A Cut Taipei - A Little Christmas Vibe Accompanying My Mayura Ribeye and Kagoshima Filet Feast

It's my second time visiting A Cut, a well-known steakhouse in Taipei after the relocation. 

In fact, there are two A Cut steak houses, one in Hsinchu city and one in Taipei city. Both were located inside the Ambassador Hotels. However, the entire hotel in Taipei is currently under the urban redevelopment construction. So instead of letting the restaurant's royal customers waiting in vain, the hotel decided to rent out an entire floor from Fubon Liaoning Building, and planned to keep the new place open till the hotel has been rebuilt.

There're well-equipped gym and bank offices in the same building. In fact, it's also linked to a MRT station. Per my opinion, I think the current location is even more convenient than before. And of course if customers decide to drive there, valet parking is available but also numerous spots to park the car yourself underground.

A side note, the restaurant will help entering the license plate information to the parking system when customers are ready to leave, so there won't be any parking fee involved for self-park customers.   

If you've parked underground, simply follow the dark blue rimmed elevator door design to the second floor. You'll find the steak house takes one side, and the Chinese food restaurant holds the other. Yes, besides the steak house, Ambassador Hotel also moved their popular Chinese restaurant to the same location.

You can also go through the front door on the first floor. Take the main escalator to the second floor, where you'll first see a small bakery stand on the right and A Cut on the left hand side.   

After passing the spacious open kitchen is A Cut's airy dining area. Various blue-toned decors and furnitures throughout, the same color scheme of the parking lot door. 

I took my mom here during my first visit and tried their "A Cut Michelin 1-star set menu." Unlike the standard American steak house, the dishes from A Cut were more refined, and so does the preparation for the steak.

Second time around, I went with Mister for 2023 Christmas dinner. We decided to go with the dinner set menu, but the dishes are not much different compared to the Michelin menu. There were many overlapped dishes that you can choose from, and the final bill is about the same either way.

Other menu offerings - 

Islay whisky 21 days dry aged steak, if you order this one, the restaurant will also serve a small glass of complimentary Islay whisky on the side. 

There's also a well-bargained business lunch menu. Perhaps I would give it a try the third time around. 

I didn't plan to get any wine pairing for myself that night, wasn't really in the mood for alcohol (don't drink and drive). However, if you're a oenophile and price is not much of a concern, A Cut has extensive prestigious wine to offer. They even have quite a few quality bottles that you can order single glass from. On top of fine wine selection, A Cut also carry some interesting choices. I even spotted a Lebanese wine on the menu. 

Surprise surprise, who would have known that A Cut has crafted a set of three Christmas themed cocktails for the entire month of December. There's a illustration of these three cocktails on the table, all too festive. 

How could I say no to Santa Claus? Especially this one was nicely placed inside a spherical cocktail glass ball.

Christmas sphere, with main components including vodka, peach, mango, grenadine, orange, and blue curacao. The taste is rather sweet than alcoholic, especially towards the end when the ice starts melting. Put the flavor aside, I usually would shy away from something so flamboyant, but since it's Christmas, the colors and the mini lighting become festive and jolly.

Bread basket and butter -  

Start from top to bottom are multi-grain bread, maple sugar croissant, and walnut bread. We only tried the basic ones and packed the croissant home for next day snack. 

The bread was good, not wowing but rustic and comforting in a way, especially with some warmth and we spread it with lots of butter. 

Mister got the wine pairing - 

Start with a simple sparkling wine Monmousseau Crémant de Loire, Loire Valley NV. A Cut offers 3-glasses wine pairing set, about 1 or 2 glasses short compared to most fine dining restaurants in Taiwan. However, they did pour a little bit more for each glasses.

Mister picked Hokkaido scallop for first course - 

Parsnip, hazelnut, kohlrabi, and chorizo. I only tried one bite, but that one little taste was good. I specifically told Mister to make sure get a small chunk of scallop and few pickled kohlrabi on top for me. The kohlrabi was crunchy yet with a bit spiciness, which I think really helped in creating a stronger character for the usually light and gentle scallop dish.

I got the Royal Oscietra Caviar and sea urchin tart - 

There's a small extra charge for this dish, one I'm more than happy to pay for because I've had it before and the experience was wonderful.

What binds the caviar, sea urchin, and the tart  shell together was the crème fraîche in between. Sewing the dense savory note with buttery crust underneath. It's like a umami filling gently packed inside a delicate creamy bubble, and everything just burst in your mouth when taking a big bite. 

