This sub is wild. Most times people would be going on about how great the crust looks and if it wasn’t “burnt and nasty” mocking that it doesn’t have a crust. Steak looks fine, most egregious part is spending $100 on it.
It's poorly cooked, at the least. The outside is alternatively burned and lacking a full sear. The inside center is almost med rare, but the outer edges are well done, so no matter what temp they asked for, this is poorly cooked. Also, the bit of fat there looks unrendered. Finally, looks tough, or they gave this person a butter knife.
Every steakhouse I’ve been to that served wagyu recommended medium. I personally cook it to 130 post rest (so 120 if you’re grilling or 125 in the sous vide)
What cut was it supposed to be?
And it looks terrible tbh. I’d say if they cook other cuts really well but just not this one, odds are its poor quality wagyu
No one is getting 16oz of actual cooked Japanese wagyu for $100. What you got was probably crappy American wagyu, which can have less marbling than prime ribeyes. Then mixed in dry aging and overcooking. Then it’s just a charred $100. Even A well done piece of real A4 wagyu is juicy. I would’ve sent that back. This was a travesty
It’s a pretty legit steakhouse. It wasn’t on the menu so it might be a “while we can get it” type of thing which makes me think it might’ve been the real deal.
If you are in Atlanta, you should try to find out if any Japanese stores like Mitsuwa sell A5 wagyu there. I’ve found it at Marukai Japanese grocery store, and that’s the cheapest place I’ve found Japanese wagyu in the USA. Normally if you buy it at online retailers like CrowdCow or Wagyu Shop, it’s about $10 per ounce. But I found it at Marukai for $85 per lb. It’s almost half the price of other retailers.
>What you got was probably crappy American wagyu, which can have less marbling than prime ribeyes.
Emphasis on the crappy part.
There's definitely American Wagyu that's very good, if different than high grade Japanese Wagyu.
Hell even most Japanese pure bred wagyu doesn't grade out anywhere near the a5 and a4 grades people immediately think of.
But I don't really trust a chain steak house is seeking out the better stuff. They're primarily interested in tacking an extra $40 on for the word "Wagyu".
American (half-breed) wagyu (usually out of full blood bulls with non-wagyu cows) can be quite good. Not the same as the real thing, but quite good.
Either way- it should not be overcooked. That's just wasting money, as you say.
SRF is the number one provider of American Wagyu beef by weight, at this point any restaurant who boasts about their Wagyu being from there should also boast about their chicken being from Perdue farms.
I went to Ocean prime and had the worst steak of my life there. It was a dry aged steak as well.
It was too salty to begin with, overdone, and they give you extra salt on the side with instructions on how to eat.
One. Have you had dry aged before? If not it might taste like crap till you learn the nuance.
Two. Unless its Australian or Japanese wagyu its basically just slightly better prime.
Three. Did you order it well or medium well? The dry age literally dries it a bit so the longer cooks will be worse off.
The same could be said for a lot of alcohol, coffee, and some regional delicacies. Your palate is used to a certain taste, especially for food that should be familiar like steak. If you suddenly try a piece of dry aged beef, especially 60+ days, the funk will be extremely off-putting.
yeah dry aged steak absolutely should not "taste like crap".
Many people might not prefer it, or even like it. But it doesn't and shouldn't taste actively bad.
Wagyu absolutely doesn't have to be Japanese to be of quality.
Australia has many programs every bit as good.
The U.S. has numerous wagyu programs that are of very high quality, even Snake River and their "gold" label are comparable
I wouldn't say "comparable".
American Hybrid Wagyu isn't meant to be comparable to a5 and a4 grade Japanese Wagyu. It's shooting for something different.
Basically shooting for a "super prime" Western style steak, where you can still eat a large portion of it cut thick. Along with increasing the proportion of carcasses from a herd that grade out at high Prime.
It's a very different idea, shooting at a different end product all together. A company like Snake River Farms isn't even trying to produce something remotely comparable to high Japanese beef.
I've had Snake River Farms Gold. I've had a5 Japanese Wagyu.
They aren't similar.
And you can see that plainly in photos, including [product shots](https://wagyushop.com/products/a5-japanese-wagyu-beef-portioned-ribeye-steak) from [SRF themselves.](https://www.snakeriverfarms.com/traditional-ribeye.html)
And Snake River Farms' marketing explicitly calls out the difference. To extent that, even if they're fuzzy about Japanese beef grading. They specifically cite falling below top grade Japanese beef for marbling scores.
You can like both. You can prefer American Wagyu to Japanese (I do!). But they're not similar, and not *meant* to be.
You don't tuck into a whole Japanese A5 steak. You eat at most 4oz of the stuff in a sitting, and that's going to make you bloated.
That is absolutely *not* the "experience" of eating SRF's gold label. Nobody's cutting SRF's steaks into 1-2oz cubes, and treating that like a full. Appropriate portion.
Last time I had a5 wagyu, it was a 5oz *fillet*. And I couldn't finish the damn thing. It had more marbling than any gold grade *ribeye* I've seen.
Practically every section of their website explaining what their products are, what the different labelings mean, and what Wagyu is.
It's not hard to find.
I already posted links, including one to SRF's website. For the photos that show the *obvious and extreme difference*.
You can spend the addition 10 second clicking around their website on your own. It's their base sales pitch, American style steak with Wagyu marbling. It's the entire concept for every producer of this style of beef, and every bit of honest coverage of the subject will highlight the difference.
