I owned a simple coffee shop for several years. The break-even point, even for a small shop that roasted our own coffee, served a lot of lattes, and cooked simple egg breakfast sandwiches (to order), was that I had to triple the price to break even: food, rent/utilities/insurance, and wages. So, when you sit down at a steakhouse and order that $100 steak meal once a year, the restaurant has paid about $30 (wholesale) for that cut of beef.
I know of one Canadian chain of mid-range restaurants that had posted in the kitchens a running average of what percentage of operations budget was. If the food costs broke 3% of the total operating costs, it was a bad sign, and corporate would loom a little.
@@CAIDMASTEROFPYRO Japanese steak joints like these often have just 1-2 chefs (one chef and one sous chef) and 1 server. They have a lot of these places where you just sit around the kitchen, with maybe 8-10 seats in the whole restaurant. Many high end sushi-ya's are like that too. So the personnel costs arent that high, but of course neither are the seats available
The Selling price is only one side of the formula for calculating breakeven points. The equally important part is "the number of steaks sold." Therefore - when you say - even for a small shop - you identify small operations' vulnerability. Why do you think most of them are run by families, parents, and kids included?
I visited Kyoto around ten years ago and walked past a restaurant one night. The owner spoke great English and beckoned us inside, where the specialty was to cook everything on hot stones, a style called ishiyaki. Amongst other things, he gave us a few small pieces of wagyu that are still some of the most memorable bites of steak I've ever had in my life. Melted immediately, total dopamine rush. Unforgettable.
This restaurant looks like a high-end teppanyaki, which is usually in five-star hotels and super expensive. So they usually don’t expect a lot of customers anyway. And as Guga said those restaurants typically don’t serve you a lot of food. I went to those restaurants once or twice before, and I had to go to another family restaurant for more food.
When I was stationed in Okinawa at Camp Foster, some battle buddies and I hit Naha City and ate at a restaurant there and I order Kobe. At that time it was fairly cheap in 1998. It was equivalent to spending $27 US for the steak itself. Still the best steak I've ever had.
You’d be surprised at how sometimes the best restaurants are empty. I went to Roppongi Robataya in March when I went. Had a great time and I was the only person in the restaurant. It was during the week and it was also raining so that might have been the reason why.
Years ago my brother was able to get a reservation at Wolfgang Puck's Cut steakhouse in LA. The sampler was $250 for 4oz of American Grass Fed Black Angus, 4oz of American Wagyu (cross of the Black Angus and a Japanese Wagyu cow) and 2oz of imported A5 wagyu. And that's all that was, just for 10oz of steak, $250.
The price is wildly affordable. My wife and i went to a 2-star Michelin restaurant in Costa Rica, and after tip with 2 cocktails, 2 appetizers, 2 main dishes, and a shared dessert it was 150 bucks. As a worker in semi-fine dining here in the states its impossible to find something of that quality for a respectable price.
yeah wagyu is quite cheap here compare to other country. i always buy $10 wagyu. and i even see $15 filet mignon and it even go to 50% off sale sometimes on the groceries.
It’s not considered to be anything exceptional here in Japan. Not ‘fuss’ or ‘fancy’ or ‘pride’, as Americans keep saying all the time. It’s part of how everything is done here. Every job or calling. Or task.
I've had lotus root kimchi before. To spice it up, they put slices of green and red chilis in the holes to ferment along with the root. Was surprisingly mild.
Teppanyaki food's flavor can actually be replicated very easily using just a pan at home, with salt and alcohol. The only difference is teppanyaki is cooked on a more showy type of cooking surface.
Almost looked like they were taking notes, which makes me believe they were there at an off hour to do the filming with less noise and probably doing a review.
I went to eat Kobe beef at a restaurant in Osaka. The chef didn't cook the whole steak at first, he only cooked one bite all the way to medium rare and made me taste it so that I could confirm it was how I wanted it, then proceeded to finish cooking the rest of the steak. I paid ~430$ but it was worth it.
wagyu mean japanese cattle in japanese the wagyu named after the placed of origin kobe is just the well known wagyu beef because kobe was a harbor city
3:50 I think that the reason it's empty is because they are filming at a time when it is not open. Japanese restaurants highly value the privacy of their customers, and it is very difficult to get filming permission when it is busy. So more often than not, when a tv crew or TH-camr wants to film a restaurant and review it, they get an appointment beforehand to film when there are no other patrons.
