Satou Steakhouse

Erica here.

Two weekends ago, my parents were in town for a couple days so I spent some time with them (which is why I missed out on Disneyland).

My mom did some research before coming to Japan and found an article on a very popular steakhouse in Kichijoji and that visitors should definitely go and try it if they get the chance. So we took the train from Shinjuku to Kichijoji (6 stops west of Shinjuku on the Rapid Chuo Line) . When we got out of the train station, I realized we had no clue where it was because the article gave no directions! After asking a couple people for directions in my broken Japanese, we finally found it.

The inside of the restaurant was tiny, I estimated about 15 seats in total. The waitress sat us down then proceeds to explain the menu in Japanese, but when we give her a blank look she switched to English ( it happens a lot). She recommended one of the more expensive steaks on the menu telling us that it was "Japan's #1 steak". Now, let me give you an idea of what the prices were for this particular one.

Tokusen Sirloin Steak

180g (6.3oz) 8,400yen ($92US)

270g (9.5oz) 12,500yen ($137US)

360g (12.7oz) 16,800yen ($186US)

I told my parents that I was not going to have a steak that is worth almost 100 Canadian dollars and that I wanted to have the cheaper ones. But they insisted that we all try the recommended one because we came here for the sole purpose of trying these heavenly steaks. My dad then goes into an explanation of how the cows in which the steaks come from are fed vegetables, are massaged every night and get to listen to classical music. I’m not sure if I believe all of that but they talked me into it.

So we had 3 orders of the 180g Tokusen Sirloin and they showed us the steak before it was cooked and let me tell you, I have never seen a piece of steak that was so marbled and even distributed at the same time. Eating it was a different story, yes it melted in mymouth kind of steak, but because there was so much fat in it, it felt very oily to me. Perhaps I wasn’t used to this type of steak and apparently the Japanese thoroughly enjoy them. So I definitely think it’s something you should try...but maybe only once =)

My medium-rare steak.