Leading steakhouses are often top picks for celebrations. And they “dress” for the part, if you know what I mean – white tablecloths, chairs or banquettes you sink into, and wait staff who dress professional. Traditional. Enter, the the Wagyu Bar, a new kind of steakhouse that is totally casual, where the celebration is exclusively about the delicious beef and variety of cuts. As they say right off the bat, “we’re not your typical steakhouse”. The owners also have a combo butcher shop, Meat n Bone, and store selling everything you could want for grilling a few doors down.
The Wagyu Bar is simply decorated, relaxed, and it’s all about the beef. The beef is serious, seriously delicious. You’ll understand why when you learn that it’s the product of the owners of online butcher shop Meat n’ Bone.
The shop sells 25 different kinds of rib eye steaks alone, the largest selection of steak in the USA, both US bred and Wagyu cuts from Japan. A selection of the most popular of the cuts are on the menu at the The Wagyu Bar. We went there recently for dinner and came out impressed.
The dinner menu is divided into appetizers, the steak bar, (ribeye, filet mignon, New York strip, tomahawk, dry aged beef, picanha, other steaks), as well as burgers. They also serve katsus which is breaded and fried A5 sirloin steak served between two loaves of Japanese milk bread with arugula and tonkatsu sauce. There’s also a selection, though small, of non beef options including fish, shellfish, poultry and pork chop. Sorry vegans, just appetizers and desserts for you here. Plus there’s a special offering of parillada for four ($140) and Wagyu flight of three steaks of different Wagyu grades ($292). In the intro, there’s a welcome guide to beef grading to help sort out the menu.
We started with the appetizer, Miyazaki Gyu A 5 Wagyu nigiri on sushi rice that was torched tableside($50). Not one to resist Spanish ham, we had the platter of jamon de bellota which was high quality which means it melted in my mouth ($30). Other choices included melted provoleta cheese ($12) and what one seldom finds in a menu, roasted canoe cut bone marrow ($20).
For the main course we decided to try a steak from each category, a tough choice to pick. Our waiter suggested we try one Premium Wagyu BMS7+ which includes Angus beef ($80 for 14 ounces), and the other Japanese A 5 Miyazaki-Gyu ($180 for 10 ounces). Each was served on a wooden board and arrived perfectly cooked and salted. More marbled with fat, the wagyu was so tender it hardly needed to be chewed, and had a rich almost buttery taste. The Angus was more traditional, and also delicious.
There are some pretty incredible beef choices like a monster Wagyu BMS7+, 52 ounce tomahawk, 30+ day wet aged for $210. For small eaters who also may be watching the budget, there’s an 8 ounce choice ribeye for $14 and 8 ounce hanger steak for $18. Or, there’s always a dry aged brisket and cheese burger for $15.
The Wagyu Bar being a place for serious meat eaters, even some of the side dishes come with protein – as in brussel sprouts and mac and cheese with bacon. Sides range in price from $4 to $8.
Dessert lovers won’t be disappointed with the good size, appealing selection of Audi & Ramsa alcohol infused ice creams and sorbets like agave dulce de leche and hazelnut martini that are served in a can ($10), a perfect light complement to a steak dinner.
Wines are reasonably priced. A glass (6 ounces) starts at $8 and bottles at $24. A sake and beer selection are also offered together with cocktails from those beverages (no hard liquor). There’s outdoor and indoor seating. (16 outside, 40 inside)
They also offer a small but appealing lunch menu featuring bowls of beef, game, chicken, pork or salmon on a base of white rice, greens or quinoa with a side of greens, tomatoes, avocado and cheese (from $14 to $24); sandwiches and burgers. There’s free delivery. Happy hour, Monday through Thursday, 4 to7 and Friday to Sunday 4 to 6, features an appealing selection of light bites ($5 to $8), cocktails, ($6) wines ($6-$10) and a sake flight ($16). Brunch is also offered.
The Waygu Bar, 2757 Coral Way, Miami 33145.
And now for the butcher shop a few doors down from the Wagyu Bar.They sell 350 different proteins, from lamb and pork to fish and poultry (Amish turkeys from Michigan, Thanksgiving anyone?). If, after a meal in the Wagyu Bar, you want to take home a few steaks, there’s a stocked refrigerator at the shop. That being said, they’re primarily an online butcher shop..
The warehouse and actual butchering and vacuum packaging is at their facility in Chicago. As you’ve read, they’re not about cheap, but rather, quality. Besides Wagyu beef, there’s 60 to 90 day dry aged Angus beef, Bell and Evans chicken, grass fed beef from Niman Farms and fish from Ora King Salmon and Sterling Caviar. There’s also elk, Colorado lamb, bison, and other varieties of game.
The shop also has a curated selection of everything for grilling, from prized Japanese charcoal (Binchotan) that you can use more than once, wood logs, chips and chunks and top of the line knives, to wine, condiments, and an outdoor grill that is made for an extravagant holiday gift for a griller ($20K). And here’s something else cool – they offer a grillmaster who will come to your place and do his magic.
Meat n’ Bone has shops in Coral Way, Coral Springs and Pinecrest and delivers everywhere in South Florida. They ship nationwide.
