Nikuya Tanaka Ginza (Tabelog Silver 4.43) Tokyo Feb 2025

As an avid steak eater, Nikuya Tanaka offered the perfect opportunity to try some of the best beef in Japan as well as other ingredients. Owned and operated by Satoru Tanaka or BOSS, is a meat specialist who comes from a family of meat enthusiasts. His grandfather was a cattle dealer, his father ran a butcher shop and now Tanaka san runs over 18 restaurants in Japan alone with expansion into Asia as well like Hong Kong and Malaysia. Tanaka san is often travelling so it was fortunate for him to be present during my meal, sat in front of him that evening in the middle seat. His english is decent, he spoke in English to the foreign diners most of the evening, I think he is practicing a lot as he plans to spend more time overseas when he opens new restaurants.

The restaurant is serves wagyu kappo style course menu, with 9 seats at the counter we had a full seating of 5 foreigners (Malaysian, Korean, myself) and 4 locals. There is a private room too but not sure if anyone were booked in there that evening. They have 2 sittings at night, at 5:30 and at 8:30. Booking via omakase was very easy especially for solo diner, can be done a few days beforehand. Located at the heart of Ginza in an easy to find building full of other restaurants, I arrived a bit early and waited outside until they welcomed us in exactly at 5:30pm. The counter has the traditional style aesthetics of a traditional japanese restaurant with focus on elegance. The counter space is just filled to the brim with the highest quality of ingredients when I sat down.

The service team were all very professional and friendly with each diners. The head waiter/sommerlier was very fluent in english, often giving tidbits to the guests especially the foreigners about the ingredient or dish. With Tanaka san in the kitchen was a team of 3 chefs, they were all very focused but also quick to attend to guests needs or requests. Tanaka san was very friendly and jovial, he liked to talk about his favourite places to visit, especially sushiyas. As the couple sitting next to me was Malaysia he talked to them a bit about his new restaurant opening in Malaysia in May. He did say he would be planning to stay in Malaysia for the first 2 months to head the kitchen counter while there

The restaurant likes to buy whole cows and utilise as much of it as possible for the course. They said they bid on over 100 cows every year, being very selective in the beef they use only using virgin cows. A typical Wagyu cow is around 24 months old, tonights menu featured a 54 month Matsusaka from Kazuto Hamaguchi. It was clear the get go they not just selective with their beef but all the ingredients used, they only want to serve the best and highlight the ingredients as the star of the dish without over complicating the food. Dinner course food cost was ¥55,000 per person, we wrapped up about 2 hours and 45 minutes.

Dinner course featured:
1. Kyoto early havested menma soup: rich and mildly sweet flavour, good way to warm up during winter cold

1. Kobu jime (kelp aged) Beef, takifugu roll: Tanaka san loves sushi, so he decided to serve up his special version for us. Kobujime is traditionally used for fish in Sushi to impart more flavour but beef is substituted instead. Full of umami, its got a chewy texture and rich in flavour a wonderful treat.

2. Shizuoka lemon, tripe, grilled yuriage akagai: the tripe’s natural flavour was very prevalent, the lemon provides a bit of freshness to counter the tripe. A surf and turf vibe, texture and flavour was unexpected and a good way to try new combinations.

3. Kobujime beef rump tataki: the beef has gorgeous marbling, the use of kobujime helps tenderise and intensify the flavour. The beef is quickly seared, forming a crust for flavour and texture contrast. One of my favourite ways to experience the already exquisite ingredient used

4. Toyohama fugu shirako, beef tail soup, turnip soup: the largest single piece shirako I’ve ever seen, reinforcing the seriousness Tanaka san takes in sourcing the best ingredients. Even before tasting the fragrance just jumps at me. The beef tail soup has a light umami but very balanced flavour, the turnip is sweet and the shirako which is lightly charred pairs really nice with the soup. The shirako is still creamy on the inside, nice savoury and mild sweet flavour.

5. Deep fried beef fillet: crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside. The aroma of the simply prepared dish was outstanding but the texture of the meat was the best part. Another highlight.

6. Beef tongue with demi glace sauce and miso. I love beef tongue so this was the dish I was looking forward to the most. The demi glace sauce was rich in flavour and didn’t overpower the meat, the tongue was just heavenly. Soft and tender, the boss gave me a bigger portion which was awesome. The miso element also blended well together, a nice element to the dish.

7. Shabu shabu, kato farm tomato kiwame, argula, sesame sauce. The tomato served was ridiculously delicious, they didn’t do anything to it to show respect to the producer and I’m still thinking about it. They don’t get this ingredient all the time as the producer sells a limited amount of tomatoes daily (like 20 tomatoes) so Tanaka really wanted to highlight the significant of this tomato. It had a sweetness unlike any tomato I’ve had, the texture also was unique. There was meat served and the sesame sauce was delicious as well but the tomato was life changing.

8. Beef consommé ramen: simple beef broth, very flavourful and aromatic. The broth is light and had a beautiful amber colour, noodles were thin. Sometimes the simplest dishes are the best

9. Wood fire baked chateaubriand. Perfectly cooked steak, just meats in your mouth and the flavour was amazing. You don’t need to add anything else but they provide extra salt and wasabi which were great as well but this dish captures the meal best, the best ingredients prepared with care. Got an extra piece again, made my day

10. Gin no ki rice, simmered beef with ginger (shigure ni), pickles, miso soup: then finally we have the oshoukuji course, the rice is sourced from Tanaka’s home prefecture. Rice by itself was a treat, like little white jewels. The beef shigure ni was a perfect match for the rice, then add in the pickles and its the ideal Japanese meal.

11. Tochigi strawberry, shizuoka melon. Soft and sweet melon and a flawless strawberry. They really only source the best of ingredients. we’re served kyoto sencha, a nice way to end a terrific meal.

The meal for me was delicious and a great way to try the finest ingredients in Japan. Tanaka san being there improved the experience for me, I recommend the meal to anyone who either loves beef or wants to try high quality ingredients from Japan. The price tag is definitely not cheap, so it can be hard to justify the price tag. This isn’t the restaurant for me to revisit often though, maybe once every 2-3 trips as I feel satisfied just coming this one time. I may repeat in the future depending on circumstances, but would rate the meal very highly