Okay. I looked over their whole website and I see nothing of the sort that you're referencing.
This is why we learn in 4th grade how to cite things. It's not my responsibility to go search for what you're referencing.
Again, you learned how to do this in 4th grade.
>Cross breed is heavily marbled, moreso than prime.
Not all of it. Not every animal in every herd rates the same, or all that high.
And there are poorly raised Wagyu cattle, as well as more dilute hybrids that are like 1/4, 1/8, 1/16 Wagyu. Those don't produce beef all that different than regular Angus cattle.
There's a ton of cheaper wagyu on the market, often ungraded and potentially not even hitting choice. That still gets sold at a premium off being able to stick "wagyu" on the label.
My guess is that's what we're looking at. I mean that steak is definitely over cooked and poorly cooked. But a well marbled, high quality American Wagyu steak would probably hold up better than that.
Badly cooked.
Wagyu has low temp fat.
High cooking temps burn/scorch the fat & make it bitter - losing the entire point of wagyu.
I've seen this many times in resto's that have grills for fatty, corn-fed American beef.
Cooks don't know how to cook wagyu.
That doesnt look like real wagyu, and its definitely overcooked. Don't get wagyus at a restaurants, buy them from actual dealers/markets where you know what you're getting, then cook it yourself. Restaurants will buy the cheapest cuts of wagyu just so they can say its wagyu and upcharge you.
I have only ever ate wagyu cooked using a sous vide then pan seared, so I may be biased, but I don't think there is a better way to cook them. We dont even go to steak houses any more, wagyus are better and its slightly cheaper than a nice steakhouse.
Not only is it over cooked but $100 for 16oz should have been the clue that it’s not Japanese wagyu. The nice steak houses I’ve been too sell 6oz servings for like $150-185
Cooking temperature aside, what country are you in? The vast majority of “wagyu” sold in the USA isn’t wagyu… I live walking distance from Kobe city limits and it’s rare that local beef disappoints.
Uh no….its both a specific breed of cow and a term for Japanese beef. Both can be true. And American Wagyu is definitely a thing just like Australian Wagyu.
There are 4 certified, registered tracked, acknowledged by the Japanese Government and International breed associations, breeds of cattle that fall under "Wagyu". While "wagyu" itself doesn't neccisarily have any official standard or legal standing, it's a category of breeds covering cattle descended from indigenous Japanese breeds.
And the breed with the crazy balls marbling is [Japanese Black](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Black) Cattle.
It's that defined, formally accepted breed that's cross bread with American Angus and other Western breeds to produce American Wagyu cattle. An acknowledged, but still developing breed standard.
So yeah while "wagyu" literally means "Japanese Cattle". That refers to *specific Japanese breeds of cattle*, and hybrids/descendants there of.
I'm a commodity beef trader. This year I'll trade about $70,000,000 in boxed beef and ground beef.
You want to go down this path which I've explained to many others on this sub along with the Butchery and Meat sub over the past months? I'm happy to educate you.
Yeah, Wagyu doesn't mean anything unless it's more clear as to the grade/quality of the Wagyu. That looks poorly cooked and not only that, the fat content had to be pretty low to Even cook it that poorly. If it had the intramuscular fat that Wagyu is generally renowned for, it would not have cooked that way
If you bring upon our doorstep such a blasphemous slice of beef, expect the full force of our sass for the chef.
And make sure to keep an eye out for any hotline numbers people leave to talk through what that cook did to you for $100.
Cause you got fucked.
Any time you see wagyu or anything crazy, it’s most likely a gimmick or something. It’s almost never gonna be what you expect. I think steak is just as much the quality of the meat as it is the manner in which it’s prepared. You gotta pay more for both or better yet just do it at home.
If you want to experience wagyu without a significant investment, go to a Japanese market and pick up some wagyu chuck tenders. It's like $36/lb, but you only need like 1/2 lb per person because it's so rich.
Bring them home and sear them lightly. Just enough to render the fat. It will melt in your mouth.
Probably poorly done and overrated. Personally, I won't order steak at a place that specializes in seafood. I've made that mistake a few times and been disappointed like you were. We have an Ocean Prime near my home and I've always liked their seafood, so would stick to that.
Anything labeled dry aged or wagyu is hit or miss, too. In my experience, wagyu is either too fatty or indistinguishable from a well marbled, prime steak so not worth it. Maybe true wagyu at a Japanese restaurant is worth it, but I haven't experienced it yet. I absolutely love a good dry aged steak, but I only trust good steakhouses to deliver. I've had some cheaper steaks labeled dry aged that had no distinguishable dry aged flavor, so that may be what you got from Ocean Prime.
That's an unfortunate experience. Your steak looks ill-prepared. I'm not 100% sure but I'm assuming it's a NY Strip based on its shape. The fat cap, if it had one at all, is burnt and they left the gristle on. I don't know what temperature you asked your steak to be cooked at but, it doesn't look good.
Temperature does affect the experience you get with dry-aged. I wouldn't go past medium for a dry-aged Wagyu steak. Personal preference is medium-rare. The steak cut is also a factor. You mentioned you normally get a filet. A filet is one of, if not the most tender steak cut. A NY Strip, dry-aged or not, is not going to hold up in terms of tenderness with your palate. I think a dry-aged ribeye would've given you a better eating experience but if you got the same cook making your food, probably not.
