Located in North Ikebukuro, this Japanese shabu-shabu set meal offers very high-quality Wagyu beef and seasonal ingredients, making it a great fine dining experience.

The entrance of the restaurant is filled with Japanese wooden decor. After entering, you need to walk down to the basement level, which might contribute to a faint musty smell indoors. However, we still looked forward to the food, hoping it would make up for this small flaw.

Since we had made a reservation through Tabelog in advance, the waiter directly introduced our meal set upon greeting us. The entire serving process was fairly smooth, and we didn’t feel rushed, with the total dining time being about 2 hours.

🍲 The contents of the set are as follows:

"Jutsu" Yamagata Beef & Selected Domestic Pork & Agu Pork Luxurious Tasting Shabu Shabu Course
10,000 yen (including tax)

✧ Appetizer ① Seasonal Appetizer
✧ Appetizer ② Prosciutto with Stracciatella Cheese ✧ Served with Special Black Truffle Pâté
✧ Starter Seasonal Cold Dish of Fresh Fish with Homemade Perilla Sauce
✧ Warm Dish Today's Warm Dish of Fresh Fish with Special Vegetable Sauce
✧ Special Dish Yamagata Beef Tataki ✨
✧ Vegetables Colorful Aromatic Vegetables for Shabu Shabu
✧ Meat Yamagata Beef, Kirishima Pork Shoulder, Agu Pork Belly ✨
〆 Homemade Shigure Ni Dashi Chazuke
✧ Dessert

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To start, a bowl of shredded kelp was served, with the kelp having a silky texture, and each bite offered a rich consistency and fresh seaweed flavor that was very appetizing.

Next up was a plate of two types of sashimi, topped with a sauce that was fragrant and salty, but did not overshadow the fresh taste of the sashimi.

Following that, we had a dish of today’s fresh fish topped with a special vegetable sauce, decorated with fried strands resembling a bird's nest, and garnished with a fresh green rice pepper. Both visually and in terms of taste, it was quite impressive and layered. The sauce was so delicious that not a drop was left!

The highlight for me was the special dish before the hot pot: Yamagata Wagyu Tataki, which I highly recommend!

The term "tataki" is really hard to translate into Chinese, haha! Basically, this dish involves searing the surface of the beef lightly, about medium-rare, slicing it up, and drenching it with the chef’s special sauce; it is eaten with green onion strips. The natural flavor, sweetness, and tenderness of the beef, paired with the refreshing acidity of ponzu sauce, create an extraordinary combination. It was so good that even I, who typically doesn’t eat beef, couldn't help but enjoy it while marveling at the flavor! 😋

The vegetable platter accompanying the shabu-shabu was perfectly paired with mushrooms, and after cooking in the pot, it did not muddy the broth at all, instead enhancing the flavor of the soup, which I really liked.

Now, onto the highlight: the meat platter for shabu-shabu.

The slices of Yamagata beef were just the right thickness. After dipping in the hot pot for 8 seconds, they reached the perfect level of doneness—melting in your mouth, incredibly tender, and the Wagyu aroma and freshness were impeccable. Whether eaten alone or dipped in the restaurant’s special soy sauce, both options were excellent!

The Kirishima pork shoulder slices were also highly delicious without any unpleasant pork smell, with just the right distribution of fat, giving a full meaty aroma, and they held their own against the Yamagata beef!

Once we finished the hot pot meat, the restaurant served a bowl of rice topped with minced beef that you could pour the shabu-shabu broth over to create a chazuke. I can only say that the broth was incredibly delicious! After cooking so much meat, it still retained the refreshing and light flavors of the vegetables, making the chazuke completely guilt-free.

I also ordered a Highball whiskey and fruit sour to taste. Their liquor selection was a bit limited, which was a shame, but it did not diminish the brilliance of the Wagyu!

After dining, when we went to the counter to settle the bill, the staff gave us a small gift to take home—two small rice balls with the restaurant's logo printed on them. It was a pleasantly surprising and thoughtful little touch.

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Overall, it was a great dining experience for wagyu shabu-shabu. Aside from the slightly awkward musty smell at the beginning, the rest of the experience was excellent, especially regarding the quality of the food. The pork and Yamagata Wagyu were truly top-notch!