Aragawa @ Tokyo, Japan - World's Priciest Restaurants

Aragawa - World's Priciest Restaurants
3-3-9 Shinbashi B1F, Minato,
Tokyo, Japan
Tel: +81 3 3591 8765

Topping Forbes’ annual listing of the world’s most expensive places to dine for the past three years in a row, Aragawa serves select Sanda wagyu steaks. Superbly tender, the Japanese beef is broiled in a charcoal-fired brick oven and presented simply, with pepper and mustard. One Michelin star.”

Tokyo is an expensive city to dine in but with prices starting about USD$370, Aragawa tops them all. It's really no suprise since the restaurant is situated in one of the city's priciest districts. But hasn't stopped a regular stream of steak lovers coming back for seemingly simple ensembles like steak with pepper and mustard. Reservations are tough, but the succulent $400 Wagyu (Kobe) beef, courtesy of pampered sake-fed cows. The platters of beef, sourced from only one local ranch.

Wagyu (Kobe) beef, courtesy of pampered sake-fed cows

The meat was grilled in a special brick oven heated with binchō-tan, a high quality Japanese charcoal made from oak in the Wakayama prefecture, seasoned with only salt and pepper to enhance the natural flavors of the beef. The sirloin was cooked to perfection, with a smoky sear on the surface and a glistening color of medium rare red in the center. The knife simply fell through the tender meat fibers down to the porcelain plate, and it was like cutting through air. Every bite, a squirt of warm savory juice filling your oral cavity with a luscious aromatic veil, while the marbled fat will permeating your taste buds with a light and sweet flavor. This fatty cut of meat wasn’t heavy, you'll finished this 200 gram portion of Sanda-gyu without feeling its physical weight in your stomach. No words can describe how incredible is this steak!

The best things in life don’t come for free though, it’s probably the most expensive piece of meat in the world…but it was worth every $$$

Read this, from GOING PLACES (November 2010)