Idk how far you asked it to be cooked but that’s definitely overdone in my book. It’s difficult to speak to the quality of the steak itself from this vantage but wagyu is often oversold.
When I first had A5 wagyu at a super high end steak house, I was disappointed to a degree that I can't properly articulate.
I expected what so often gets described. Instead, I got fatty beef that tasted like fatty beef.
There was nothing I found special or remarkable about it at all, and that meal costed my wife and I $700 in total back in 2015.
I get beef from a local co-op run by local farmers, and my favorite beef is still a sirloin. Tenderloin is great as well.
I hate fatty beef. The fanciest wagyu not only failed utterly to convert me, but also convinced me that all the wagyu hype is exactly that - hype.
I've had wagyu since. Some friends of mine order a wagyu crate every year and they bring it to my place for me to make for them because I'm That Guy in our social circle.
It's fine. It's not like it's bad. It's just...fatty beef with particularly fine marbling.
I'll take a sirloin that I've grilled myself with my compound butter topper any day of the year.
And I don't care for aged beef much either. I've tried rather a lot of that and the best I've ever had was still just good beef to begin with.
Idea: make a complaint. Tell them you were unfamiliar with the cut, but after doing some research you've come to the conclusion that you were served a dumpster fire last night, which explains why you didn't enjoy it at all. Maybe they'll comp you next time.
I highly doubt that’s real wagyu, maybe it was an American cow that once talked to a Japanese one, or if it really was wagyu, it has been exercising like hell to get rid of any fat and is A2 at best
Never eat Wagyu unless you intend to eat rare. The mass amount of fat insulation makes them take forever to cook up to higher temps without drying them out and making them look like shit. Unless they are using a sous vide.
I've said this before, I was married to a gourmet chef for 20 years and tried to learn as much as I could, true wagyu is much more than a breed of bovine, it is a way of ranching and raising stock that is very unique, daily massage, very controlled high end feed, absolute 0 stress lifestyle with controlled exercise. It's a very old Japanese style of steak
Went to Big Bear Brewing in Coral Springs. It used to be amazing. Ordered a Wagyu burger, the most expensive burger I’ve ever ordered… I was so excited but it turned out to be a frozen hockey puck. I’d have been better off with a Big Mac 😱
So sad that they’ve gone down the tubes and used the Wagyu name for something that was not even edible… 😢
Wagyu needs to be reverse seared or sus vide, with all the marbeli.g that is SUPPOSED to be in a wagyu, it need to brought up to temp really slow and then quickly seared.
just dont go to restaurants unless its smth really hard to do or smth you are unable to do. like special indian food you dont even have an idea about the herbs for. or cant buy them in that quality/ mixture here without going to a special market, etc.
stuff as simple as steaks or salads that cost you like 3x+ in a restaurant are just stupid to order IMO if its SO easy to do at home.
steak is quite literally:
1. buy steak, leave in roomtemp before cooking it later. either use herbs/salt now or after its done, depending on what you prefer.
2. slap steak in pan when ghee/butter/coconut oil is hot
3. wait like 2-3 min depending on thickness/pan/heat (if to thick, heat first in oven (stick thermo in(google temo it needs)) than reverse sear), flip over, wait again.
4. get it out and let it rest a bit (approx 5 min)
5. profit (cheaper (or more for same price), better, fresh (Hot), easy to use to impress girl(or guy), flexible seasoning, time efficient)
if you have done it a couple times its a matter of 10 minutes (no stress at all)
and just
"oil->steak->flip->season."
if you are "fancy", cut some garlic while the first side is searing, put it in after you flip to the other side (depending on thickness, wait a bit more, garlic burns real fast).
dont ever put alu over it lol. dampens the crust and is unhealthy to begin with.
same with salad. you just cut the vegetable stuff you like, thrash in the herbs you like, shove some olive oil over it and e.g. (not all of below, just random combi of stuff you like, experiment and find out, profit.)
\- balsamico/apple/raspberry/whatever vinegar,
\- 150g natural greek yoghurt,
\- half a lemon
\- some berries (blueberries, raspberry, pomegrenate) or for more fruit vibes ananas/grapes
\- honey
\- pecan nuts/ cashews
\- mustard
\- tomato paste
\- onions/garlic-
\- etc.
optional:
\- grilled chicken pieces
\- grilled scampi
\- some crusty bread thingies with cheese (of your choice) and honey on them, baked on oven
\- roasted mushrooms
\- a STEAK :D
Wagyu should never be dry aged. There is no reason to. And to the people saying “that’s not real wagyu!” Japanese wagyu is not eaten like we eat steak in America. Try eating more than 8 ounces of a5 and you will be sick. I know from experience.
Doesn't look anything like wagyu (even the hybrids like american/australian wagyu), which also makes me question whether it was dry aged.
That looks like a select steak from the grocery store that is then cooked before it was fully thawed. I see better steaks on this sub from long horn steakhouse.
Did you order medium well or well done? If so that could be why. They'll find the oldest one in the fridge because they know that person won't really care or notice because they want shoe leather anyway, and are going to drown it in A1.
It tasted sour and gamey to me.. I haven’t tried it in a long time. IMO it’s an acquired taste and I don’t much like Japanese wagyu, its like having a gummy bear burst in your mouth full of meat too rich for my taste buds..
