Key points
Yakiniku Great specializes exclusively in Japanese Black Wagyu beef; its New York City restaurant is the brand’s first U.S. location.
Instead of traditional yakiniku, where diners grill their own meat, Yakiniku Great serves Wagyu omakase-style, with staff grilling each cut for a precise amount of time.
Six- and eight-course menus emphasize leaner akami and less common Wagyu cuts, highlighting differences in flavor and texture.
There’s no shortage of sushi omakase restaurants in New York, but Yakiniku Great applies a similar format specifically to Wagyu beef. At its first U.S. location, which opened in June on West 17th Street in Manhattan, diners choose a chef-curated tasting menu, watch staff grill each cut, and order additional dishes as desired à la carte.
Owner and executive chef Shoji Tsugawa opened the first Yakiniku Great in Japan’s Tochigi prefecture in 2008, specializing in rare cuts of Wagyu beef. By 2015, he had expanded to Tokyo and Hong Kong, where demand was high enough that the restaurant imposed time limits on reservations. By the end of the decade, Yakiniku Great had introduced an omakase-style experience at its SoHo location in Hong Kong, with staff grilling each cut individually to achieve its intended temperature and doneness. Today, Yakiniku Great operates three locations in Japan, two in Hong Kong, two in Malaysia, and one in Indonesia, in addition to its latest New York City outpost.
Built-in tabletop grills are a hallmark of Japanese yakiniku dining, but at Yakiniku Great, the staff grills the meat for you.
Credit: Courtesy of Yakiniku Great
How dinner works
Traditional yakiniku is a communal meal in which diners cook meat and vegetables over a grill built into the table. At Yakiniku Great, however, staff handle the grilling, adjusting the cooking time to each cut. Diners can sit at a 14-seat counter, where they interact with the chef much as they would at a sushi counter, or at one of four tables.
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The only meat the restaurant serves is Japanese Black Wagyu beef, also known as Kuroge Wagyu. The chef selects cuts based on what’s available that day, with a choice of a six- or eight-course menu for $130 or $175, respectively. Some courses feature multiple cuts of meat; others contain no meat at all, such as somen noodles in dashi broth or sesame-dusted mizu mochi.
Why the menu emphasizes leaner Wagyu
Wagyu is known for its richness, its marbling, and its soft, melt-in-your-mouth texture — all of which come from its high fat content. The fat melts as the beef cooks, helping it retain moisture.
“We’re known for our focus on leaner cuts of Wagyu and rare cuts” known as akami, says owner Shoji Tsugawa, “rather than simply chasing the highest level of marbling.” One of his favorites is uwa-misuji, a small, lean, umami-rich cut from the top of the shoulder blade.
Across a multicourse meal, that approach lets diners compare different levels of richness, textures, and beef flavors. It also helps explain why staff cook each piece individually instead of leaving the entire meal to diners at the grill.
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Kuroge Washu, or Japanese Black, is one of four cattle breeds recognized as Japanese Wagyu. It is also the most prevalent, accounting for more than 90% of Japanese Wagyu production, according to the Japan Food Product Overseas Promotion Center. Tsugawa says the beef served at Yakiniku Great comes directly from Japan and is never frozen in transit.
Highlights from the Yakiniku Great menu
From carefully grilled Wagyu to delicate noodles, these four dishes showcase the range of the restaurant’s omakase experience.
Misuji: This rare cut from the upper shoulder is a standout. It’s seared for just three seconds per side, then folded and served with a dipping sauce that complements the beef’s umami-rich flavor without overpowering it.
Tsukune: Part of the menu’s “Wagyu, Reimagined” section, this bite-sized melt-in-your-mouth Wagyu meatball is nestled in a shiitake mushroom cap. After searing, it’s finished with a lightly sweet tare sauce and a goopy, luscious egg yolk.
Somen noodles: Elegant thin wheat noodles in warm dashi broth provide a delicate finish to the savory portion of the tasting menu.
Uni-Chateaubriand: This $70 add-on pairs lightly seared filet mignon with garlic butter–soy sauce, rice, creamy uni (sea urchin), and thinly sliced scallions served over rice — a concentrated combination of beefy, buttery, and briny flavors.
What can you add to the omakase?
The tasting menu is the starting point, not the only way to order. Diners can add individual portions of Wagyu, including filet mignon, chateaubriand, and less familiar Japanese cuts.
The $70 Uni-Chateaubriand pairs a quickly seared filet with rice, mushrooms, scallions, and uni (sea urchin); the restaurant limits it to 10 servings a day. Vegetables and izakaya-style dishes, including yaki onigiri, are also available à la carte.
The Uni-Chateaubriand is a $70 tasting-menu supplement limited to 10 servings daily.
Credit: Courtesy of Yakiniku Great
The menu’s “Special Rare Cut Experience” refers to cuts that may be unfamiliar to American diners, such as daisankaku from the lower inner thigh, shakushi from the shoulder, and tougarashi, a chile pepper–shaped shoulder cut. It also refers to the restaurant’s preference for serving many cuts rare.
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“Japanese Black Wagyu has a very low melting point,” Tsugawa says, “so if you cook it too much, you lose the ideal texture, moisture level, and character that make it special.”
Silky somen noodles in warm, umami-rich kombu dashi close the savory portion of the meal.
Credit: Courtesy of Yakiniku Great
Fresh, crisp vegetables offer a counterpoint to the richness of Wagyu.
Credit: Courtesy of Yakiniku Great
A crème caramel–like steamed pudding with whipped cream concludes the meal.
Credit: Courtesy of Yakiniku Great
What to know before making a reservation
The serene dining room pairs clean lines with a monochromatic palette of black and gray.
Credit: Courtesy of Yakiniku Great
The restaurant does not serve wine or cocktails with the meal, though sake is available. It also says it cannot accommodate allergies or aversions to seafood, shellfish, soy, gluten, or alliums because those ingredients appear throughout its sauces and condiments. Diners with dietary restrictions should confirm whether the menu is suitable before making a reservation.
“You know, I like to think our yakiniku is a little more for grown-ups like myself,” says Tsugawa. “We hope guests enjoy watching it happen in front of their eyes.”
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