A bit of yuzu was also used, bring out another layer of sourish touch on top of crème fraîche. Just a tiny portion, enough to further enhance the sweetness for the sea urchin.   

For the second course, Mister picked the lobster bisque - 

And I got the Caesar salad, just because I know it's going to be a meat-filled dinner, and I need some veggies to balance if off - 

Hibiscus sorbet before the steak - 

While waiting for the steak, my reindeer arrived first. Somehow putting the reindeer shaped cocktail glass next to the sphere with a straw, looks like that Santa Claus inside the sphere is "fishing" for the reindeer -

A bit more alcohol in this one, which consists of gin, merlot, elder flower, rose, and plum vinegar. Mister took a sip and he's really on point this time picking out the rose element in the drink.

Our main courses and side dishes have been brought to our table, but first let's look at Mister's second wine pairing, Bruno Lorenzon "Le Chapitre" Rouge Mercurey, Bourgogne, France  2019 - 

Garlic butter mushroom and sweet and sour Brussels sprout are the two sides we picked. Both were good and actually paired well with our steak. It's hard to go wrong with anything garlic butter, and the mushroom stays juicy with some of its earthiness remained.

However, it is the Brussels sprout that brings out the difference. We weren't so sure about the sweet and sour seasonings when ordering, but thought that a bit acidity would be nice when enjoying marbled steak. In the end, we were spot on with our decision. It's not the very Chinese-type of sweet and sour, but perhaps slightly mellowed out with some butter. Just enough kick that not only works with steak, but also nicely balanced with the bitterness from the Brussels sprout itself. 

On the left is Japanese Kagoshima filet steak, and on the right is Australian Mayura full blood wagyu ribeye steak - 

Served with four types of salt, beef jus, and roasted garlic.

It's perfect that we ordered steaks with two contrasting characteristics. The Kagoshima filet steak was lean but super tender. The meat nearly collapses in my mouth with just a few chews. And during the chewing process, the meaty juice got squeezed out. Once the meat has been swallowed, that condensed beefy aroma still lingered for a while, very enjoyable. 

As for stronger taste lovers, the Mayura ribeye steak should deliver to your likeness. If trying out this piece of steak after the filet, one should immediately feel the wagyu fat fully permeating the entire steak. You really get a mouthful of high quality fat that's also silky and delicate from the ribeye. There's more to it, the chef gave the steak a nice charred aroma on the outside, so you've also got a pop of extra-concentrated meaty flavor intertwined within.

Put the smoked salt, bamboo leaf flavored salt, beef jus, etc aside, I love to enjoy the steak with some roasted garlic and simple high quality salt. Less is more especially with such top notch quality beef.

Got chamomile tea ad milk tea for the sweet stuff coming up - 

But before the main desserts, we were first presented with pâtes de fruits, madeleines, and palmiers.

Almost forgot that Mister still got his last wine pairing, and I haven't had the third cocktail yet.

Here we have Schloss Lieser Thomas Haag riesling 2021. It's nice to see my favorite type of wine riesling in the end, even though I'm not the one drinking it. 

Also my last Christmas cocktail made with vodka, midori, apple, Sprite, and ice cream. Think of it as alcoholic version of cream soda.

Chocolate soufflé, I was pretty excited to see this. What a perfect ending for a steak dinner with warm chocolate soufflé paired with vanilla ice cream - 

Dense chocolate too, Guanaja 70% results in better and luscious taste, not mentioning the oozing center. Scoop a small spoonful of ice cream and eat it with warm soufflé, a mix of hot and cold sensation makes this classic dessert extra special.

Snow fungus sweet - 

The name doesn't speak much, it was in fact a chiffon cake based dessert with snow fungus, red date, and Japanese soft brown sugar. On top of the usual soft and gooey texture of the snow fungus, they also made it extra crispy and garnished on top. An unexpected crunch was a nice touch there.   

First time around me and my mom enjoyed the steak meal. Second time around, me and Mister also had a good time at A Cut Taipei branch. By the way, only the Taipei branch was awarded with Michelin star status in 2023. 

The dishes in between were well-designed and the flavors were on par. What I like the most was the Australian Mayura full blood wagyu ribeye steak, which was only available from the dinner set menu, not the Michelin set menu. It's nice to try something new apart from my previous visit. 

The Mayura steak was rich, buttery, and even nutty in flavor. Not mentioning the high quality marbling that delivers a mouthful of silky fat and juicy meat. Strategically we ordered the Japanese fillet to compare with, something very lean yet super tender, something showcasing a piece of delicious steak from a different spectrum. 

