Koishikawa Nakasei — Restaurant in Tokyo

Please allow for some indulgence in this review. I don't know if this has ever happened to anyone else, but in the last year or so, I have sort of lost my appetite for steak. I didn't really understand it, I thought maybe your tastes change as you get older or something. I have basically only been eating poultry and pork recently, with my beef intake being primarily from hamburgers if I go to a gourmet hamburger place.

I didn't lose my appetite for steak, I was just eating it wrong. I learned that after having lunch at this restaurant. I know people look at Michelin star restaurants and immediately have high, often unrealistic expectations. They want some crazy experience for their money, that's not this place - and it's a wonderful thing.

No gimmicks, no frills, no nonsense. Just high quality wagyu beef. Look at the presentation of the meat - no sauce, no extras. We were presented with salt, soy sauce, and wasabi on the side. Definitely dip the beef in the salt - oh my goodness.

Did I mention they provide a genealogy of the freaking cow you're eating?? Super cool. Clearly they care about the animal and the quality of the meat they present to their customers.

My wife and I had the set lunch menu which was INCREDIBLY high value, I genuinely cannot even believe the price. I've paid much more for much lower quality beef.

This place was genuinely life changing. The staff were friendly, the waiter/manager/owner was funny and super welcoming. I'm telling everyone who will listen that they need to drop their plans and go to this place with...

We came to eat here because of the good reviews. Honestly, the food was superb. The meats were carefully chosen, of very high quality, and the preparation was perfect.

However, it felt like the kitchen and staff were in a rush to get us out again as quick as possible. While I was still finishing the first course, they already came with the second course and I had to rush to start the second course othetwise my burger (which was delicious) would get cold. They made the same mistake with the third course and came with the steaks before I was finished with my second course. This made me very annoyed and sadly made it so I could not really enjoy the high quality main course anymore.

We received all 5 courses in the span of maximum 1 hour, I didn't even have time for a second...

Just like at a butcher, you get to choose from more than a dozen cuts of beef. That also means you pay for each 100g of meat. If you want to save a few bucks then you can opt for the cheaper or leaner cuts, or you can splurge and choose the fattier and expensive cuts. It's suggested that you get a larger piece (~350-400g) of each cut so it's better for cooking and bringing out the flavours and texture rather than getting 100g of each cut, so it's better if you come in a larger group like we did. Definitely an experience where you pay for what you get! Completely worth the one-star...