Guga's prices are way off. Restaurants buy in bulk, and whole A5 tenderloins go for 150-200 USD/lb. He's right that restaurants in US (nor in Europe) can sell the set for 110 USD but it wouldn't be 1000 either.
Japan is super cheap at the moment. have been to Tokyo and it was insane how cheap food was.They had virtually no inflation for years - bang for bucks !
5:13 Probably elephant garlic. Technically not garlic as it's only similar in look and flavor but not genus. I hear it has a much milder flavor compared to regular garlic and is also sweeter
Makes me appreciate that we are growing so much Wagyu in Australia that decent rump is down to $55/KG (that's not much more than $35/USD). It used to be a super-rare treat but now I cook it every few weeks!
@@wengelder9256They are. They have to be. They are mostly exported. Do you not understand the basic operations of the economics of the food business ? Or just agriculture ?
For a way cheaper way to enjoy wagyu imo will be going to a Yakiniku place, its way more fun if you want to enjoy your time with your friends without any disturbances. These places are kinda pricey than usual places BUT its a nice show to enjoy with food
I went to this exact restaurant in Kyoto when I went to Japan in 2018. The place was packed with older Japanese business men when I went around 8pm. The place was empty in the video because they filmed the video outside of normal hours. I believe the restaurant opens around 5:30pm. The total price for two 200g (7oz) steaks was around $500 at the time. It did come with a variety of sides, but ultimately wasn't a lot of food. I honestly felt this was fine considering how rich the steak was, I couldn't have ate anymore (Although I wanted to).
Also if you check this video was posted "3 years ago" in March 2020. People were aware of the threat of Covid just about to lock everything down particularly in Japan who had went through SARs in the past. They literally closed their boarders for ages.
I’m from Australia there chef Adrian who puts salt like u like feel go through fingers. But puts it on goes on the hot plate he has saying Salt Loves Meat, Meat Loves Salt.
There is a saying in Japan, something like "restaurants make money by their desert." Maybe that is why their food is a bit small for you to make you order more sweet things.
Keep it up with the good work Guga , youtube food video like this are really make poor people like me able to enjoy great food cheaper by cooking myself
Not sure which restaurant that was, but I went to Teppan-yaki Gozanbo in Kyoto and got a course meal for around that price, with a very good portion of food. Was no joke wearing sweatpants because we hadn't expected to go anywhere nice, but still treated like royalty. Unforgettable dining experience.
When I went to a Wagyu restaurant in Tokyo, it was also empty but we came around 4pm. It was a 3 course meal for roughly $85 a person. We weren't hungry after that, and it was the most delicious steak (Tenderloin I believe)... well worth the price.
The Japanese Chefs are skilled and Professional. I prefer that over the Japanese Steak House in America where they like to put on a show with fire and seeing if you can catch food in your mouth. That said the Costco Prime ribeye is a amazing
It's probably because Japan recently got more strict with filming in establishments, so probably filmed during off hours, or maybe the requester reserved the whole place.
I went to Ginza Steak last month when I visited which is all you can eat wagyu, final price was 13980 yen which is around 90 dollars. I was left in a wagyu fat coma lol, highly recommend.
4:37 That tiny potion of food (steak with some veggies and a plate of salad) is actually just nice for an average Japanese, lol. Add to that a beverage and a dessert, or an additional small bowl of rice if you are really hungry, and it's enough for a meal. The potion sizes in the west can be so huge for us smaller sized Asians, that it's hard not to gain weight whenever you eat out a lot.
No. That’s untrue. Just nonsense. Here in Japan people who are very conservative, typical Japanese eat huge portions of oily ramen & served it with greasy gyoza. Plus all you can eat rice servings ! The Japanese people love to tell people ( gaijin ) that they always eat very little.
