Wagyu Ya

Wagyu Ya is a Japanese restaurant across the road from South Yarra station in the middle of Toorak Road’s surprisingly eclectic restaurant strip. Japanese equals sake of course so I ordered a 300ml flask of hot Junmai Chokara which at $ 15 was the cheapest on the menu — and compared to the most expensive (something called Kotsuzumi Rojoganaari which sells for a pricey $ 399 a bottle) an absolute bargain.
For entrée I ordered a serve of the Wagyu gyoza for $ 18. There were six of these made from minced beef mixed with herbs, served on a bed of shredded raw cabbage with a little bowl of soy-​based dipping sauce on the side. I think the gyoza at Machi just edge these our from a flavour perspective, but very good nevertheless.
Wagyu Ya specialises, not surprisingly, in grilled Wagyu beef, but I decided to try the Kurobuta pork which was billed as the «best in the world». Couldn’t let a statement like that go unchallenged so I asked the waitress to recommend a cut. She suggested the Kurobuta Chashu; smoked pork belly served with wasabi sauce and a sprinkling of water cress. The meat was cut into thin rectangles and served in a cross hatched pattern on top of the cress and the wasabi. It was quite rich and sweet and very tender. But the best part of the dish was the sauce. This was subtle, understated but still very tasty and complemented the main ingredient beautifully.

I stopped here for lunch one day with an empty stomach and left very satisfied with my meal. The bento is the way to go if you want to try a variety of food with sushi roll, salad, miso soup, rice and your choice of grilled steak. It was delicious and filling. I recommend it for a superb and tender meat selection.

Awesome food. Amazing quality meat BBQ on the table. The sushi was great. Good service and a very authentic setting. It was full of Asian crowd so thats always a very good sign. Over two levels and a private room, this restaurant is warm and has a great comfy feel. Very very good food

This venue just opened, steps from Café Republic. Downstairs serves standard sushi and similar fare, upstairs is the grill tables.
We chose the grill and were seated at a pleasant two-​person table. We had arrived early for dinner and the room was mostly empty when we sat down, but it rapidly filled to capacity as we ate. And ate, and ate, and drank!
We started with edamame and marinated wasabi octopus. The octopus was lovely, as the Aussies like to say. Next we has a small dish of Unagi, which is my wife’s favorite sushi. It was quite good, on par with other fine sushi shops I have visited.
For mains, to be self cooked on the charcoal grill built in to the table, we had Ox shoulder, fillet, and sirloin, with a variety of small vegetables and corn coblets.
All of the meats were excellent, along with the selection of dipping sauces that were provided. Cooking the food in the table grill was a bit of fun and the very attentive wait staff helped us thru the process.
We finished with black sesame ice cream with almonds, which was exceptionally good.
All of this was washed down with an excellent bottle of sake.
This restaurant is a welcome addition to Toorak Road!