“醍醐味” Daigomi is a Japanese expression for the ultimate flavour or pleasure of something, and reflects the relentless pursuit of perfection in everything they do. And this can be encapsulated with Japanese wagyu beef.
Okahan 岡半 is a classy sukiyaki restaurant that is dedicated to the art of Kanto-style grilled meat in sauce. Beautifully decorated and furnished, the atmosphere of a reverent Japanese restaurant is there right from the entrance. The restaurant has private rooms and a tatami room that can seat 28 pax. It is a place frequented by contemporary celebrities and foodies.
This is not the main store, they have another sukiyaki restaurant in Ginza, and a teppanyaki restaurant above their Honten. But this is most popular among their restaurants because of the highest level of service and great ambiance. Due to its high level of prestige and price, it is not frequent spot to come for sukiyaki.
Okahan is known for Matsuzaka beef, which is one of the premium wagyu brands in Japan. A lesser known cousin to Kobe, but IMHO it’s a better wagyu than Kobe. Our group picked the set lunch that included all three styles of beef served in the restaurant – grilled, shabu-shabu and sukiyaki.
Interestingly, the appetiser used a very Chinese ingredient – jellyfish. Shredded jellyfish is mixed with cucumber in a sesame sauce, very simple but I didn’t quite like the taste of this particular sesame sauce.
Grilled Beef
The cut of the beef is the Matsuzaka A5 wagyu filet from Mie Prefecture. A piece of the beef fat is provided to grease the cast iron pan. Each piece of meat is grilled individually by an experienced chef at your table, so you can have it cooked to your liking. The beef is very simply seasoned with salt and black pepper and then grilled on the hot pan.
I always have my beef medium rare, but I would suggest to go slightly closer to medium for these superbly marbled beef to release all the flavours of the fats. The grade A5 wagyu beef was melt-in-your-mouth delicious, and while I wanted to eat it quickly while it was hot and tasted the best, I also tried to eat it really slow to enjoy each bite to the fullest.
To cut the greasiness, grilled wagyu is always accompanied by grated radish (as would you with grilled fish). You can add more flavours to the grated radish with the special soy sauce which you pour onto the grated radish.
Besides the beef, the grilled steak is accompanied with grilled onions from Awajishima, which is famous for their exceptional sweet onions, and shishito peppers. They tasted wonderful when grille don the pan with the beef fats.
Shabu-Shabu
After enjoying the grilled beef, next up is their specialty. The sukiyaki and shabu-shabu at Okahan are prepared with the utmost care and attention to detail, ensuring that each dish is bursting with flavour.
We started with shabu-shabu and the beef used was the thinly sliced Matsuzaka A5 wagyu loin.
The beef is boiled in 昆布だし kombudashi (kelp broth) by the 仲居 nakai (waitress) right at table side. You can see the pinkish raw beef transformed into delectable pieces right before your eyes.
There’s no additional taste except for the melt-in-your-mouth wagyu beef, which I strongly recommended one piece (or half a piece) without any condiments to enjoy the original taste of the super high quality Matsuzaka wagyu. The melting in one’s mouth sensation comes from the unsaturated fatty acids in the beef. Then add some condiments if you want to enhance the monotonous flavour.
There are two specially made dips concocted in-house – ポン酢 ponzu dip made from dark soy sauce, だいだい daidai (Japanese orange) citrus juice, vinegar and soup stock; and ごまだれ sesame dip made from white sesame paste, white miso and soup stock. You can adjust the taste of the dips with 大根おろしdaikon-oroshi (grated Japanese radish), もみじおろし momijioroshi (grated Japanese radish and red pepper) and/or 万能葱 ban’nō negi (spring onion).
The rest of the ingredients – 白菜 hakusai (chinese cabbage), 豆腐 tofu (tofu),椎茸 shiitake (shiitake mushroom), 葱 negi (leeks), 春菊 shungiku (garland chrysanthemum), 人参 ninjin (carrot) and 葛切り kuzukiri (noodles made from arrowroot powder) – are then cooked one by one in the same broth.
Sukiyaki
Sukiyaki is prepared by a certified chef who is responsible for hand-slicing Matsusaka beef in traditional paper-thin pieces.
The Nakai waitress then cooked the beef and vegetables at table side with their specially prepared warashita soy sauce blended using a secret recipe.
Japanese eggs are traditionally served raw and whipped into a delicious eggy dip; because of top-quality farming, these eggs are proven to not have the Salmonella bacteria and are safe to be eaten raw.
They serve the beef first, veggies next, and at the end they put either noodles or rice and eggs into the tasty remaining stock. But because this is a course meal with all three styles, they will not be doing the last bit. Instead, they can provide plain steam rice.
The sauce used for sukiyaki can be very rich, so some plain steamed rice is in order. However, rice is always served with red-miso soup and Japanese-style pickles which will be brought along with the rice.
Dessert
Dessert is a simple affair with a generous slice of Shizuoka crown melon. Crown Melon is a brand name of musk melon produced in the western part of Shizuoka prefecture. It will be tough to eat other melons after having tasted a Crown Melon, believe me! It is unfortunate that one can’t convey the perfume and taste.
The service is top-notch, and the chefs provide mesmerising culinary demonstrations. Despite the high-end ambiance, there is a welcoming atmosphere with touches of humour from the staff who spoke great English. The traditional Japanese sukiyaki is highly recommended for its quality. Full table service and the nakai will cook the meat and veggies to perfection.
Okahan Sukiyaki 岡半 すきやき・しゃぶしゃぶ
4-1 Kioi-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-8578, Japan
ホテルニューオータニザ・メイン ロビィ階(2階)
Tel: +81 (03) 3261 3417 (Reservations)
Visited Mar 2025
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