We left the restaurant with a happy belly. Talking about belly, take a closer look while exiting A Cut. On the way to the restroom you'll find a Maitreya statue, the fat laughing Buddha as people says. Chinese people like to touch Maitreya's big fat belly when seeing one, that's why the shiny color after years of rubbing.

Please go ahead and rub the belly too as you exit the second floor. Why? Since we already filled our stomachs with such satisfying meal, why not go one step beyond and touch Maitreya's belly which resembles luck and happiness? The more the merrier. After all, it was a merry merry Christmas dinner. Ho ho ho, belated Merry Christmas to you all.

A Cut currently holds one Michelin star status. 

A Cut (Taipei Branch)

2F, 177 Liaoning Street,  Zhongshan District, 

Taipei City, Taiwan

+886 2 2571 0389

Restaurant website: A Cut Taipei

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ACUT.com.tw

Opening hours:

Lunch daily 11:30 a.m. ~ 3:00 p.m.

Dinner daily 5:30 p.m. ~ 10:00 p.m.

Extended reading:

• A Cut Chinese post from May 2023

Oretachi No Nikuya 俺達の肉屋 - Wagyu Beef Paradise in Taiwan Taichung

Yakiniku and shabu shabu are two cuisines that are always been very welcomed in Taiwan. Even without the Michelin fame, reservations can still be hard to get for popular locations. 

Take Oretachi No Nikuya for instance, it's located in one of the biggest cities in Taiwan, not Taipei, but central Taichung. Dining scene is booming there, and so does many yakiniku joints in the neighborhood. 

Especially after Oretachi No Nikuya was crowned one Michelin star, booking a table there during regular dining hours became mission impossible. Not just the locals, customers like us, Taipei dwellers, are more than happy to drive two hours one way if bookings become available.

And that's exactly what we did. I've been browsing the restaurant's booking site for quite some time. Not like I check it every day, but I do so when the thought popped up. The general rule of making a reservation at Oretachi No Nikuya is that it'll release the tables after midnight for the same date one month after. So let's say if it's February 1st 12 midnight, reservation for March 1st will then become available.

The tables are gone instantly of course, but for regular dining hours only. Oretachi No Nikuya starts dinner service at 5 p.m. So hours like 5 o'clock, 5:30, 7, 7:30 are extremely popular. If you don't mind eating heavy meaty meal late at night, like 9 or 9:30, these last two rounds of dinner services are usually open. 

Not for me though, my old bones can no longer take such big meal during late hours. That also explains why I was thrilled to see a table of two opened up all the sudden for 5:30 slot. Put the total 4+ hours drive behind, let's go!

Few street parking spaces available close to the restaurant, but your best luck would be this big outdoor parking space across the street - 

Unlike fancy French restaurants or trendy bistros that are usually on the Michelin list, which usually leaning towards elegant or semi-formal atmosphere. Oretachi No Nikuya has more of a bustling vibe, sometimes it can be loud when drinks are involved, but all rather friendly and homey. You'll still fit right in even dressed in sweatshirts and jeans.

With new location not far away from its previous address, I was actually quite happy with the space and energy. Not wide open, but for sure it's already more spacious comparing to many other yakiniku joints. First floor consists of individual tables that can each fit four people. So for two diners, you'll feel very comfortable with more leg rooms and tabletop to use. Big parties will be arranged upstairs on the second floor.

Each table is equipped with its own tabletop grill -

Standard sauce from left to right: yakiniku sauce, fleur de sel, oroshi ponzu.

The yakiniku sauce tastes like the combination of soy sauce, mirin, and sake, with restaurant's own twist of course. 

At Oretachi No Nikuya, customers can simply relax and watch, the servers will do all the grilling work. You can do it yourself too, but I prefer to leave it to someone much more experienced.

Little side story here, the servers are very friendly here so sometimes they'll have a chat with you while cooking at the same time. Well, most servers mainly talk about the grilling, the meat, the flavors, etc. Once a while the chef/owner will come and do the grilling himself, that's when you'll hear more juicy stories.

So the chef mentioned that sometimes, not too many, but few customers do prefer to grill the meat themselves. It usually happened on couples, as customers seemed to be dating. Very high percentage that guys will request to grill the meat himself, in order to cook for the ladies. I guess grilling meat is part of the courtship rituals.

Japanese beer seems like a must here, but we drove ourselves all the way from Taipei, and planned to head back home right after dinner. Don't drink and drive, so we opted for oolong tea and green tea instead.

