When I was in Tokyo in April, I went to Okahan, a teppanyaki restaurant in Ginza, for lunch. Teppanyaki is one of those things that’s very easy to love. Good meat, vegetables, a hot griddle, and a chef cooking right in front of you with two spatulas. When the ingredients are right, it doesn’t need much more than that.
Sometimes teppanyaki comes with a bit of a show. Onion rings get sliced in mid air, ingredients are tossed around, and the cooking turns into a performance. Other times, the chef keeps things simple and lets the food do the talking. At Okahan, it was very much the latter. Calm, focused cooking without unnecessary tricks, which suited the place perfectly.
The best teppanyaki restaurants in Tokyo only serve grade A5 wagyu from Japan’s top beef brands. That level of quality comes with a price, especially at dinner. At lunchtime, however, many of these restaurants offer set menus at a lower price point. The very best cuts are usually saved for dinner, but the beef served at lunch is still far superior to most beef outside Japan. If you’ve never had wagyu before, even a lunch set can be a bit of an eye opener.
I arrived at Okahan about 15 minutes after they opened for lunch, and the restaurant was already full. I put my name on the waiting list and took a seat nearby. About 20 minutes later, I was shown to a spot at the counter.
My name stood out as the only non Japanese one on the list, so I briefly worried about how easy communication would be. That turned out not to be an issue at all. Several members of staff spoke excellent English, including the chef cooking my food, and everything felt relaxed and welcoming.
Okahan is known for Matsuzaka beef, one of Japan’s most prestigious wagyu brands. It’s not Kobe beef, but unless you’re a very experienced wagyu eater, I doubt you’d be able to tell the difference.
I ordered the superior lunch set, which included a small salad, two kinds of wagyu steak, and green tea. While cooking, the chef also prepared a small pot of sauce on the griddle. I wasn’t entirely sure how it was meant to be eaten, but I treated it like a soup and happily finished every last spoonful.
The A5 beef was exactly what you hope it will be. Soft, rich, almost melting, but still with enough texture to slow you down. I wanted to eat it while it was hot, but I also didn’t want it to be over too quickly, so I took my time and enjoyed each bite.
Lunch at Okahan isn’t cheap, but it feels like a smart way to experience high quality wagyu in Ginza without committing to an expensive dinner. If you’re looking for a good introduction to serious wagyu, this is a very solid place to start.
Read my blog post about Gyu-An, another great place for wagyu in Ginza
Okahan Honten, Jewel Box Ginza, GINZA8階, 8 Chome-9-15 Ginza, Chuo City, Tokyo 104-0061, Japan