@@albertarthurparsnips5141 just like how you guys don't eat oily and greasy KFC everyday, ramen is also not eaten every day. But the portion size in Japan is indeed smaller. That's the truth, even if you don't believe it and try to present it otherwise 😂
@@zanaros2606 It is not the truth. You know nothing of us at all. Except that little which you learn ( !? ) from foreigners’ TH-cam videos. Small portions are not always eaten. Not at all. Please stop lieing about Asian people. Just recently we enjoyed a typical banquet serving of classic wahshoku cuisine ( do you know about it ? ) in Ueno. More than ten dishes were served, not including several appetisers. Americans do not eat like this, and cannot do so. They are impatient & hasty people. 🇯🇵
@Guga on Kadena Air base in the SNCO club, they have a restaurant that serves Kobe Beef (well they did about 28 yrs ago) and it was absolutely the best beef I've ever eaten.
I looked up where the restaurant is, and to my surprise, it was on the east side of Kyoto(I live on the west side); a 20~30 minute drive across town can take me there.
I watched the original video and they were sprinkling Suntori V.O. brandy (if made in France it would be Cognac or Armagnac) on the meat and vegetables, not whiskey as Guga was saying. Sure wish I could have that meal at that price with entertainment!
Not common. No. Here in Japan they are used almost constantly ! Along with shoyu ! The taste of something like gyudon is ubiquitous here, in *everything* except sweets ! It’s very stodgy
the reason they dont have a lot of customers, because that place with 16k yen for 2 portion is considered expensive there. so even if they get less customers because the price, they still can still get profit enough from few customers to stay afloat
No. Those places are almost always owned & operated by conglomerates & corporations. Even Seibu or Oriental Land. Or the JR group. They don’t need to survive independently at all.
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I owned a simple coffee shop for several years. The break-even point, even for a small shop that roasted our own coffee, served a lot of lattes, and cooked simple egg breakfast sandwiches (to order), was that I had to triple the price to break even: food, rent/utilities/insurance, and wages. So, when you sit down at a steakhouse and order that $100 steak meal once a year, the restaurant has paid about $30 (wholesale) for that cut of beef.
Probably less, steak houses have higher overheads than a coffee shop and need bigger margins. more staff, larger venue, more equipment etc
I know of one Canadian chain of mid-range restaurants that had posted in the kitchens a running average of what percentage of operations budget was. If the food costs broke 3% of the total operating costs, it was a bad sign, and corporate would loom a little.
@@CAIDMASTEROFPYRO Japanese steak joints like these often have just 1-2 chefs (one chef and one sous chef) and 1 server. They have a lot of these places where you just sit around the kitchen, with maybe 8-10 seats in the whole restaurant. Many high end sushi-ya's are like that too. So the personnel costs arent that high, but of course neither are the seats available
yeah i've been in the industry a few years now and i've only ever heard 300%
The Selling price is only one side of the formula for calculating breakeven points. The equally important part is "the number of steaks sold." Therefore - when you say - even for a small shop - you identify small operations' vulnerability. Why do you think most of them are run by families, parents, and kids included?
I love how Guga is always so happy when he sees another chef do something he approves of. 👍🏻
They asked a yakitori chef In Japan. what his favorite food was and his answer was : Food cooked by someone else, lol.
I visited Kyoto around ten years ago and walked past a restaurant one night. The owner spoke great English and beckoned us inside, where the specialty was to cook everything on hot stones, a style called ishiyaki. Amongst other things, he gave us a few small pieces of wagyu that are still some of the most memorable bites of steak I've ever had in my life. Melted immediately, total dopamine rush. Unforgettable.
This restaurant looks like a high-end teppanyaki, which is usually in five-star hotels and super expensive. So they usually don’t expect a lot of customers anyway. And as Guga said those restaurants typically don’t serve you a lot of food. I went to those restaurants once or twice before, and I had to go to another family restaurant for more food.
When I was stationed in Okinawa at Camp Foster, some battle buddies and I hit Naha City and ate at a restaurant there and I order Kobe. At that time it was fairly cheap in 1998. It was equivalent to spending $27 US for the steak itself. Still the best steak I've ever had.
‘ Battle buddies ‘ in Okinawa !? In 1998 !?….Hmm…😂
I think that the restaurant was empty because they hired a film crew to film and so probably closed the restaurant.
Or also they book a room so it doesn't disturb the other diners
You’d be surprised at how sometimes the best restaurants are empty. I went to Roppongi Robataya in March when I went. Had a great time and I was the only person in the restaurant. It was during the week and it was also raining so that might have been the reason why.
