Is London’s new $1400 steak worth it?

And unlike most steakhouses, the beef is not cooked in the flames of a grill or broiler, but in a bespoke, cantilevered kiln that holds only three steaks at a time. Fuelled by high-grade Japanese binchotan charcoal, the kiln is designed not to interfere with the flavour of the beef, imparting it with barely a whisper of smoke. Before serving, the steak is rested in a cooler part of the kiln, to set the juices and marbled fat that provide its ethereal flavour. Like the best jamón iberico, its fat starts to melt even at room temperature. It is lightly seasoned with salt and pepper.

Sound of the sizzle

There is no thermostat or timer on the discreet kiln; no beeps from temperature probes. It is overseen by chef Kazuo Imayosh, who came from Aragawa in Tokyo for the launch. He has spent 40 years perfecting the art of cooking beef. He knows the steak is ready by the touch of the meat and also, he says, the sound of the sizzle, like a carnivore Jedi master from Star Wars.

The opening menu features five choices of steak, all from small, top-rated farms in and around Kobe: two sirloins, a fillet and two cuts from the rump. A 400-gram Okazaki farms sirloin will set you back a cool £900, while a similarly sized ichibo (rump cap) steak is a relative bargain at £500. Owner Kotaro Ogawa leaves the name “Kobe” off the menu: the appellation is too broad for him, like labelling a Burgundy from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti as a simple pinot noir.

The beef is sourced from farms that rear a mere thousand or so Tajima cattle a year each, and the meat has to meet stringent criteria based on marbling, colour, texture, lustre and firmness. In Aragawa’s Tokyo restaurant, prices for the 400-gram steaks range from $US367 to $US660. Factor in the cost of travel, and the stratospheric London prices make a little more sense.

The restaurant, which opened on October 20, has two floors. The main dining room accommodates 26 diners at tables topped with starched white linen; the walls of the space are handsomely decorated with hand-painted, burnt orange panels inspired by kimono fabrics and featuring grape harvest motifs. Upstairs is a 12-seat private dining room and wine display.

Mr Ogawa is a wine lover, and has curated a 1000-bottle cellar of fine wines, including steak-friendly candidates such as a mature, cherry-scented 2014 Chateau Barde-Haut from Saint-Emilion (£120) and a stunningly complex 2005 Chateau Margaux (£1400).

The most exquisite thing on the table, besides the beef, might be the cutlery from Japanese artisan knifemakers Ryusen. The handles are made from Japanese oak; the blades are as beautifully embossed as samurai swords. They are so sharp they glide through beef like light sabres from the aforementioned Star Wars. They cost about £400 a set; Mr Ogawa jokes that he might combat the temptation for diners to slip them into their bags by listing the price on the menu, the way hotels do for guests who are inclined to steal bathrobes.

And speaking of price: those steaks. It is not easy to make a case for piece of meat that costs as much as a decent laptop.

But nobody else is sourcing, cooking and serving beef in the same way. So don’t try to compare it to the offerings at other London restaurants. Most fans don’t blink at spending similar sums for a box at Wimbledon’s Centre Court, or a VIP seat for Taylor Swift. If you’re a similarly minded steak obsessive, then go for it, and savour every mouthful. And for people on a relative budget when they walk through the door: one steak can serve two guests who are prepared to eat modestly. (A word of warning: go easy on the wasabi and green olive relish. The beef is the thing.)

Mr Ogawa, meanwhile, makes no apology for the price of his main attraction. Unlike many Western Japanese restaurants, he is not trying to combine tempura, sushi, noodles and teppanyaki under one roof. “If it’s a steak you want, we are here,” he says. “I don’t compare it with anything else. I only say it is unique.”

Bloomberg