Yakiniku TORAJI — Restaurant in New York

TLDR: If you want great yakiniku - Toraji is a solid spot. The original chain is from Ebisu in Tokyo and is still there so you know it's authentic. While you can do the course menus, I find the a la carte is tasty, high quality and not that crazy. Get the signature steak selection, the negi rice and the yukaejang.

A chef friend recommended this place many many times but we only recently finally gave it a try. Wow - love it. It's a small spot but you instantly feel like you're back in Tokyo (or if you've never been, this is what a Tokyo resto feels like) sitting down for yakiniku.

We splurged on some of the apps the first time. Yukhoe (I can skip personally), wagyu sushi (do not skip). The kimchi platter is good to eat between bites but I prefer the Toraji salad. The negi rice, it's so simple but that egg yolk with all them scallion whites. BOMB.

OK, onto the meat. Skirt steak was lovely, nice and beefy, well marbled. The Toraji signature steak selection is great if you want to try the greatest hits. The thick beef tongue (do not miss this please), the filet, wagyu loin, a little bit of everything. It's simple but the cuts are very high quality. We did the yukaejang with the ramen noodles but I think I prefer the soup on its own.

Easily one of my favorite places to eat beef going forward. So good we went again a month or two later. They also just opened a location downtown near Chinatown on Bowery if...

Impromptu dining experience. One of us got the A5 wagyu Christmas special, and we also got other wagyu and galbi a la carte. Quality was excellent, and very flavourful.

A couple items of note that reduced the rating. 1. For $280 for the wagyu, one would expect to have plastic or even metal chopsticks instead of disposable chopsticks. And not even the higher quality chopsticks. But literally the

After coming back to the US from Japan I found myself craving yakiniku again. My boyfriend and I decided to come here for our anniversary and we had a great time. We came around 7pm, ordered two of the Toraji Premium course and by the end we were pleasantly surprised. We thought we wouldn’t be full by the end, however we were! The almond pudding dessert was delicious as well. Everything was well, but at the end we wanted a picture together so we asked one of the workers if they could take photos for is so we could remember this night. She snapped the photos in a few seconds but immediately after walked us out before we could even view the pictures and make sure they looked ok. They were not busy at this time so I was a bit disappointed by the outcome of the photos and I wish we weren’t rushed so we could’ve taken more. Especially because the interior is so beautiful. Either way I would love to come...