Wagyu beef is one of the top gourmet foods that foreign tourists visiting Tokyo seek out, ranked among the likes of sushi, formal Japanese cuisine, and yakiniku.
In the past few years restaurants specializing in "rokama steak" cooked in the oven have been opening one after another, inspired by famous restaurant "ARAGAWA," and they're constantly locked into a fierce battle for customers.
This special feature article will introduce 11 carefully-selected "truly delicious steak restaurants" in Tokyo.
If you're visiting Japan, don't just focus on sushi; you absolutely must enjoy the marvels of authentic wagyu beef!

ARAGAWA is a famous Tokyo restaurant specializing in steak that any meat-lover is sure to have heard of.
Kobe cows are considered the best variety of Tajima cattle (a breed of black wagyu cattle). ARAGAWA uses meat from "Sanda cattle," a cream of the crop variety of Kobe cattle raised and fattened in Hyogo Prefecture's Sanda City, and their delicious steaks have enchanted Tokyo's gourmands for over half a century.
In recent years many restaurants that imitate ARAGAWA's rokama steaks have opened one after the other, but none are able to match the ingredient quality and cooking skills displayed at ARAGAWA.
While the price is certainly extremely high at over 100,000 yen per person, ARAGAWA is the restaurant to visit if you are looking to enjoy truly authentic wagyu beef.

This long-standing steakhouse was founded in 1984 as a branchoff from Tokyo's top steakhouse ARAGAWA.
While their "rokama-yaki," "Sanda beef," and "smoked salmon" are essentially inherited from ARAGAWA, you'll find round, rump, and other cuts here at GORIO in addition to the sirloins and fillets that ARAGAWA exclusively serves.
The steaks cooked in the rokama by the talented Chef Matsumoto are as delicious as you might imagine. You can enjoy Tokyo's top-class wagyu steaks for around 17000 yen at lunch time, quite the deal.

This popular steakhouse was opened recently by Chef Morichi, who has worked at both "ARAGAWA" and "Dons de La Nature."
Rather than focusing on a specific brand of meat, Trois Fleches instead chooses to source their meat from trusted sellers, often acquiring top-quality beef from masterfully-fattened cattle.
They purchase not only fresh Kuroge wagyu beef, but aged meat and short-horned cattle as well, resulting in a vast and well-rounded menu lineup.
Of course, they offer delicious steaks with a beautiful crust that are cooked in a rokama, but a "popular secret" at Trois Fleches is their varied lineup of appetizers, made with fresh seasonal ingredients.
Unlike most restaurants in Ginza, where stores all look posh and refined, there is no defined dress code for Trois Fleches, and you can visit even in more casual clothing.

This established steakhouse is run by Chef Oshima, who has worked at famous Kyoto restaurant "Yutaka."
"Yutaka" is famous for its luxurious fillet steaks, but "Shima" is instead known for its sirloin steaks.
The steaks purchased for "Shima" are packed with the delicious, rich flavors characteristic of red meat. When you take a bite of the delicious meat, cooked to perfection in a rokama, the deep umami notes of quality wagyu beef spread throughout your mouth.
When you stop by, be sure to get their steak sandwich to go - it's making a huge splash on Instagram! (If you give it to the staff at a sushi restaurant or kappo-ryori restaurant, they're sure to be super excited!)

This up-and-coming steakhouse is garnering plenty of attention as potentially being the restaurant using the highest-quality wagyu beef in all of Tokyo.
Here only the finest beef is used; they purchase beef from the best individual Kobe cows, which are the top breed of Tanba cattle.
Their steak is grilled in a rokama, much like that at "ARAGAWA," and while the steak has a lovely crust, just a few millimeters deeper lies velvety-smooth and tender beef.
After experiencing famous restaurants like "ARAGAWA," "Dons de la Nature," and "Trois Fleches," unfortunately the talented Chef Sugai of "IDEA" has left the restaurant, which is somewhat worrisome.
How will the restaurant react to losing such an important figure? I look forward to seeing how this plays out.

