Miyazaki Wagyu festival at the city club

The City Club partnered with famed BGC restaurant Miyazaki Gyu to bring to Sakura Japanese restaurant the Miyazaki Gyu Festival, a month-long special dinner featuring Miyazaki Wagyu, Japan’s No. 1 meat, as rated by the Japan Meat Grading Association and the Wagyu Registry Association in Japan.

The City Club is a membership club in the heart of Makati’s Central Business District with world-class amenities and specialty restaurants — the same restaurants found in their sister club, Balesin Island Club. Sakura, the Club’s Japanese restaurant, featured this heavenly dinner I myself would have dreamed of, since I love Japanese beef!

Miyazaki wagyu has an even fat distribution, velvety texture, and is subject to high-quality standards that only beef graded four and above can be classified as Miyazaki beef. Miyazaki wagyu has also won the “Prime Minister Award” at the National Competitive Exhibition of Wagyu three consecutive times, making it the only brand to have achieved this feat.

The City Club’s general manager Nic Belasco, together with president Dennis Valdes welcomed only six of us for an intimate dinner preview. We started with the raw dishes Beef Tartare and Beef Sashimi before proceeding to the torched and very slightly seared Beef Aburi Sushi with Uni and Ikura.

The very bubbly executive chef Valerie Nombre (who I knew from Balesin) did an excellent job presenting the versatile Miyazaki beef in raw and semi-cooked form before showcasing the cooked beef.

A lemon sorbet was served to cleanse our palate before we had the sukiyaki topped with raw beef, which was to be cooked as the hot soy-dashi broth was poured onto our individual bowls.

The Beef Tepanyaki with Truffled Mashed Potatoes and Sautéed Shitake Mushrooms was a wonderful union of melt-in-your-mouth beef with soft mash and garlic mushrooms.

Miyazaki beef is full of flavor whether raw or cooked. The cooked beef was buttery and so tender that I didn’t need to knife to slice it.

We ended with a Panna Cotta with Mango Coulis, Granola, and Honey. Everything in this seven-course dinner was close to faultless.

Belasco said, “We are very excited to have a partnership with Santi Araneta and his team from Miyazaki Gyu for this event. The Miyazaki Beef Festival this February is the first of its kind for The City Club. Sakura, our Japanese restaurant, will be offering a degustation of premium-cut Miyazaki wagyu dishes. Our launch night for the festival is Wednesday, Feb. 10, ending Feb. 28.”

The City Club follows strict health and sanitation guidelines for the safety of its members, guests, and employees. Despite being a member’s only club, this Miyazaki Gyu Festival is open to all. One can also reserve the entire Sakura Japanese restaurant when you book for eight or more people for the evening. For reservations and inquiries, contact The City Club’s Front Office Desk at 0917-799-8894, 0908-887-0910, or landline 8737-0000 loc. 104.

Do not miss this excellent dinner featuring Japanese Miyazaki beef.

ERRATUM: I made a mistake last week in my coverage of “The Adobo Chronicles.” I mentioned the list of contributors and put the wrong surname for Betty Ann Besa-Quirino.  Sorry for the error.

* * *

Follow me on Instagram @pepperteehankee.