25 October 2023 , 14:36
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A trendy new restaurant now has Britain’s most expensive steak on its menu - setting diners back a hard-to-swallow £900 each.
The incredible 14oz sirloin cut from the Tajima strain of black wagyu cattle has gone on sale at posh Mayfair eatery Aragawa. Doors opened last weekend but if you're planning on taking a trip, best check out the prices before ordering.
The rare meat is aged for around a month while shipped in from Japan but bosses defended the price, say it's good value and customers won't feel short changed. Their steak is sourced from farms which are home to fewer than 1,000 animals and prices in the restaurant start from £500.
Tajima beef undergos rigorous certification by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries before making its way onto forks. The kitchen will be overseen by so-called “steak master” Kazuo Imayosh and the owners are sure it will be a high-end hit.
“We are not overpricing it - You won’t find anything like this anywhere in the world. I feel confident to say you won’t find a steak like this in London or in fact anywhere else,” founder Kotaro Ogawa told the Evening Standard as it threw open its doors on Friday night.
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Those who went to try the steak in the Tokyo branch offered mixed reviews online. One wrote: “We can’t recall any stunning dishes” while others called the food “perfection for a price” and another hailed their visit as “a bucket-list experience”.
The opening came days after Harrods came under fire after leaving customers aghast by a £28 steak sandwich at the Knightsbridge store. The takeaway offering is filled with luxury ingredients - Wagyu beef, one of the world's priciest meats that is imported from Japan, as well as porcini and truffle butter, gold mustard mayonnaise and mushrooms, rocket and braised onions.
Wagyu can cost as much as £160 per pound, while truffle is one of the most expensive ingredients going, costing between 65p and £1 for a single gram. But a roast beef and horseradish mayo sarnie from Marks & Spencer costs just £4, with punters able to buy seven for the same price as the Harrods snack.
Also available for the same price are Wagyu Katso 'Sandos' - Japanese for sandwich - measuring a tiny four by three inches. These contain tiny pieces of deep-fried Wagyu ribeye with mushroom ketchup, BBQ sauce and shredded white cabbage between two slices of bread.
On social media, food fans raised eyebrows over the £28 lunch offering. One, writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, said: "Just saw someone on TikTok buy and review a sandwich from Harrods that was £28. TWENTY. EIGHT. BRITISH. POUNDS."