HOT TABLES 港飲港食
BBQ Combo Set 日式燒肉套餐
Yakinikumafia 2/F, Hollywood Centre, 233 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan 上環荷李活道233號荷李活商業中 心2樓202號鋪
Every Bit of Wagyu Beef Counts at Yakinikumafia
Yakinikumafia 每一塊和牛都是精品
This month we visit a Japanese wagyu beef specialty restaurant for an immersive all-beef dining experience.
3105 1250
本月，我們打卡了一家日本和牛餐廳，沉浸式體驗全和牛美食。
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yakinikumafia.hk/en/home
nown for its unrivalled marbled texture and flavour, wagyu beef is increasingly featured in premium dinner menus in cuisines across the world. But the chance to indulge in a meal that serves only wagyu beef, and from different cuts, is an altogether different and enticing prospect. Dining group Wagyumafia, hailing from Tokyo, offers just that, and we were delighted to visit their recently opened Yakinikumafia restaurant for an omakase meal. Wagyumafia was founded by chef-owner and selftaught wagyu expert Hisato Hamada and entrepreneur Takafumi Horie. The duo launched its membersonly restaurant, Wagyumafia Progressive Kaiseki, in Tokyo in 2016; the restaurant serves Japanese wagyu sourced from farmers from the highly prized Osaka region. In 2018, it opened Wagyumafia in Hong Kong, specialising in premium wagyu beef. Then earlier this year, the group opened Yakinikumafia by Wagyumafia here, a sister restaurant that also specialises in wagyu beef menus, and the chain’s first outlet outside Japan.
Rare Cut 尾崎和牛 稀有部位
Yakinikumafia serves not only prime cuts of wagyu beef, but also rare cuts not usually available in restaurants. According to Wagyumafia, entire whole carcasses are brought to Hong Kong straight from auction houses in Japan for use across all Wagyumafia restaurants to ensure quality consistency. Then, cutting-edge butchering techniques are used to create rare cuts, ensuring all parts of the cow, including offal and bones, are consumed. We were there for the omakase menu. The spacious restaurant was open, bright and welcoming. Its airport theme pays homage to Copenhagen’s Kastrup International Airport, which was frequently visited by Hamada. A large standing communal chef counter dominates the dining area, complemented by cosy individual booths.
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www.hkcitylife.com | DECEMBER 2020
The Omakase Set ($980/person) features six rare cuts of quality Ozaki wagyu beef of different textures and flavours. The set menu also includes Wagyu Bone Soup, Cast-iron Prepared Koshihikari Rice, Daikon with Ponzu, Pickled Cucumbers, “Big-eye” BBQ Dipping Sauce and Wagyu Keema Curry, along with Goma Salad and Soft Serve Ice Cream. For the omakase set, the chef chose from cuts that include Senbon Suji, coming from between the thigh and shank cuts; its taste is sweet fat and quite umami; Zabuton (chuck flap), from behind the shoulder blades; Misuji (top blade), a tender cut in the central part of the chuck-eye roll and noted for its rich marbling; Kata Shin (chuck eye), which is wellmuscled with strong flavours; Kainomi (flap meat), a cut close to the tenderloin with a nice balance of lean and fat; Sankaku Bara (chuck short rib) and Rib Geta (rib finger), the meat from between the ribeye and rib bones. All the cuts are tender and flavourful; we appreciated the subtle differences in marbling and umami flavour among them. Yakinikumafia also offers a BBQ Combo Set ($480), which comprises the Ozaki Wagyu Plate of three cuts (fatty, medium fatty, lean) of prime wagyu beef plus accompaniments. Hungry guests can order additional items including steaks (ribeye and sirloin) as well as other add-ons. The restaurant also serves a nice selection of sakes, cocktails and other alcoholic drinks to go with the food. Whether you are a die-hard wagyu beef lover or just looking for a special dining experience, Yakinikumafia is a worthy option. We highly recommend it.■