This popular restaurant is relatively new, having opened in 2015, and was created by a number of former staff of "ARAGAWA" branch restaurant "GORIO," who hoped to make "Japan's greatest steakhouse."
Its rokama is currently operated by Chef Ichinomiya, who has worked at restaurants like "Trois Fleches" and "IDEA."
VESTA uses the same "Sanda" brand beef as "ARAGAWA," and they only purchase the highest-quality meat from carefully vetted merchants.
As you'd expect of a restaurant where the staff wish to always put as much care as possible into their product, the wagyu they serve isn't the only quality ingredient used; the ingredients used in their appetizers are also first-rate.
Wagyu beef, beluga caviar, uni, truffle, matsutake mushrooms.... VESTA's dishes and their luxurious ingredients have gained it fierce popularity, even among overseas gourmands who seek culinary delights.

This traditional steakhouse was opened by Chef Yuki, who worked at "GOHEI" for 7 years.
Steak Dining Vitis serves wagyu steaks at a more affordable price thanks to the chef's desire to have more people experience the delights of rokama steaks.
Despite the lower price point, however, the daily lineup of beef includes top-quality specimens raised and fattened over long times, such as "Nozaki beef" from Kagoshima and "Tamura beef" from Tottori.
The smoked salmon and consomme soup appetizers, inspired by "ARAGAWA," are also incredibly close to absolute perfection, making meals at Steak Dining Vitis one of the most satisfying courses in Tokyo.
This is the #1 restaurant to visit if you want to enjoy authentic wagyu steak without too much of a fuss.

The world-famous steakhouse "Kawamura" is run by the talented Chef Kawamura. During his time working at famous restaurant "Yutaka," he worked alongside the younger Chef Hirayama, who has now gone on to open up the popular steakhouse Ginza Hirayama.
Following the traditions of "Yutaka," the various dishes served day and night at Hirayama, focusing primarily on wagyu fillets, are enough to bring any gourmand to their knees.
Fillet steaks here are slowly cooked in a roaster, stylistically different than a rokama kiln, resulting in a delightfully textured meat that goes down well.
When you visit, be sure to try their luxurious hamburger steaks and menchi-katsu, both made with a blend of Chateaubriand and sirloin.

"Wagyu" beef can be from 4 different families of cattle: Kuroge (Japanese Black), Akage, Tankaku (short-horn), and Mukaku (Japanese Polled). However, these are all cross-bred with foreign varieties to improve the breed.
"Mishima" cattle are a breed of wagyu that have not been crossed at all with foreign cattle, and as they are currently designated as a "Natural Monument," only a few Mishima cattle are put to market per year, and those rare specimens are always castrated bulls.
You can enjoy that rare Mishima beef here at Bon.nu, run by Chef Kurusu, who supposedly possesses a "God Tongue."
That super-valuable wagyu beef, from one of only 10 cattle of the breed available per year, is slowly pan-fried over 6 hours before being served.
When you bite into the luxurious wagyu beef it overflows with delicious umami-packed juices with a unique flavor that stands out even from "Matsuzaka beef" and "Tanba beef."
If you love meat, you absolutely have to try this incredibly rare wagyu beef chased after even by Japan's top chefs here at Bon.nu!

This new restaurant was founded by Chef Sugai, who has worked at "ARAGAWA" and "Don de La Nature," and greatly contributed to the popularization of "IDEA GINZA."
Beef tongue, sirloin, Chateaubriand, round, rump steak....
This time Chef Sugai is partnered with Chef Hirata, who has experience from a French restaurant holding one Michelin star, and the two of them deliver exceptionally delicious dishes made with the highest-quality Kobe beef!
Younger meat-lovers are a huge fan of rokama steaks with a tasty outer crust and a moist, tender interior, and that style is alive and well here at KOKORO!
It's unusual for steakhouses to feature counter seats, but it lends a lively, open feeling and works well here at KOKORO, and it's sure to see booming popularity soon enough.

This tucked-away steakhouse is run by Chef Mezaki, who has experience working at the no longer running famous Asakusa restaurant "Irikin."
The restaurant is located in a building complex and cooks its meat in a commercial shichirin (earthen charcoal brazier), which may seem off-putting to some, but if you try one of their steaks you're sure to change your mind.
The amazingly high-quality wagyu beef used here rivals that at any of Ginza's top-class restaurants, and the chef skillfully transforms it into a spectacular steak.
Here at Taira you can enjoy plentiful amounts of delicious wagyu beef at half the price you'd pay at any of Ginza's steakhouses.
If you're looking for a delicious and juicy steak without breaking the bank, this is the restaurant for you.