I haven’t had real Japanese Wagyu beef since my first trip to Japan in 2006. It’s simply the best meat you can possibly devour. For those who think there’s no difference between Australian or American Wagyu from Japanese Wagyu, you’re simply wrong. Even Japanese Wagyu from different regions have varying taste and texture profiles.

My friend wanted to have some good eats. I asked, “how good do you want?” Off to Alexander’s we went.

We start with a few appetizers:

Niman Ranch Pork Belly and Hamachi Shots. The pork belly was fried to a crisp on the outside. As I was cutting through, it almost felt overcooked. However, once it hit your mouth, you realize that the fat had been rendered nicely throughout the meat. The Hamachi (yellow tail tuna) shots were served with a yuzu soy sauce, serrano chile, radish, cilantro, garlic and avocado. Hits your mouth with a great burst of flavor. $24 dollars for 6 shots, not cheap, but not highway robbery. I can see myself coming here on a whim, going to the bar, ordering a drink and 6 pack.

Next was the Cold English Pea Soup with Fried Soft Shell Crab. I’m “ok” with pea soup, but I love soft shell crab. At first the pea soup tasted weird, and bland. However, after taking a few bites of the crab, and then having a few spoonfuls of the soup, it worked nicely to cleans the palate. It was quite refreshing, however, I still felt it could have used an extra pinch of salt.

The accompanying sides:

Truffled Fries with a sprinkling of sundried tomatoes. Nothing too spectacular about this. You can add truffle to just about anything and take it to the next level. Would have preferred some duck fat fries to be honest.

Rainbow Carrots cooked in a sauce of chorizo, orange and red onion. The sauce was nice and savory thanks to the chorizo.

And then here comes the beef:

First they bring out a tray of various salts. Some of these salts are straight up weird. The Kala Namak salt from India tastes like ham and eggs. No Joke. Did I want that on my steak, no. Still interesting nonetheless.

This (poorly photographed picture) is my Ohmi Takara Ranch A5 Japanese Wagyu, cooked rare. Google Ohmi Takara and you will find that it is one of the most sought after Japanese Wagyu’s out there. First thing I noticed was how tender it felt when I pressed down on it gently with my fork. I started to smile and laugh.

This slice of beef is simply one of the, if not the most amazing pieces of animal protein you can possibly consume. It is so tender that you can eat it without teeth. You want to chew it just to extract as much of the flavor as you possibly can. This is the essence of umami.

This (wonderfully photographed picture) is my friend’s Kagoshima A5 Japanese Wagyu, cooked rare. His was not as melt in your mouth as the Ohmi. However, it did have a stronger flavor profile.

It’s very interesting to compare and contrast two Japanese A5 Wagyus, both rib eye cuts, cooked by the same chef. Both were excellent, but distinctly different.

What’s not shown was the 2010 Williams Selyem Russian River Valley Pinot Noir that I brought. This pinot is made by Bob Cabral, Wine Enthusiast’s Wine Maker of the Year, and it was completely overshadowed by the beef. Does not happen often.

The extras:

Later we were presented with these incredibly aromatic rolls baked with bacon. Whats not better with bacon? The hollowed out shank was filled with Wagyu butter. Who knew plain butter can be kicked up another notch?

This was the freebie dessert, some kinda of pana cotta. I’m not a dessert guy so it was “eh”, nothing spectacular.

Finally, we were given this pina colata cotton candy. It was very interesting, as it tasted just like pina colata. As I mentioned before, I don’t like desserts, but I like this for some reason. Maybe for the novelty of it all.

This was an excellent meal. An expensive meal, but excellent regardless.