YAGYU Yakiniku BBQ Gets Its Due

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The Japanese, along with most Asian cultures, think our American habit of consuming large chunks of steer muscle wholesale is unhealthy, unsightly, and barbaric.

And it is.

That doesn’t keep ELV and his staff from occasionally tucking into prime, aged beauty from one of our many Grade A beef emporiums. But it does cause him to consider how much more civilized it feels to have well-marbled, juicy, superbly tender beef sliced raw into bite sized pieces, delivered to his table by an accommodating hostess, so they can be flash grilled before melting in his mouth.

We think you consume less this way and appreciate it more.

And appreciate Yagyu Yakiniku Japanese BBQ is something we have no trouble doing. Because where else in Vegas can you get a platter of such superior beef, kimchee fried rice, a steak tartare-like raw beef dish called yukke, and a whole lotta beef tongue in brown gravy for $47 pour deux?

We’ve yet to explore the provenance of that beef, but will as soon as we find someone working here who speaks enough English to explain it to us. As it is, we’re usually too busy marveling at the quality of the provisions to care. And this is yet another place in Asiatown where it’s kinda fun to be the only gaijin in the joint, and relax with the fact that we’re eating so well for so little.

A few fun food facts about yakiniku barbecue:

* Yakiniku means “grilled meat” in Japanese.

* It is a relatively new form of eating in Japan, having thought to have originated with Korean immigrants there after WWII.

* Many yakiniku restaurants in Japan are run by Koreans (just as most Japanese restaurants in Las Vegas are).

* Eating beef in Japan was illegal until 1871, when the government legalized it in an attempt to modernize the country and introduce western culture to it.

* The popularity of this form of eating really took off in Japan after the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

* Unlike Korean barbecue, the meat isn’t cut with scissors.

Fine distinctions aside, we can think of no better way to consume beef. You eat less of it, while enjoying a quality product at a reasonable price.

And it’s really hard to complain about how it’s been cooked.

YAGYU JAPANESE YAKINIKU BBQ

4355 Spring Mountain Road #107

Las Vegas, NV 89102

702.868.5635