
So, what is Teppanyaki? It is a Japanese cooking style. Teppan means iron plate and Yaki means Grilled. So Teppanyak means grilled on an iron plate. What makes Teppanyaki a unique dining experience? Not only you get to watch the chef cooks in front of you, if you are lucky, the chef might put on a good show and demonstrates some fun cooking tricks.
Ukai-Tei is one of the popular high-end chain restaurants in Tokyo. The Ginza location offers traditional Teppanyaki with a French cuisine influence. They only offer highest quality ingredients and the highlight is the Beef. That is also the reason why I picked this place.
Grand modern entrance with giant sculptures guarding the door.
As I entered the restaurant I felt like I entered a historical house, the internal was decorated with luxurious red antique furnitures. Later on I found out the internal design was from an old Japanese house from hundred years ago.
As I entered the Teppanyaki area, I saw a circular shape table with a giant iron plate.
We preordered the food during the reservation, but they showed us the menu anyway.
Al la carte menu, look at the price of the beef OMG.
I ordered the special fixed menu (without finding out what is going to be on the menu hahaaa..I am a risk taker…just joking) and upgraded to their high quality beef sirloin. The server explained to us that their selected beef is higher quality than wagyu beef.
I am so glad I did….I have to say this…I rarely get to have all of my favourite food in one night: Caviar, Foie Gras, Black Truffle, White Truffle, Abalone, and beef…wow wow wow. I can’t ask for more.
Yes, this special menu is very expensive, but they really made me feel like I actually got a good deal with all the fine ingredients…hahaa silly me.
First few courses were done in the kitchen, and that is what they mean by French cuisine….
First course…Caviar
Second Course…soup with Foie Gras, it was very rich and delicious
Third Course…sashimi with black truffle
Forth Course…white radish (daikon) with white truffle
Fifth Course…Abalone…this dish was cooked with salt on the hot iron plate.
Finally…..the dish I have been waiting for…
Sirloins were waiting to be grilled on the hot iron plate. (Left: high quality sirloin, the marbling was so evenly spread out….it looked like a beautiful piece of marble. Right: prime sirloin.)
Both were grilled to medium rare (top: high quality, bottom: prime)
High quality sirloin is ready…such a small portion vs. what I normally eat in North America…but so satisfy!!!
I first tried the Prime Sirloin from JJ’s set course. Which was already a very high graded beef, and I was like…. so so so good. It was probably one of the best beef I have ever had in my life….but but but after I tried my high quality Sirloin, I can immediately felt the difference and I can definitely said it is definitely the best steak I have ever tried. It was so tasty and full of strong rich beef flavor….. it literally melted in my mouth and the yummy beef taste was exploring in my mouth. The steak was so so so soft without much of chewing required. I felt like I was not eating a steak but I was. It was definitely the best meat I have ever had.
We ended the meal with fried rice and dessert.I was there to celebrate a special occasion, so they gave me a rose and a Polaroid photo to take home.
I enjoyed my evening very much, every dish was so tasty.
Visited January 2014
Website:
http://www.ukai.co.jp/english/ginza/
Address: 5-15-8 Jijitsushin BoulevardGinza Chuo-Ku Tokyo
Tip: They offer a better value lunch menu with wagyu beef steak instead their selected steak.
http://www.ukai.co.jp/ginza/pdf/ginza_menu.pdf