Taste of Japan: Tender wagyu the reward for wait at steak restaurant in Yokohama

(Photo by Takahiro Takiguchi/Stripes Japan)

Thanks to its surroundings, an elegant port city of Yokohama is a treasure box of restaurants serving delicious meals. Among the many options, my family and I stopped at Grill Alabell, a steak restaurant perfect for both casual and celebratory family meals.

Grill Alabell is less than 20 minutes away from Negishi Housing Area and is very close to nearby attractions like Sankeien traditional Japanese garden, Hakkeijima Sea Paradise or Yokohama Bayside Marina.

My daughter’s office is close by and she’d heard of Alabell’s great reputation for serving up juicy, high quality “kuroge wagyu” beef, so she took my wife and I to try it for ourselves.

The restaurant’s nostalgic exterior complete with a red noren curtain and dimmed orange sign was reminiscent of a 1970s yoshoku restaurant. Inside the cozy wooden counter and table was inviting and had enough to comfortably seat 30 guests.

With my daughter’s recommendation, we ordered the signature wagyu hamburger steak for 1,700 yen (or about $11 for 210 grams), or you can order a larger, 300-gram portion for 2,470 yen. For 450 yen more, the steak will come with a side of rice or bread and soup.

After placing the order, we needed to wait for 15 or 20 minutes, as Alabell starts kneading the meat only after receiving orders and serves the steaks hot and fresh. You know, the wait felt a bit too long for me because I was hungry, but we were rewarded with nice, sizzling hamburg steak.

Each hamburg steak was cut in half where we could appreciate its rareness. We could cook our hamburg to our preference with the hot iron plate each steak was served on. I started eating when my meat was medium-rare, but my wife and daughter waited when theirs were well-done.

One bite and I was impressed by the flavorful, savory taste.

The very tender, melt-in-your-mouth patty relied entirely on the natural wagyu flavor of the meat. Since the meat itself was rich enough with full of flavor, I felt only rock salt and pepper were more than enough to season my dish. The restaurant also offers other sauces like demiglace, tomato, Japanese, salt and lemon, and onion sauces.

I tried adding the onion sauce to perfect the flavorful meal. While the natural sweetness of the meat itself really stands out, I felt that the sweet‑and‑sour onion sauce also worked well to highlight that sweetness even more.

Even though I preferred salt and pepper for such a high‑quality hamburger, I’d like to try different sauces to see how they transform the flavor. So, on my next visit, I’d like to choose the popular demi‑glace sauce for my hamburger.

The dinner was a perfect way to wrap up a Yokohama stroll. Don’t miss out on a decadent meal at Alabell next time you’re in the area!

Grill Alabell