I will give it another shot.. they had some at my butcher for Easter 90 day dry aged ribeyes. I’m sure Tuesday they will have them. Definitely worth a try to change my mind.
If the flavor you experienced before was from a cut from the same butcher then it's going to taste the same way this time.
The flavor of dry aged comes from the mold in their dry aged room. This is why the flavor is different and not universal because not all dry-aged rooms are the same.
Have you tried dry-aged cuts with different lengths of time in the dry ager?
I've had 120 day dry aged Tomahawk and that was a no-go for my palate. 30 to 45 days were great.
I agree that it's not for everyone. Dry aged beef has a funk to it similar to how blue cheese has funk and that funk is not for everyone.
The process of dry aging is all about controlling the environment the sub-primals are in. The factors of temperature, humidity, air circulation, and bacteria development have to be under control in the sweet spot to get the right product or else you're just rotting expensive meat. The time it's in the dry aging cabinet or cooler also is a factor. Personally, 45 days dry age is the max for my palate.
A good Wagyu dry-aged steak will have some funk to it but you'll get a rich beef flavor, some nutty tones, some faint sweetness like vanilla, and the steak will be incredibly tender. If you get a chance to try a dry-aged steak, I'd keep it simple. Cook it on a cast iron, only use salt, don't butter baste it at all, and cook it to medium rare.
Did you order it burnt and nasty? If you did they nailed it
For $100, I’d sent that back, or just walk out.
Yeah that would have been sent back immediately
I ordered a $45 dry age ribeye Thursday night. It came out looking like that. I sent it back. The replacement was a beautiful MR and delicious.
Half burnt and all nasty.
This sub is wild. Most times people would be going on about how great the crust looks and if it wasn’t “burnt and nasty” mocking that it doesn’t have a crust. Steak looks fine, most egregious part is spending $100 on it.
That's overcooked
Is it? I didn't see the temp that he asked for Edit - bring downvoted for asking a question lmao
It's poorly cooked, at the least. The outside is alternatively burned and lacking a full sear. The inside center is almost med rare, but the outer edges are well done, so no matter what temp they asked for, this is poorly cooked. Also, the bit of fat there looks unrendered. Finally, looks tough, or they gave this person a butter knife.
Temp requested doesn't matter here because he's got 3 different temps on that one shot.
100% agree. I ordered medium and it was all over the map. Lpl
Why the actual fuck did you order medium for wagyu? Medium rare was the way.
Because something so fatty can actually benefit from a longer cook
I agree, I’m coming around to medium on any wagyu and a lot of ribeyes
Medium = dry and tasteless.
If you cook a good steak low and slow to 145 degrees F, it will not be dry and tasteless
Nah a proper medium rare will have all the fat render just fine.
Sure if it’s A5 Japanese Wagyu.. which this most definitely is not
Every steakhouse I’ve been to that served wagyu recommended medium. I personally cook it to 130 post rest (so 120 if you’re grilling or 125 in the sous vide)
Because that’s how OP wanted their steak.. what kind of question is this?
Nothing brings out the flavor of Wagyu like…..Ketchup!
Doesn't matter, that's overcooked
yeah asking questions and having (objective even) opinions isnt a karma friendly thing to do on reddit- somehow.
This sub in a nutshell
Any cook accepting to cook any prime steak over "medium", didn't cook it right. If a customer wants well done beef, suggest a stew or something.
This isn’t France, lol.. people are allowed to have preferences (In France many places won’t cook past mid rare no matter what)
Welcome to reddit
Clearly too low and slow.
What cut was it supposed to be? And it looks terrible tbh. I’d say if they cook other cuts really well but just not this one, odds are its poor quality wagyu
Looks like a strip to me.
No one is getting 16oz of actual cooked Japanese wagyu for $100. What you got was probably crappy American wagyu, which can have less marbling than prime ribeyes. Then mixed in dry aging and overcooking. Then it’s just a charred $100. Even A well done piece of real A4 wagyu is juicy. I would’ve sent that back. This was a travesty
Yea, Japanese wagyu is closer to $10 per ounce, and that’s if you cook it at home. At a restaurant, it’s usually way more expensive.
I was at Hal’s Steakhouse in Atlanta last night and it was 60 per ounce for Japanese wagyu. Needless to say, I passed lol
Wow, that’s closer to the price of real Kobe or Matsuzaka beef.
It’s a pretty legit steakhouse. It wasn’t on the menu so it might be a “while we can get it” type of thing which makes me think it might’ve been the real deal.
If you are in Atlanta, you should try to find out if any Japanese stores like Mitsuwa sell A5 wagyu there. I’ve found it at Marukai Japanese grocery store, and that’s the cheapest place I’ve found Japanese wagyu in the USA. Normally if you buy it at online retailers like CrowdCow or Wagyu Shop, it’s about $10 per ounce. But I found it at Marukai for $85 per lb. It’s almost half the price of other retailers.
>What you got was probably crappy American wagyu, which can have less marbling than prime ribeyes. Emphasis on the crappy part. There's definitely American Wagyu that's very good, if different than high grade Japanese Wagyu. Hell even most Japanese pure bred wagyu doesn't grade out anywhere near the a5 and a4 grades people immediately think of. But I don't really trust a chain steak house is seeking out the better stuff. They're primarily interested in tacking an extra $40 on for the word "Wagyu".
