Not by any means the holiday planner, The European comes into her own when it comes to Japan. She organised an amazing first trip to this incredible country, and the second time around, she handled the restaurants. I had never heard of the finest cut of Wagyu beer – the Omi T-Bone – before she told me she had booked the only restaurant that serves it. Suddenly, it became the only steak I ever needed.
At just after five in the evening, we arrived at T nakameguro in Meguro City, a quiet and affluent inner suburb of Tokyo, around two kilometres south of Shibuya. We were two people in the fully booked, fourteen-strong sitting for early dinner (there’s a half-past-eight sitting three hours later). We are seated in the centre of a fire-coloured u-shaped counter overlooking the open kitchen, where Head Chef Hattori Yukai presented the marbled boulder of raw Omi beef that will soon be prepared into an eleven course omakase menu that has resulted in this restaurant being ranked as one of the five best steakhouses in Japan.
And yes, the menu is pretty much eleven courses of Wagyu. It’s a thoughtfully organised carnivore’s delight that also showcases the creative approach that can be given to an ingredient that is usually just apportioned into mouthwatering steaks.
Nothing we ate was less than revelatory, but of particular note was the first course, a tartare of Omi, Ginko nuts, and caviar (the heaviest and most extravagant first course of a tasting menu I have ever enjoyed) and, obviously, the main course of an unadulterated slab of Omi, served with earthen pot rice and egg yolk. That said, seared in my memory will forever be the “Legend of [T]” sandwich, a dreamy Japanese ‘sando’ made with seared Wagyu. Cut no larger than the size of a ring box, this course was a tortuous reminder of just how incredible sandwiches can be.
A six-glass pairing of sake and Japanese wines was serene, matching well with each course. This includes a few glasses of Hinemos, sakes that are numbered according to the times of the day they are supposed to enjoyed (although we ended up drinking the “1” at 6pm and it was perfectly fine). A Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon blend from Takahata Winery chased down the final few courses of steak particularly well.
After this point of the meal, we were full, but there was still a choice of beef spice curry or Omi beef ochazuke (a rice and broth dish) to go which were both delicious, but we struggled to enjoy on account of our distending stomachs. The experience was closed off with a sweet mango dessert, served with either a glass of the legendary Yamazaki, or Hinemos “10” (at 8pm). Like the curry ad ochazuke, we chose one of each.
As you settle up, the servers and the chefs, a wonderful group of people who all work behind the counter and seamlessly blend into one, give you a bag containing the ‘souvenir of the day’. We waddled the long way back to Nakameguro Station and checked into our Pompompurin zoom in Ginza. I opened my souvenir, expecting a cake or petit fours, and my betsubara – the Japanese term for a separate stomach that’s always empty and ready for pudding – awaiting a sweet treat.
The souvenir was a takeaway box full of the curry from earlier. I was saddened, but from a restaurant that served up end-to-end Wagyu, what could I say? Sinuses packed with meat, we left the curry in the hotel room when we checked out the next day. I didn’t need any more Omi to remind me how amazing T nakameguro was.
Eleven course omakase menu ¥22,000 (£110) per person, wine and sake pairing ¥8,250 (£44) per person.
The food thing. 
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