I mentioned in my column today that Jamon (3 Murphy St, South Yarra +61 9804 5710) was between Tuesday 8 and Saturday 12 may holding one of it’s Wagyu weeks with lunch at $120 and supper $250.
Last year I wrote about one of the lunches for the Australian’s Travel & indulgence section. You can find the full story here and the pictorial evidence on this blog here.
The thing I really enjoyed about the meal was the jorney is textures and tastes he took us upon. At the time I said:
“Appreciative noises fill the room. Meanwhile, Greenfield’s chopsticks pluck cold soba noodles and fold them into bowls with seaweed and jellied ox-tail soup. Cooked tail contrasts with sashimi of rib and the slime of woodear mushrooms. Each ingredient retains its flavour. The first bite of noodles – almost al dente but not quite – is crunchy. The cooked meat is soft; the raw, chewy.
“More noise and Greenfield hits us with another dish. He is improvising now with a handful of morels, lightly poached. He chops raw eye fillet to stuff the hollow mushroom – another simpler version of tartare. Into 300-year-old Japanese cups, he places the stuffed fungi with a little mushroom flavoured stock.”
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Ed, I wanted to add another comment that indicates the overpriced crap that passes as gourmet in Aust. I went to Kobe last year and had a very nice meal of Kobe beef for what I consider a lot less than what you are telling. I had:
Salad
Bread (that isn’t usually counted in Jap cooking!)
Steak
Veges
Rice
Dessert (can’t remember)
Wine
and it cost around $100/person. As I say, I will contact you soon about the prices at least back home, but I think they are exorbitant. I hope that I am misguided….
To what extent does the lunch differ from the dinner? Is the extra $130 worth it or should lunch suffice?
Lucas, the point of this meal is the different dishes – I think it was about 12 courses sampling various cuts and different cooking methods. i wouldn’t say it is crap although it is pricy. I thought it was worth the experience.
matthew, I think it’s just more courses and more of the expensive cuts.
hi
allow me to explain that wagyu beef like all other beef comes in various qualiities related to breeding, agistment, & feed. Purebreeeds which are japanese bull with angus or holstein cows produce purebreeds from F1 to F7 depending on the number of times the progeny are mated back. This beef is produced in vast numbers at various farms in Australia. Purebreed make up the bulk (95%)of the wagyu beef sold in restaurants (in japan 60-70%).
Fullbloods are japanese bulls and japanese cows mated to produce fullblood beef. Even so produced, the next most important thing is the maturation conditions and feed. Only one farm, Blackmores, produces wagyu at the top level and only 3\4 restaurants in Australia use the prime cuts of this beef.( Jamon is one of these) As in Australia you can buy a steak in the local pubs for $10 on a wednesday, so you can do the same in Japan, further you can choose a fine dining restaurant and pay any amount for a supoposedly better steak. Quality is about learning the difference and choosing what suits for you and when.
re lunch @ Jamon wagyu week
we have tried to make this special event more accesable & affordable.
Charles chef @ jamon sushi.
Thanks Charles. Nicely put.
It’s a pleasure surfing around your site Ed.
I recently enjoyed a unique dining experience at Jamon and I’m now waiting, with eager anticipation, for the next wagyu week.
Elliott, great to meet so unexpectedy last night. You must try this as it is one of the top food experiences for me in the past year.
Love your explanations and information. However Blackmores are not the only ones producing Fullblood Wagyu. We have 400 Fullblood breeders developed over the last 12 years. Our genetics are second to none and we provide a home delivered service to Sydney and the Mid North Coast of NSW. We join you in a celebration of the succulent taste and impeccable tenderness of Fullblood Wagyu
Anne, true – this is an old post and there are many wagyu producers nowadays.
goodmorning ed
I am interested in Annes comment about 400 wagyu producers doing fullblood wagyu ! Anne please contact me as I would be interested in who they are. My research tells me there are only a handfull doing fullblood wagyu, (if that !) most doing purebreed mixes F1 thru F7
To date we have 29 wagyu farms in australia.
looking forward to hearing from you
charles
owner\chef
Hi Charles,
we are breeding Full blood Wagyu in the Far North. All our Animals have top genetics. They can be used either for Breeding or for Meat. Any Interest, pls contact me.
The Breas, Mission Beach, FNQLD