Probably not hired, or it would be the lowest quality production :D Most likely had someone there (management, friend) to film it on their phone.
Sure
Exactly
Years ago my brother was able to get a reservation at Wolfgang Puck's Cut steakhouse in LA. The sampler was $250 for 4oz of American Grass Fed Black Angus, 4oz of American Wagyu (cross of the Black Angus and a Japanese Wagyu cow) and 2oz of imported A5 wagyu. And that's all that was, just for 10oz of steak, $250.
The price is wildly affordable. My wife and i went to a 2-star Michelin restaurant in Costa Rica, and after tip with 2 cocktails, 2 appetizers, 2 main dishes, and a shared dessert it was 150 bucks. As a worker in semi-fine dining here in the states its impossible to find something of that quality for a respectable price.
Am i wrong in thinking that you should never press down on the steak when cooking as it removes the juices???
Shoutout Aden films……Been watching his channel for a few years now. It’s almost therapeutic
Snoop : smoke wiid everyday
Guga : Smoke meat everyday
yeah wagyu is quite cheap here compare to other country. i always buy $10 wagyu. and i even see $15 filet mignon and it even go to 50% off sale sometimes on the groceries.
I like watching them cook. They take so much pride in their dishes.
It’s not considered to be anything exceptional here in Japan. Not ‘fuss’ or ‘fancy’ or ‘pride’, as Americans keep saying all the time. It’s part of how everything is done here. Every job or calling. Or task.
I've had lotus root kimchi before. To spice it up, they put slices of green and red chilis in the holes to ferment along with the root. Was surprisingly mild.
Teppanyaki food's flavor can actually be replicated very easily using just a pan at home, with salt and alcohol. The only difference is teppanyaki is cooked on a more showy type of cooking surface.
Almost looked like they were taking notes, which makes me believe they were there at an off hour to do the filming with less noise and probably doing a review.
I went to eat Kobe beef at a restaurant in Osaka. The chef didn't cook the whole steak at first, he only cooked one bite all the way to medium rare and made me taste it so that I could confirm it was how I wanted it, then proceeded to finish cooking the rest of the steak. I paid ~430$ but it was worth it.
i wouldn't say thats how the restaurant is, based on the footage its done during the day when its active hours would be night life
From Aden’s Film channel. He always has the best food in Japan and SE Asia
Congrats on 2 M guga. Well deserved!!
I have heard that restos have to charge 3x the price of the food to make a profit, not 2x.
Very nice. I lived in Japan for almost 4 years. I enjoyed their style of cooking.
The fact that we get free food & travel videos from Guga on TH-cam is priceless; keeping the knowledge and entertainment alive. 👍👍👍👍👍
Gugas face watching this is like us watching his cooking, salivating
wagyu mean japanese cattle in japanese
the wagyu named after the placed of origin
kobe is just the well known wagyu beef because kobe was a harbor city
talk about a misleading video title :/
😢
5:42 Guga looking at the meat and touching himself lol I understand.
3:50 I think that the reason it's empty is because they are filming at a time when it is not open.
Japanese restaurants highly value the privacy of their customers, and it is very difficult to get filming permission when it is busy. So more often than not, when a tv crew or TH-camr wants to film a restaurant and review it, they get an appointment beforehand to film when there are no other patrons.
Aden sometimes gets special access to to restaurants. That could be why it's empty.
I wish I could eat that some day in my life at least once... Just like a Guga steak...
I actually subbed to Aden first before SVE (old SVE was really fun)
Guga's prices are way off. Restaurants buy in bulk, and whole A5 tenderloins go for 150-200 USD/lb. He's right that restaurants in US (nor in Europe) can sell the set for 110 USD but it wouldn't be 1000 either.
Japan is super cheap at the moment. have been to Tokyo and it was insane how cheap food was.They had virtually no inflation for years - bang for bucks !
Everybody is hating on Salt Bae and I love it! 😂😅😂
5:13 Probably elephant garlic. Technically not garlic as it's only similar in look and flavor but not genus. I hear it has a much milder flavor compared to regular garlic and is also sweeter
Makes me appreciate that we are growing so much Wagyu in Australia that decent rump is down to $55/KG (that's not much more than $35/USD). It used to be a super-rare treat but now I cook it every few weeks!
