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When thinking about Japanese gastronomy, one often thinks about seafood first. Yet, another product that has a fantastic reputation, but seldom found in Europe, is the subject of must discussion: wagyu beef, an name under which several beef species are regrouped. They are used in Japan because of their high propension to yield a very marbled meat, rich in intramuscular fat, a highly sought-after quality. If the most often quoted example is Kobe beef, other regions like Matsusaka or Kagoshima are also reknowned for their bovine output.

However, after nurturing the dream of tasting this legendary product, I resigned myself to do that another time, as I was still troubled at the idea of spending that much money for a “simple” steak. Then, during our stay at the Iwaso ryokan in Miyajima, we were served a sukiyaki with very marbled beef. Just after the first bite of this very profound-tasting beef, I realized my mistake: I did not know when I would come back in Japan, so I had to have a steak there before leaving.
As it was not possible to have a reservation for Kawamura, that I discovered through a fantastic post on Gastroville (which may very well be my favorite food-blog out there), I was wondering whether I should go to the illustrious Aragawa, or the less famous Dons de la Nature. After checking a few websites, I settled with the latter. What a great idea that was!
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Galerie photos

When making reservation for restaurants during our stay in Japan, I mainly focused on those which could offer products whose quality is no match for what we find in France. This meant mainly seafood, and lots of sushi.

Yet, one of the first reservations I booked was Aronia de Takazawa. It’s a micro-restaurant, with only two tables, seating a maximum a 8 persons every night. The menu is set, one can only chose the number of dishes served. What brought me there? Apparently this restaurant had developed a kind of “cult” in Japan, the pictures of the dishes on their website intrigued me… and reading some praise about it here and there helped a lot, too.
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Galerie photo

Going to Nabura wasn’t exactly my idea, but Akiko from Aronia de Takazawa recommended it warmly. A quick check on the usual websites confirmed that this was probably a good idea to get a reservation there, so I did.

Nabura lies in Roppongi, in an unattractive part of Tokyo. However, as soon as one enters the restaurant, it’s a real oasis of voluptuousness that appears. Everything, from the few steps leading to the dining room, the dishware, waitstaff kimono and even the music oozes with refinement.
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