Yakiniku Great
255 Queen’s Road
Central
Hong Kong

I thought I’ve had the best Yakiniku in places like Yakiniku Hiro in Kyoto, Totoraku in LA, and Tsuruhashi in Fountain Valley.  Yakiniku Great takes the cake by leaps and bounds as the BEST DAMN Japanese BBQ in my experience.  It’s a relatively new restaurant, that is actually a chain in Japan.  The speciality served is Kuroge Wagyu.  That probably explains why it is so much better than all the other Yakiniku places I’ve tried before.  It starts with an incredibly higher quality product.  I don’t think it has quite the popularity that it does in Japan since it didn’t pop up on my extensive research when I was planning my Japan trip. On the other hand, it is quite the popular spot in Hong Kong and came highly recommended by Perpetually Underwhelmed and 3SB.

The restaurant is clean and modern.

Fresh Raw Oyster kimuchi
No, that’s not a typo.  Apparently Japanese kimchi is spelled kimuchi.  The oyster came from Hiyogo, Japan.  I didn’t get to try one, but The Annoyer gave it a thumbs up.  Hefty price tag at over $7 for one oyster.

2 Kinds of Namuru
It’s always a bit bothersome you have to order and pay for something that is usually free.  I can’t ever say the Japanese versions of Korean banchan are ever any better than the original things.

GREAT Salad simple salt salad with walnuts
The salad turned out to be the one shortcoming of the night, but it really was true to its description.  Butter lettuce, light on dressing (probably olive oil and lemon juice), some sprouts, and crushed walnuts.  I could make this at home with my eyes closed!  A total rip off at $12.

Freshly Made Kimuchi
Not the overly fermented type of kimchi.  Still very crispy and fresh.

Negitoro Sushi
Normally this would be made with fatty tuna.  But in keeping with the specialty of the restaurant, this was some of the fattiest richest raw beef ever.  Amazing!

We let 3SB do the ordering of course.  He chose the Matsu Omakase, or the Premium Omakase with 7 kinds of special rare Wagyu.  Since he’s already enjoyed the Matsu before, he ordered it just for The Annoyer and me.

Kurisankaku
The meat for the omakase are a selection of lean and marbled cuts.  We started off with this fully trimmed lean meat.

They were very specific about how long to cook each piece of meat, 2 seconds for each side for this cut.  It was already seasoned lightly with salt and pepper and it was soo tender.  A fantastic way to start.

Chateaubriand wasabi soy sauce
Also known as a center cut tenderloin, chateaubriand is known for being very tender.  I would not dispute that at all.  Even though this was another “lean” cut, it was fatty on top of being tender.  A touch of soy and wasabi made this beef cut sing in my mouth.

Fillet garlic soy sauce
Well known as the most delicious lean cut, the fillet kept in line with the previous cuts being utterly delicious and mouthwatering.

Misuji with tare
This A5 Wagyu cut was described “the most popular and sold out quickly in Japan.”  It comes from a small part of the cow near the corner of the shoulder.  One cow only yields a few kilos of this precious cut.  No wonder it runs out!  It seriously just MELTS in your mouth.  YUMS!

Marushin with tare
Another delicious lean cut that was much thicker and therefore juicier than the previous thin slices of beef. 

Heaven!

Negitoro Rice raw wagyu beef with onion in rice bowl
Fairly similar to the negitori sushi, so totally BOMB!

Kimura Yaki with egg sauce
I’ll let you figure out if this was marbled or lean cut.  It was probably my favorite cut of the evening. 

The way it is served, with this egg/soy dipping sauce, was memorable for the luscious flavor and texture it added.  It was so smooth and silky on the tongue.  I’m just drooling thinking about it!  YUMS!!!

Tougarashi with wasabi
The last of our 7 cut omakase was this fantastic slice of lean but perfectly marbled beef.

Mixed Marbled and Lean Cut Wagyu
3SB had this mix of wagyu cuts, which was a pretty good deal at $36 compared to $80 per person for the omakase.   

Coffee Jelly with vanilla ice cream
We couldn’t decide which desserts to get, so in typical fat ass fashion we ordered all 3.  I never had coffee jelly so was intrigued by this option.  It’s just like jello but coffee flavored with a scoops of vanilla ice cream.  I’m not a coffee lover, so I can’t say I loved it.

Monaka Ice Cream green tea
3SB recommended this.  It was more impressive based on presentation.  Otherwise, it was a very standard Japanese dessert with match ice cream, mochi balls, and azuki.  The shell was pretty, but didn’t taste all that special.

Yuzu Sherbert
I love yuzu so was happy to have it in sherbert form.  It was very refreshing and light.  You can’t buy this one in the stores here!

You would be hard pressed to find something not to like at Yakiniku Great.  I have never had better yakiniku in my life!  The quality is outstanding.  The flavors are spot on.  They are truly delivering something special here.  I guess if I had known where to look, I probably would have found something just as good in Japan.  But as far as I’m concerned for now, the best yakiniku is in Hong Kong!

10 – You NEED to eat here
9 – Awesome
8 – Very good
7 – Good
6 – OK
5 – Average
4 – Not bad
3 – Not good
2 – Terrible
1 – Do NOT eat here