But it’s no way near real Wagyu …
@@wengelder9256They are. They have to be. They are mostly exported. Do you not understand the basic operations of the economics of the food business ? Or just agriculture ?
Yep I visited Japan in 2010 and had kobe filet mignon. I will never forget.
For a way cheaper way to enjoy wagyu imo will be going to a Yakiniku place, its way more fun if you want to enjoy your time with your friends without any disturbances. These places are kinda pricey than usual places BUT its a nice show to enjoy with food
I went to this exact restaurant in Kyoto when I went to Japan in 2018. The place was packed with older Japanese business men when I went around 8pm. The place was empty in the video because they filmed the video outside of normal hours. I believe the restaurant opens around 5:30pm. The total price for two 200g (7oz) steaks was around $500 at the time. It did come with a variety of sides, but ultimately wasn't a lot of food. I honestly felt this was fine considering how rich the steak was, I couldn't have ate anymore (Although I wanted to).
Also if you check this video was posted "3 years ago" in March 2020.
People were aware of the threat of Covid just about to lock everything down particularly in Japan who had went through SARs in the past. They literally closed their boarders for ages.
@guga Japan does not have a tipping culture it is considered rude in Japan to tip.
I seriously watch this guy to listen to his voice. He has a nice voice. 😊
Guga livin' in United Steaks
Aden films. Love that channel
best thing to pop up on my homepage as im about to eat n watch a yt video
I've had lotus root before and it kind of tastes like flowers It does have a crispy taste like water chestnuts
Ponzu sauce not mentioned. Also salty but has citrus notes. Included with nearly every steak in Japan.
Tip when you go to these types of restaurants is to go during lunch. The dinner sets are almost always at least twice the price.
Yes. Here in Japan lunch time is ubiquitous & universal for ‘specials ‘ & ‘discounts’ . Everywhere.
bro had a diagram showing the steak part locations. I never thought about that. Guga can teach a whole course.
Although.. Australian Wagyu is pretty affordable, at least here in Australia. 😅
Guga vs Salt Bae Steak Battle please 😂😂😂
3:30 thats cus its expensive for good reasons, u should know that :D
You can eat really well at Becco in New York without wine for about $100 a person. Highly recommend.
I’m from Australia there chef Adrian who puts salt like u like feel go through fingers. But puts it on goes on the hot plate he has saying Salt Loves Meat, Meat Loves Salt.
maybe they started filming before opening the restaurant?
I’ve spent $100 at a restaurant by myself :D
Soda, app, meal, desert + tip
I have to subscribe to your channel. You give the steak the honour it needs.
I love your videos!
Gotta love a good message for Salt Bae.
I love your videos so much. They are so entertaining
There is a saying in Japan, something like "restaurants make money by their desert." Maybe that is why their food is a bit small for you to make you order more sweet things.
Keep it up with the good work Guga , youtube food video like this are really make poor people like me able to enjoy great food cheaper by cooking myself
Not sure which restaurant that was, but I went to Teppan-yaki Gozanbo in Kyoto and got a course meal for around that price, with a very good portion of food. Was no joke wearing sweatpants because we hadn't expected to go anywhere nice, but still treated like royalty. Unforgettable dining experience.
When I went to a Wagyu restaurant in Tokyo, it was also empty but we came around 4pm. It was a 3 course meal for roughly $85 a person. We weren't hungry after that, and it was the most delicious steak (Tenderloin I believe)... well worth the price.
well wagyu or whatever is like 70 percent fat so eating even 100 grams of it should fill you up
That f you to salt bae was epic 😂
Thank you Guga for posting this video today! I was just told that I have a non cancerous brain tumor. This video has really brightened my day!
The Japanese Chefs are skilled and Professional. I prefer that over the Japanese Steak House in America where they like to put on a show with fire and seeing if you can catch food in your mouth. That said the Costco Prime ribeye is a amazing
4:00 it looked like liquor 43...not whisky
You should do a food tour in France as the one you did in Spain and compare the 2
My man really hit us with with "yes papa"
It's probably because Japan recently got more strict with filming in establishments, so probably filmed during off hours, or maybe the requester reserved the whole place.
Johhny Somali?
Why you have me drooling on myself Big G?