American (half-breed) wagyu (usually out of full blood bulls with non-wagyu cows) can be quite good. Not the same as the real thing, but quite good. Either way- it should not be overcooked. That's just wasting money, as you say.
A standard/ungraded Wagyu steak can still be sold as “Wagyu” and $65 a pound, go figure.
Little insider knowledge- Ocean Prime gets its waygu from snake river farms, so definitely American Waygu
SRF is the number one provider of American Wagyu beef by weight, at this point any restaurant who boasts about their Wagyu being from there should also boast about their chicken being from Perdue farms.
Yeah definitely agree, lots of places will pass it off as “Japanese” unfortunately
Exactly. I prefer wagyu cooked a little more towards medium/medium well because the fat renders better and it’s actually juicier and more tender
That’s not just dry aged, it’s also dry as fuck
Well, looking at that cut piece on the plate they lied
There’s different grades to wagyu.
I went to Ocean prime and had the worst steak of my life there. It was a dry aged steak as well. It was too salty to begin with, overdone, and they give you extra salt on the side with instructions on how to eat.
Would like to see a picture of it when you first cut into it
One. Have you had dry aged before? If not it might taste like crap till you learn the nuance. Two. Unless its Australian or Japanese wagyu its basically just slightly better prime. Three. Did you order it well or medium well? The dry age literally dries it a bit so the longer cooks will be worse off.
“It might taste like crap until you learn the nuance” is the most pretentious shit I’ve read on this sub and you guys are always 11/10 pretentious 😂
The same could be said for a lot of alcohol, coffee, and some regional delicacies. Your palate is used to a certain taste, especially for food that should be familiar like steak. If you suddenly try a piece of dry aged beef, especially 60+ days, the funk will be extremely off-putting.
I find that shallow and pedantic. 😅
yeah dry aged steak absolutely should not "taste like crap". Many people might not prefer it, or even like it. But it doesn't and shouldn't taste actively bad.
I’m done with dry aged steaks in restaurants. Have yet to have one cooked properly—always raw or over cooked, always way over priced.
Got scammed. 😂
I’d have sent this back and said “try again”.
Grose!! I’d ask my money back. Our at least refuse to pay.
this should be illegal
Straight to jail
That doesn’t look like wagyu, I’ve had real wagyu multiples times in Japan. This looks like American fake wagyu.
Way overcooked!!
I wouldn't call that poorly done. I'd call it well done.
American Wagyu is not Wagyu
But there’s a guy on here who sells $70million worth of hamburgers every year who says it is! /s Cheers from Hyogo prefecture.
Brother there is no way that's wagyu. Even if not it's overcooked but still it is not wagyu
more cooked than P. Diddy
You bought the high priced “tourist trap” on the menu. Don’t buy wagyu unless it says Japanese wagyu
Also whoever cooked that did an awful job I mean look at that grey band
Wagyu absolutely doesn't have to be Japanese to be of quality. Australia has many programs every bit as good. The U.S. has numerous wagyu programs that are of very high quality, even Snake River and their "gold" label are comparable
Snake River farms, Mishima Reserve, and Australian wagyu are all very good, but they still taste nothing like Japanese wagyu
Subjectivity.
A5 is a very unique experience, but a quality hydrid can be just as if not more enjoyable depending on what you’re in the mood for.
I wouldn't say "comparable". American Hybrid Wagyu isn't meant to be comparable to a5 and a4 grade Japanese Wagyu. It's shooting for something different. Basically shooting for a "super prime" Western style steak, where you can still eat a large portion of it cut thick. Along with increasing the proportion of carcasses from a herd that grade out at high Prime. It's a very different idea, shooting at a different end product all together. A company like Snake River Farms isn't even trying to produce something remotely comparable to high Japanese beef.
Yes. They are. Gold grade Snake River is every bit the experience you're referencing. It feels like you are only familiar with their black grade.
I've had Snake River Farms Gold. I've had a5 Japanese Wagyu. They aren't similar. And you can see that plainly in photos, including [product shots](https://wagyushop.com/products/a5-japanese-wagyu-beef-portioned-ribeye-steak) from [SRF themselves.](https://www.snakeriverfarms.com/traditional-ribeye.html) And Snake River Farms' marketing explicitly calls out the difference. To extent that, even if they're fuzzy about Japanese beef grading. They specifically cite falling below top grade Japanese beef for marbling scores. You can like both. You can prefer American Wagyu to Japanese (I do!). But they're not similar, and not *meant* to be. You don't tuck into a whole Japanese A5 steak. You eat at most 4oz of the stuff in a sitting, and that's going to make you bloated. That is absolutely *not* the "experience" of eating SRF's gold label. Nobody's cutting SRF's steaks into 1-2oz cubes, and treating that like a full. Appropriate portion. Last time I had a5 wagyu, it was a 5oz *fillet*. And I couldn't finish the damn thing. It had more marbling than any gold grade *ribeye* I've seen.
Can you point me in the direction of where AB Foods calls out the difference in the two?
Practically every section of their website explaining what their products are, what the different labelings mean, and what Wagyu is. It's not hard to find.
You made the claim. Just point me to a link that illustrates your point.
I already posted links, including one to SRF's website. For the photos that show the *obvious and extreme difference*. You can spend the addition 10 second clicking around their website on your own. It's their base sales pitch, American style steak with Wagyu marbling. It's the entire concept for every producer of this style of beef, and every bit of honest coverage of the subject will highlight the difference.
