GiGi -steak@Numazu- Izu Gourmet GUide

GiGi is situated about 2 kilometers from Numazu in an area with wide streets and several other restaurants.
It is not on a main road and appears to be darker than the other restaurants.
It looks like a wild west steak house and when you enter you see a large teppan style grill which is just one table away from the entrance.
The restaurant is run by a husband and wife team and the atmosphere is very relaxed.
When I went I was the only customers and enjoyed a friendly chat with the owners.

Being a winelover I was happy to see the extensive wine list which included many types of cabenet as well as Crozes Hermatige which I chose to drink.
It was an excellent rich wine that complimented the steak perfectly.














I was given an extra hors d'oevre of bread and cheese which also went well with the wine.










You can choose between pottage or consomme soup and between rice ,garlic rice or bread to accompany your steak.
There are several choices of steak available including the cut of steak as well as normal or high grade Japanese beef.








The soups we tried were both quite orthodox in their style and flavour.
One was a pottage with parsley and the other was a clear consome and they both tasted as if considerable time was taken in their preparation and were very good.








A small but finely selected amount of fresh vegetables were served to accompany the highly marbled Japanese steak which possibly came from Saga Prefecture in Western Japan.
The sight of steak and fresh vegetables made me very hungry indeed.
The vegetables retained their original flavour after being grilled and tasted so good that I ate them quickly and could have eaten a lot more.
The onion in particular was incredibly fresh and sweet without the odour often associated with it.
The steak was cut into quite large cubes(pieces) which helped to bring out the excellent flavour to the fullest extent.
The marbling vanished during cooking and the steak was not oily in any way.
The salad was also very high class with premium ingredients and excellent dressing.

The only thing that disappointed was the garlic rice which was a little too strong and moist for my taste.

I recommed that if you go to GiGi you should either order white rice or ask for the garlic rice to be less concentrated and sticky.

A simple dessert of either vanilla or black currant sherbet icecream, is offered and tasted better than what you would expect to buy from most retail outlets.

High quality and carefully selected ingredients combined with a highly skilled and experrienced chef results in excellent tasting dishes.
To eat a similiar grade of meal in a hotel in tokyo you would have to pay two or three times the price so GiGi offers excellent value for money.

The service provided by the husband and wife team is not what you would expect from a high class Tokyo hotel but the taste and price more than make up for this shortcomming.

If you expect the service that you would recieve in a high class Tokyo hotel you will be disappointed by GiGi but I think the taste and price more than make up for this.
I will cartainly be back to GiGi again to enjoy the excellent tasting and fresh dishes it offers.

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GiGi
Address:370-1, Kamishoji, Shimokanuki, Numazu
Tel:+81-55-932-3986
http://www.steak-gigi.com/
Budget:Lunch:1,500 yen Dinner:8,000 yen
Open:Weekday:11：30am～2：00pm、5:00pm～10:00pm
Closed:Tue.
Overall evaluation:
Taste:
Atmosphere:
Service:
Value for money:

Please see a page here about detailed information on WIREDiCON.

Dokan Kagari -steak@Numazu- Izu Gourmet Guide

Dokan Kagari is located near Numazu port and has recently moved there from another location.
It's quite far from the station so a taxi is required if you want to drink.
It is in a small, dark and narrow street so wouldn't be easy to find if you drove there. There is a large green signboard to help you find it but it doesn't really look like a restaurant from the outside.












When you enter the restaurant it is suprisingly large and the entrance has a nice atmosphere.
There are 2 rows of teppan counters and the interior design is very 'chic' for a teppanyaki style restaurant.

Most of the other customers were couples of various age groups.
There were no guests dining alone but you can make single reservations if you like.
I went on a Monday so it wasn't crowded and was seated away from other people.
The menu offers teppanyaki style courses with a single page wine list that offers the choice of 5 or 6 red wines.
The housewine is named after the restaurant but it had no description so I didn't order it.

I ordered the Italian wine Classico that cost 3,000 yen for a half bottle which I thought as reasonable.
It had a fruity taste but was quite heavy so it matched the steak well.

Classico is very easy to drink so it can make you get drunk if you are not careful but it went very well with steak.





I ordered the Kagari course for 6,000 yen.
There is another course for 4,000 but both use Japanese "wagyu" so they are very reasonable.
I chose the 200 gram sirloin and it was enough to eat.
If you wish to share your course with your companions the staff are happy to cut it up into portions.
The difference between the courses is that the cheaper one is served with spinach and egg whereas the Kagari course has the house special flamed dessert.

The first dish of the Kagari course was a ratatouille with baby squid, shrimp and eggplant served with roast beef.

It exceeded by expectations and was delicious.








Then they served some steamed minced fish while they grilled the vegetables to be served with the steak.

It tasted good with "ponzu" dipping sauce.
The vegetables were asparagus, onions and enoki which are a type of Japanese mushrroom.
They were all grilled for a long time on low heat.

French fries were also served but were cooked elsewhere.




When the steak was served it was not as oily as I thought it would be and the chef performed some tricks with the salt and pepper for entertainment.
You can choose between ponzu sauce or garlic butter to go with the steak as well as garlic chips, wasabi or yuzu kosho which is a citrus pepper and salt seasoning.

I enjoyed a combination of yuzu kosho and ponzu sauce which tasted great with the meat.

The meat itself was not as tender as other high class Japanese beaf I have eaten but was still OK.
The fat from the meat is used in making the garlic rice which I chose instead of the other type of rice on offer which was Jakomeshi(rice with small white fish).

The garlic rice tasted very good and I was pleased with my choice.









Dessert was also grilled and was half an apple and a strawberry gently cooked on the teppan plate.
In another performance by the chef a peal soaked in alcohol was suspended above a ball of icecream on the grill which resulted in a firey display and the icecream being flambed.

The flavour from the alcohol was absorbed by the slightly melted icecream which was delicious.

The apple at first was quite sweet but as I ate it it became less so and tasted similiar to a sweet and sour dish.

In conclusion the side menus were excellent which helped the flavour of the steak however something seemed to be missing.

What exactly this was I am not sure but it meant that my overall impression was not as good as it could have been.

Depending on the night, this restaurant could be quite lively and noisey so it would be a good place to go with some close friends.

written by





Dokan Kagari
Address:26-3, Senbon-nisimachi,Numazu
Tel:+81-55-952-3600
http://nttbj.itp.ne.jp/0559523600/index.html?Media_cate=populer&svc=1303
Budget:Lunch:2,100 yen Dinner:6,000 yen
Open:Weekday:11:00am～1:30pm,5:30pm～8:30pm
Closed:Wed.
Overall evaluation:
Taste:
Atmosphere:
Service:
Value for money:

Please see a page here about detailed information on WIREDiCON.