Ikinari Steak is a hit Japanese chain that brought high-quality steak to fast casual dining. They don't even have seats. The concept brings quality steak at a reasonable price in a fast, efficient manner. And they opened their first U.S. location today in NYC's East Village (with plans to open more in Manhattan).
I don't remember much buzz about this opening and heard about it just a few days before with press releases and promotion. And I was intrigued enough to make a visit for lunch...on opening day.
Because New Yorkers are obsessed with being one of the first to try new restaurants, I expected a line to be down the street on opening day. So I was very surprised there wasn't one when I arrived around 11:50 a.m. (They opened at 11.) There was a bunch of press standing around outside that I didn't think they were open to the public. Inside, there were mostly press people with video cameras standing around blocking and ignoring waitresses that were trying to bring food to customers. I was quickly reminded why I normally don't check out places on opening day. There were only few actual customers when I arrived, but more customers started to stroll in by the time I left.
The restaurant chain has a standing-only model. But at the East Village location, they did include 10 seats. From a quick look around, it looks like two 4-top tables and one 2-top table. The rest are standing stations.
The menu is small with 3 cuts of 40-day wet-aged beef by weight and 1 lunch special, a few sides, and a few drinks including beer and wine. There is no chicken or fish and I'm not sure if they will add any since its a steakhouse. There are no appetizers or desserts. This helps with a fast and efficient dining experience. Everything comes out when it's ready rather than being spread out.
Current prices are 9 cents/gram for rib eye, 8 cents/gram for sirloin, and 11 cents/gram for filet. There are minimum weight orders for the steaks to keep them thick. So rib eye starts at 300g/10.6 oz. ($27), sirloin at 200g/7.1 oz. ($16), and filet at 200g/7.1 oz. ($22).
The steaks are freshly cut and weighed in front of you. The restaurant chain calls this "Japan cut" or "J-steak". The wet-age beef are sourced from a company based in Illinois that’s also used in Japan.
All steaks come with corn but you can substitute it for a different garnish like potatoes, green beans, onions, or broccoli. If you want more than one garnish, it costs extra. The waitress nor the kitchen chef asked what garnish I wanted, so make sure to ask if you want something else. So, I didn't realize my steak came with corn until I got my steak. And, I discovered after my visit that you can ask for something else thanks to this Yelp photo.
At lunch, they also offer a Wild Chuck-eye Steak special with soup, salad and rice for $20. It is not available for order by weight. Media reports say the chuck-eye is 14 oz. But the lunch menu and website lists 300g (or 10.6 oz).
Lunch menu (l); Dinner menu (r)
How it works (based on my visit):
- When you arrive, an employee shows/directs you to a numbered standing station (or a table if you prefer seat which you probably need to request)
- Menus are already at the standing station. A waiter will come over to take your order for drinks and sides only, bring water, and bring a paper apron.
- Then, the waiter will walk or direct you to the back kitchen counter to order your meat. You order the cut of beef and amount that you want and they cut and weigh it in front of you. Bring the number card for your station/table so the kitchen knows the right place to send your steak (and because you probably won't remember your number).
Even if you order the chuck-eye lunch special, you still have to go tell the kitchen counter your order. But you don't see it get cut. A little odd, but I guess this is to make the process consistent for the staff.
- After you order your steak, you go back to your station and your food is brought out to you
- Forks, knives, napkins & condiments are already at your station. There were no spoons.
- A bill is brought to you when your steak is delivered. Keep it so you can pay at the front desk when you leave.
I had the $20 chuck-eye steak lunch special because it's a good deal. The soup and salad are very small and basic, but it's nice that rice is also included. The soup was a small mug of beef or chicken broth with a few bits of carrot, celery and beef that you drink since there were no spoons. The salad was a small handful of lettuce and a few shredded carrots. The onion and pepper dressings were good but nothing special.
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| Salad & small cup of soup with chuck-eye lunch special |
My chuck-eye came out sliced on a sizzling platter with the garnish of corn. The chuck-eye already had nice color from cooking over a fire but was still blue rare on the inside. There's a printed guide on the menu on how to enjoy your steak, and they suggest rare. But if you want a different temperature, you just leave the steak on the hot plate to cook longer.
I usually prefer my steak medium or medium rare, but I went rare this time. My chuck-eye was very tender, juicy, and flavorful from the fat and seasoning. Chuck-eye is not the same as chuck steak. Chuck-eye is cut from a different part of the rib than rib eye. So chuck-eye still has a lot of good flavor but costs less than rib eye.
The house hot steak sauce, dubbed J-Sauce, was delicious without covering up the flavor of the steak. It's their own soy-based steak sauce. Not sure if the steak sauce is hot because it's warm and kept in a thermos, or also spicy. If there is spice, I didn't really taste it. But having warm sauce is perfect to help keep the steak warm.
There's also Ikinari sauce that is a sweet sauce. I asked what's in the sauce, but the employee who brought out my steak didn't know. My waitress just said it was sweet. It's also tasty but I preferred the house steak sauce.
Other than the steak sauce, I didn't use any of the other condiments because I didn't need them.
My steak also had a small dollop of what they call a garlic paste. It looked and tasted like some type of butter or mayo, but I didn't taste much garlic. And it looks very different than the garlic available in the condiments.
They are a non-tipping restaurant. I walked out full and happy from chuck-eye steak lunch for $21.78 after tax.
About that paper apron...it's a good idea to help keep any grease splatter from the sizzling hot plate from getting on your clothes.
The standing stations have lots of storage. A shelf where you can place menus after ordering or to store items, a hook to hang a coat or bags, and even foldable stands on the floor that can hold briefcases or bags.
The kitchen is open so you do walk out smelling smokey like hibachi or K-BBQ places.
The restroom has a fancy Japanese toilet with a heated seat, washing & dryer options. There's also Listerine if you want to be minty fresh. [toilet pic]
And if you're so inclined, they have a Niku mileage membership card that you can sign up for to track the weight of meat you eat. The card comes complete with Lady Liberty and has rewards after consuming a certain amount of beef.
I was done in 35 min., and I didn't scarf down my food or feel rushed. Maybe this might be different when it's busy.
Some people are already taking criticizing the fast concept as not being fine dining, only appealing to the college crowd, or rushing people to make money. I think this is snobby and out of touch. Full-service, upscale restaurants are having to close or forced to move due to rent hikes and increasing costs, so I think it's close-minded to criticize a business for creating new ways to bring good food to people and stay in business to keep serving good food to customers.
I enjoy a nice steak dinner at a high-end, full-service steakhouse. But that's usually for special occasions. I love steak, so I welcome a concept that can make quality steaks accessible without a special occasion and for a modest price. I don't always want to have a 3-course meal that stretches on for a couple of hours just to have a good steak. And I'm more interested in getting quality food at a good price than having white cloth tables and a fine dining ambience.
I'll be back to try other cuts. Definitely recommend trying this place for quality steak at reasonable prices.
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