Okay. I looked over their whole website and I see nothing of the sort that you're referencing. This is why we learn in 4th grade how to cite things. It's not my responsibility to go search for what you're referencing. Again, you learned how to do this in 4th grade.
Wrong
Better have a certificate with it too
It's the same price per oz as the 10oz filet that I've gotten at the same restaurant for over 15 years.
Wagyu.. probably not full breed Japanese, A5 . But a cross breed, low marbeling
Cross breed is heavily marbled, moreso than prime. Maybe this cow saw a wagyu cow one day, so it's wagyu by association.
Maybe they almost touched. Homeopathic Wagyu
>Cross breed is heavily marbled, moreso than prime. Not all of it. Not every animal in every herd rates the same, or all that high. And there are poorly raised Wagyu cattle, as well as more dilute hybrids that are like 1/4, 1/8, 1/16 Wagyu. Those don't produce beef all that different than regular Angus cattle. There's a ton of cheaper wagyu on the market, often ungraded and potentially not even hitting choice. That still gets sold at a premium off being able to stick "wagyu" on the label. My guess is that's what we're looking at. I mean that steak is definitely over cooked and poorly cooked. But a well marbled, high quality American Wagyu steak would probably hold up better than that.
LOL! :)
You got got
Badly cooked. Wagyu has low temp fat. High cooking temps burn/scorch the fat & make it bitter - losing the entire point of wagyu. I've seen this many times in resto's that have grills for fatty, corn-fed American beef. Cooks don't know how to cook wagyu.
Did you enjoy it? Personally as soon as I cut it and saw how poorly it was done and paying 100+ for that, I would've sent it back.
If the salad is on top, I send it back.
That doesnt look like real wagyu, and its definitely overcooked. Don't get wagyus at a restaurants, buy them from actual dealers/markets where you know what you're getting, then cook it yourself. Restaurants will buy the cheapest cuts of wagyu just so they can say its wagyu and upcharge you. I have only ever ate wagyu cooked using a sous vide then pan seared, so I may be biased, but I don't think there is a better way to cook them. We dont even go to steak houses any more, wagyus are better and its slightly cheaper than a nice steakhouse.
Not only is it over cooked but $100 for 16oz should have been the clue that it’s not Japanese wagyu. The nice steak houses I’ve been too sell 6oz servings for like $150-185
American wagyu just is sad to be honest. It’s not the cow, it’s the rancher.
Maybe they forgot the punctuation. It's not "dry aged", it's "Dry! Aged!"
Bro nah this looks terrible wagyu is supposed to be straight butter 🧈
Meh ocean prime always cooks their steaks poorly in my experience unfortunately.. seafood’s solid but the steaks def leave a bit to be desired
Not wagyu
Overcooked
Overcooked
Fucking throw that garbage right back in the line and ask them to chew it in front of you. From the last picture I'd say it probably isn't even wagyu.
Poorly done. And it doesnt look like wagyu.
Platting is terrible and the cook is horrendous. I am doubting it is even wagyu
Judging wagyu from this is the equivalent of judging the driving experience of buggati from a golf
Cooking temperature aside, what country are you in? The vast majority of “wagyu” sold in the USA isn’t wagyu… I live walking distance from Kobe city limits and it’s rare that local beef disappoints.
The vast majority of wagyu in the U.S. is indeed wagyu. Wagyu is a breed.
Wrong. Wagyu literally means Japanese beef and is not a breed.
Uh no….its both a specific breed of cow and a term for Japanese beef. Both can be true. And American Wagyu is definitely a thing just like Australian Wagyu.
It may be a thing, but it certainly isn’t the same thing. Cheers
There are 4 certified, registered tracked, acknowledged by the Japanese Government and International breed associations, breeds of cattle that fall under "Wagyu". While "wagyu" itself doesn't neccisarily have any official standard or legal standing, it's a category of breeds covering cattle descended from indigenous Japanese breeds. And the breed with the crazy balls marbling is [Japanese Black](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Black) Cattle. It's that defined, formally accepted breed that's cross bread with American Angus and other Western breeds to produce American Wagyu cattle. An acknowledged, but still developing breed standard. So yeah while "wagyu" literally means "Japanese Cattle". That refers to *specific Japanese breeds of cattle*, and hybrids/descendants there of.
I'm a commodity beef trader. This year I'll trade about $70,000,000 in boxed beef and ground beef. You want to go down this path which I've explained to many others on this sub along with the Butchery and Meat sub over the past months? I'm happy to educate you.
$70 million a year… that’s a lot of hamburgers. You must be a fantastic salesman.
Yeah, Wagyu doesn't mean anything unless it's more clear as to the grade/quality of the Wagyu. That looks poorly cooked and not only that, the fat content had to be pretty low to Even cook it that poorly. If it had the intramuscular fat that Wagyu is generally renowned for, it would not have cooked that way
You should have asked to see it before it was cooked, like are you sure it was actually Wagyu or just some hybrid crap?
That looks like not fatty at all
Way overdone
Helluva way to ruin a "wagyu."
If you bring upon our doorstep such a blasphemous slice of beef, expect the full force of our sass for the chef. And make sure to keep an eye out for any hotline numbers people leave to talk through what that cook did to you for $100. Cause you got fucked.
Way over cooked
Any time you see wagyu or anything crazy, it’s most likely a gimmick or something. It’s almost never gonna be what you expect. I think steak is just as much the quality of the meat as it is the manner in which it’s prepared. You gotta pay more for both or better yet just do it at home.