Oretachi No Nikuya imports whole cow from Japan usually on a monthly basis. I'm not sure with their booming business if the frequency has increased. Because of that, customers get to try many premium and rare cuts here, also at a fair price per my opinion.

For first timers, simply go with their set menu that comes with side dishes, rice, soup, and drinks. Or go for the Japanese wagyu beef combo and order other interested items a la carte. 

Special items will also be written on a small board -

Korean kimchi came first, but the true intension of this picture is trying to show how squeaky clean the tabletop grill was -

Two responsible drinkers cheers with iced tea -

It's all good. We'll go get some boba milk tea after this meal, to compensate the loss of missing alcohol.

Sort of the extension of our compensation emotion, we ordered the shiso salad -

How so? Since we're going to enjoy such wagyu feast, I'm guessing that's a minimum 10 oz of meat per person, we've ought to balance it off with some healthy veggies first. 

Surprisingly they've use baby arugula as the main leafy greens here, and it worked so well with pungent chopped shiso leaves. Not bitter at all, but rather aromatic and can be easily enjoyed with its sweet and savory Japanese style dressing.

Drum roll, please. Dry aged Australian wagyu beef tongue -

First I need to explain why Australian wagyu but not Japanese. There's import restrictions regarding Japanese cow organs in Taiwan. So all the internal organs, including the tongue sold here are from the Australian variety. 

Mister had a great view here, he thinks these dry aged tongue looks like taro.

What not to miss when having yakiniku meal? Rice of course, if you never tried grilled beef with rice before, I highly recommended you to order a bowl to eat along with, especially from a great yakiniku joint. These Japanese-oriented eateries are very serious about the rice they serve. 

Japanese Koshihikari rice was used. Not exactly the same, but you can think of it as al dente to the Italians and their pasta. A good variety of rice with precision in prepping and cooking can have similar result as to pasta. The grains are bouncy and slightly chewy, but not hard at all.

Grilling these beef tongue is like watching sugar just started to move onto the caramelization stage. When in contact with such high heat, the beef tongue surface quickly tinted with golden brown color, then soon changed to that delicious-looking dark brown sear.

The server described the smell similar to French fries fresh off the fryer. I kind of get it, the dry aged beef tongue did have some earthy quality to it.

Beef tongue was cut into large bite size pieces. Look at the picture, if I didn't say anything about it, one might mistaken it for tuna steak?

I've had quite the amount of grilled beef tongue from the past, Oretachi No Nikuya's dry aged version can easily be one of my top three favorites. You get the opposite texture in one bite, the beef tongue is tender yet bouncy at the same time, with fats slipping through once you starts to chew. Not as strong as lean meat, but with a light brush of buttery taste. What a great opening for the night, this was also my top choice of the night.

Japanese wagyu beef combo -

The selection varies, but it'll always include one premium cut there. We were lucky and got the chateaubriand that night, which is only about 2% to 3% of the entire cow. The chateaubriand is not on this plate yet, they've only brought out three cuts first, two more will come later.

Japanese wagyu beef combo for two weights 400 grams, about 14 oz. They also offer 600 grams and 800 grams for three or four people.

Our server started with haneshita/chuck flap.

We knew that Japanese wagyu beef can be very tender and soft, but the very first bite always surprised us. It was like hugging airy feathery pillows with teeth and tongue.

內モモ/topside -

Cooking time was speedy for thin slices of topside wagyu. They rolled it up then presented to the customers, also suggested to try it with fleur de sel or oroshi ponzu.

Look closer, you'll find some semi-translucent section spreading all over the topside wagyu. That's the area melted immediately when in contact with body heat. And the pink flesh basically fell apart soon after a couple chew.

Brisket -

The chef/owner came over and helped grilling the brisket. The one we had was Japanese wagyu grade brisket, so doesn't quite apply, but he mentioned that some Japanese beef bowls are made with this more affordable cut of beef.

Vegetable platter for grilling -

The guy who helped ordering for us was very nice. We was only aiming for shiitake mushrooms, but he suggested why not go for the platter instead. Generally speaking customers cannot pick the veggies that come with the platter, but since we only wanted the shiitake initially, he made sure that the kitchen staff must include shiitake for us.

The timing was perfect too. We started the meal with refreshing salad and kimchi, then moved on to marbled beef tongue and three wagyu beef selections. Half way through, just when we were about to feel the weight of wagyu beef fat, here it came the vegetables again. A short break for our palate.