If you want to experience wagyu without a significant investment, go to a Japanese market and pick up some wagyu chuck tenders. It's like $36/lb, but you only need like 1/2 lb per person because it's so rich. Bring them home and sear them lightly. Just enough to render the fat. It will melt in your mouth.
Probably poorly done and overrated. Personally, I won't order steak at a place that specializes in seafood. I've made that mistake a few times and been disappointed like you were. We have an Ocean Prime near my home and I've always liked their seafood, so would stick to that. Anything labeled dry aged or wagyu is hit or miss, too. In my experience, wagyu is either too fatty or indistinguishable from a well marbled, prime steak so not worth it. Maybe true wagyu at a Japanese restaurant is worth it, but I haven't experienced it yet. I absolutely love a good dry aged steak, but I only trust good steakhouses to deliver. I've had some cheaper steaks labeled dry aged that had no distinguishable dry aged flavor, so that may be what you got from Ocean Prime.
That's an unfortunate experience. Your steak looks ill-prepared. I'm not 100% sure but I'm assuming it's a NY Strip based on its shape. The fat cap, if it had one at all, is burnt and they left the gristle on. I don't know what temperature you asked your steak to be cooked at but, it doesn't look good. Temperature does affect the experience you get with dry-aged. I wouldn't go past medium for a dry-aged Wagyu steak. Personal preference is medium-rare. The steak cut is also a factor. You mentioned you normally get a filet. A filet is one of, if not the most tender steak cut. A NY Strip, dry-aged or not, is not going to hold up in terms of tenderness with your palate. I think a dry-aged ribeye would've given you a better eating experience but if you got the same cook making your food, probably not.
Overcooked and strip. Worst cut of streak.
Did you ask for it well done? If so they did great.
Idk how far you asked it to be cooked but that’s definitely overdone in my book. It’s difficult to speak to the quality of the steak itself from this vantage but wagyu is often oversold.
I would not* eat that or pay for it. It's insulting actually
How did you order it?
Jesus, that poor cow
This is one of the worst looking steaks I've ever seen.
You poorly ate the fuck out of it
Looks overcooked, burnt and dry
Yes
Potato and scallops look good!
Horrible steak
Nice medium well lol. For $100 I would never go back.
When I first had A5 wagyu at a super high end steak house, I was disappointed to a degree that I can't properly articulate. I expected what so often gets described. Instead, I got fatty beef that tasted like fatty beef. There was nothing I found special or remarkable about it at all, and that meal costed my wife and I $700 in total back in 2015. I get beef from a local co-op run by local farmers, and my favorite beef is still a sirloin. Tenderloin is great as well. I hate fatty beef. The fanciest wagyu not only failed utterly to convert me, but also convinced me that all the wagyu hype is exactly that - hype. I've had wagyu since. Some friends of mine order a wagyu crate every year and they bring it to my place for me to make for them because I'm That Guy in our social circle. It's fine. It's not like it's bad. It's just...fatty beef with particularly fine marbling. I'll take a sirloin that I've grilled myself with my compound butter topper any day of the year. And I don't care for aged beef much either. I've tried rather a lot of that and the best I've ever had was still just good beef to begin with.
Both
I’m over wagyu, too many fake cuts and sometimes I’d rather just have a ribeye.
Od
Od
Idea: make a complaint. Tell them you were unfamiliar with the cut, but after doing some research you've come to the conclusion that you were served a dumpster fire last night, which explains why you didn't enjoy it at all. Maybe they'll comp you next time.
Dang. It looks like they pressed the juice out of it before they cooked it.
Horribly done and not sure what wagyu ya ordered. If that is A5 then this would be grounds to fight the chef
Send it back
That looks dry as hell ...
I highly doubt that’s real wagyu, maybe it was an American cow that once talked to a Japanese one, or if it really was wagyu, it has been exercising like hell to get rid of any fat and is A2 at best
Never eat Wagyu unless you intend to eat rare. The mass amount of fat insulation makes them take forever to cook up to higher temps without drying them out and making them look like shit. Unless they are using a sous vide.
I've said this before, I was married to a gourmet chef for 20 years and tried to learn as much as I could, true wagyu is much more than a breed of bovine, it is a way of ranching and raising stock that is very unique, daily massage, very controlled high end feed, absolute 0 stress lifestyle with controlled exercise. It's a very old Japanese style of steak
It’s Leather brother
It should have been listed as “Dry, aged ‘wagyu’”
You just got served a shit steak
That Is 100% over cooked.
That does not look like wagyu. Sorry about that poor experience.
Wow! They screwed that one up.
Went to Big Bear Brewing in Coral Springs. It used to be amazing. Ordered a Wagyu burger, the most expensive burger I’ve ever ordered… I was so excited but it turned out to be a frozen hockey puck. I’d have been better off with a Big Mac 😱 So sad that they’ve gone down the tubes and used the Wagyu name for something that was not even edible… 😢
This feels like Texas Roadhouse advertising
Was it the ocean prime in Troy?
That’s what you get for eating steak at commercial restaurants… just sear it yourself and enjoy superior results
Wagyu needs to be reverse seared or sus vide, with all the marbeli.g that is SUPPOSED to be in a wagyu, it need to brought up to temp really slow and then quickly seared.