Growing up, I was never really a fan of bell peppers, but did gradually accept their existence. I'm ok with bell peppers on my plate, but not like I'll order them on purpose, or because I desire them. Took me by surprise though, these grilled colorful bell peppers were my favorite from the platter. It was like biting into an apple, or even a pear, that juicy crunch without any bitter scent. You know what? bell peppers are actually fruits under the botanical classification.

 

The guy was right, shiitake only would not be enough, considering the amount of marbled beef we had, and will have. We need to counter-balance our diet with more veggies. In a way we can start out fresh again for the upcoming wagyu "diamond" cut. 

Chateaubriand - 

Doesn't it look like the wall from Game of Thrones?

Chateaubriand is the center section of the tenderloin, also the most tender cut of it.

Chef/owner helped grilling this premium-cut Japanese wagyu. To tackle such thick-cut piece of beef, it's better not to grill it all the way through at once. What the chef did was searing both sides till slightly colored. In the meantime resupply some moisture to the meat using its own beef fat. 

Once ready, wagyu was remove from the grill and wrapped with foil. Let it sit and rest for a while then started the grilling process again.

Resting the meat helped lock in the moisture, keeping the beef tender and soft, even if there's more grilling soon after. And the grilling time varies, the end result should be medium rare with nice grilled color on both sides.

It was worth the wait. By that time, we kind of know what to expect since we already ate some Japanese wagyu beef. You know, tender and soft. However, the level of tenderness was off by like two levels.

I knew this chateaubriand can be very tender, but it was much more than I expected. Such chunky cut of beef provides volume, but in a contradicting way it simply disappeared in my mouth. Definitely not the never-melting wall from the Game of Thrones, this wagyu was gone within seconds after a few chew.

To bring it up a notch, try dipping some white truffle salt. The distinct aroma of the white truffle can withstand the marbled fats and further provided an elegant touch to the beef.

So there it goes my last bite of white rice.

Must have more rice, even though we've only left with two grilling items, but this scallion and yolk rice has flavors strong enough to stand on its own. I don't need to enjoy the rice with other dishes.

It got the savory touch from the soy sauce with a hint of sweetness, meanwhile randomly you'll bite into tiny salt flakes. A sudden pop of salty flavor was great. On top of that, you get a gentle taste of sesame oil throughout. 

So far we've had four of the five Japanese wagyu variety, the last one, also the only slightly marinated cut was nakaniku/outside round - 

Among all the Japanese wagyu we've had that night, nakaniku was the one with more tendons, but do not misjudge this part of the beef.

Usually we think of tendons, "chewy, hard, tough," these words might pop in our mind, but I guess it's premium wagyu after all, I still felt that this piece of meat melted in my mouth smoothly.

In fact, all the wagyu I've had all melted in my mouth one way or another. Just some happened instantly and some took a few chews.

This upcoming one can be quite frightening to some -

Chicken testicles, like human races, they also come in a wide range of colors.

Mister said that other customers were peeking over when the server brought out the chicken testicles. It's not an uncommon ingredients in Taiwan, just not as often be seen at a yakiniku joint. 

Mister was a bit scared of eating testicles, I can imagine why. However, the chef/owner encouraged him and said that it just taste like tofu and eventually gave him a couple pieces to try.

Even as someone who doesn't really eat organs and testicles, like Mister here, he actually ate two or three without much "suffering." "The texture does resemble tofu," he said. Served with sesame oil and salt, please be brave and enjoy testicles' oozing yet slightly popping sensation. 

Oretachi No Nikuya definitely worth many visits. Actually, over the years I've grown to favor yakiniku instead of full-on steakhouse when craving for some premium beef. Unlike a big chunk of single variety meat from the steakhouse, I get to try more parts at a yakiniku joint. If you want steak still, you can order that from a yakiniku place too. 

By the way, our meal was less than $300 USD, which such amount of premium beef devoured, also tableside grilling service, I think it's truly a bargain. Not mentioning the quality of the food, and I had a great time dining there. 

If you're that lucky person and find an early hour reservation opening, don't hesitate, just come and pamper yourself with some tender beefy love. 

Oretachi No Nikuya currently holds one Michelin star status.

Oretachi No Nikuya 俺達の肉屋

No. 194-1, Gongyi Rd., West Dist., 

Taichung City, Taiwan (R.O.C.) 

+886 4 2325 0588

Restaurant website: http://www.wagyu-nikuya.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oretachinonikuya

Opening hours:

Thursday through Tuesday 5:00 p.m. ~ 12:00 midnight

Wednesday off