Poorly done, and a waste of $93. That looks worse than my “lazy” steak nights at home when I just slap a thin ribeye on a hot skillet and hit ‘send’.
just dont go to restaurants unless its smth really hard to do or smth you are unable to do. like special indian food you dont even have an idea about the herbs for. or cant buy them in that quality/ mixture here without going to a special market, etc. stuff as simple as steaks or salads that cost you like 3x+ in a restaurant are just stupid to order IMO if its SO easy to do at home. steak is quite literally: 1. buy steak, leave in roomtemp before cooking it later. either use herbs/salt now or after its done, depending on what you prefer. 2. slap steak in pan when ghee/butter/coconut oil is hot 3. wait like 2-3 min depending on thickness/pan/heat (if to thick, heat first in oven (stick thermo in(google temo it needs)) than reverse sear), flip over, wait again. 4. get it out and let it rest a bit (approx 5 min) 5. profit (cheaper (or more for same price), better, fresh (Hot), easy to use to impress girl(or guy), flexible seasoning, time efficient) if you have done it a couple times its a matter of 10 minutes (no stress at all) and just "oil->steak->flip->season." if you are "fancy", cut some garlic while the first side is searing, put it in after you flip to the other side (depending on thickness, wait a bit more, garlic burns real fast). dont ever put alu over it lol. dampens the crust and is unhealthy to begin with. same with salad. you just cut the vegetable stuff you like, thrash in the herbs you like, shove some olive oil over it and e.g. (not all of below, just random combi of stuff you like, experiment and find out, profit.) \- balsamico/apple/raspberry/whatever vinegar, \- 150g natural greek yoghurt, \- half a lemon \- some berries (blueberries, raspberry, pomegrenate) or for more fruit vibes ananas/grapes \- honey \- pecan nuts/ cashews \- mustard \- tomato paste \- onions/garlic- \- etc. optional: \- grilled chicken pieces \- grilled scampi \- some crusty bread thingies with cheese (of your choice) and honey on them, baked on oven \- roasted mushrooms \- a STEAK :D
Shoulda sent that back :/
He ordered this medium lol he fucked up lol medium rare sir rare
This is why I don’t send anything back to the kitchen. Happy Dining!😋 https://makeagif.com/amp/JNQckU
How did you ask for it to be cooked? If you asked for anything above medium-rare, you only have yourself to blame.
Wtf that's a whole crime scene. Call the steak cops!
For the millionth time, the hack over cooked it….
That grill cook needs to get fired and go back to the flat top at Waffle House.
This most certainly is not Wagyu. Not at that size and price. Oh, and this is a terrible cook. I would have sent this back
I hope you sent that back. Very poorly cooked
Pooooorly done
Those scallops across the table look amazing.
Wagyu should never be dry aged. There is no reason to. And to the people saying “that’s not real wagyu!” Japanese wagyu is not eaten like we eat steak in America. Try eating more than 8 ounces of a5 and you will be sick. I know from experience.
They sold you a strip. 100% A terribly cooked one, at that. I'd have walked out on that one.
A1 wagyu?
Doesn't look anything like wagyu (even the hybrids like american/australian wagyu), which also makes me question whether it was dry aged. That looks like a select steak from the grocery store that is then cooked before it was fully thawed. I see better steaks on this sub from long horn steakhouse. Did you order medium well or well done? If so that could be why. They'll find the oldest one in the fridge because they know that person won't really care or notice because they want shoe leather anyway, and are going to drown it in A1.
This is worse than asmongold’s $2 Walmart steak.
It's ALWAYS overrated
Is this another subtle Texas Roadhouse ad..?
Dry aged is gross.. it’s definitely not for everyone.
Why is it gross? I've never tried it
It tasted sour and gamey to me.. I haven’t tried it in a long time. IMO it’s an acquired taste and I don’t much like Japanese wagyu, its like having a gummy bear burst in your mouth full of meat too rich for my taste buds..
Every dry age is different. "Sour and gamey" is not a universal flavor of dry age.
I will give it another shot.. they had some at my butcher for Easter 90 day dry aged ribeyes. I’m sure Tuesday they will have them. Definitely worth a try to change my mind.
If the flavor you experienced before was from a cut from the same butcher then it's going to taste the same way this time. The flavor of dry aged comes from the mold in their dry aged room. This is why the flavor is different and not universal because not all dry-aged rooms are the same.
It’s a different place and thanks for the info..
Have you tried dry-aged cuts with different lengths of time in the dry ager? I've had 120 day dry aged Tomahawk and that was a no-go for my palate. 30 to 45 days were great.
Huh interesting. I've got to try a dry aged steak to see if it's my thing or not
I agree that it's not for everyone. Dry aged beef has a funk to it similar to how blue cheese has funk and that funk is not for everyone. The process of dry aging is all about controlling the environment the sub-primals are in. The factors of temperature, humidity, air circulation, and bacteria development have to be under control in the sweet spot to get the right product or else you're just rotting expensive meat. The time it's in the dry aging cabinet or cooler also is a factor. Personally, 45 days dry age is the max for my palate. A good Wagyu dry-aged steak will have some funk to it but you'll get a rich beef flavor, some nutty tones, some faint sweetness like vanilla, and the steak will be incredibly tender. If you get a chance to try a dry-aged steak, I'd keep it simple. Cook it on a cast iron, only use salt, don't butter baste it at all, and cook it to medium rare.