That looks tasty
I love how you find opportunities to insult Salt Bae! 😂
I went to Ginza Steak last month when I visited which is all you can eat wagyu, final price was 13980 yen which is around 90 dollars. I was left in a wagyu fat coma lol, highly recommend.
4:37 That tiny potion of food (steak with some veggies and a plate of salad) is actually just nice for an average Japanese, lol. Add to that a beverage and a dessert, or an additional small bowl of rice if you are really hungry, and it's enough for a meal. The potion sizes in the west can be so huge for us smaller sized Asians, that it's hard not to gain weight whenever you eat out a lot.
No. That’s untrue. Just nonsense. Here in Japan people who are very conservative, typical Japanese eat huge portions of oily ramen & served it with greasy gyoza. Plus all you can eat rice servings ! The Japanese people love to tell people ( gaijin ) that they always eat very little.
@@albertarthurparsnips5141 just like how you guys don't eat oily and greasy KFC everyday, ramen is also not eaten every day. But the portion size in Japan is indeed smaller. That's the truth, even if you don't believe it and try to present it otherwise 😂
@@zanaros2606 It is not the truth. You know nothing of us at all. Except that little which you learn ( !? ) from foreigners’ TH-cam videos. Small portions are not always eaten. Not at all. Please stop lieing about Asian people. Just recently we enjoyed a typical banquet serving of classic wahshoku cuisine ( do you know about it ? ) in Ueno. More than ten dishes were served, not including several appetisers. Americans do not eat like this, and cannot do so. They are impatient & hasty people. 🇯🇵
now that's an experience!
and I really want to try lotus root!
@Guga on Kadena Air base in the SNCO club, they have a restaurant that serves Kobe Beef (well they did about 28 yrs ago) and it was absolutely the best beef I've ever eaten.
Lotus root is really good, especially in Sichuan hot pot.
When Gaga said o yes papa😂😂😂
‘Order extra’ , that is the phrase for life
Or that special dessert!
Yes. In ‘murica😂
I looked up where the restaurant is, and to my surprise, it was on the east side of Kyoto(I live on the west side); a 20~30 minute drive across town can take me there.
I watched the original video and they were sprinkling Suntori V.O. brandy (if made in France it would be Cognac or Armagnac) on the meat and vegetables, not whiskey as Guga was saying. Sure wish I could have that meal at that price with entertainment!
Loved the salt bae shade. 🤣
day 24 VANILLA EXTRACT DRY-AGE STEAK WHEN
Wagyu(和牛) means
和-wa (japanese style)
牛-gyu/ushi (cow)
I dont know why there's american wagyu
American japanese style beef? 😂
😂😂
guga always know a way to make me twirl my stomach
2 steaks and a side of veggies is plenty of food for people who aren't obese
I'd just point out that tipping isn't very common in Japan. So definitely have that in mind when you're thinking about the total costs.
i like lotus roots when cooked in pork broth soup with peanuts
Guga try new zealand steak and most expensive cherries in the world plus dry aging in fish sauce
Try Mote Hin Khar with beef, It would be revolutionary. It is classic Burmese Noodle dish.
Aden Films is one of my favorite Food-Channels besides you Guga - would love a cooperation of you guys!
As someone who has had Kobe fillet, all it needs is salt and Kobe beef tallow, not many sides.
When’s to one of those in Osaka, it was awesome. $180 for two for A LOT of meat and drinks…
I'll be judge of food, as your guest dining 💃🕺🎇🤣😂
Guga I'm getting saliva on my phone screen watching this video
I think that was Daikon, not Horseradish. Daikon and ponzu are common condiments in Japan.
Not common. No. Here in Japan they are used almost constantly ! Along with shoyu ! The taste of something like gyudon is ubiquitous here, in *everything* except sweets ! It’s very stodgy
Funny thing about using butter instead of beef tallow is that butter is still cow juice
Lowkey wanna see you react or do a collab with the Korean Englishman.
They filmed this "off hours" so the camera and crew wouldn't get in the way.
the reason they dont have a lot of customers, because that place with 16k yen for 2 portion is considered expensive there. so even if they get less customers because the price, they still can still get profit enough from few customers to stay afloat
No. Those places are almost always owned & operated by conglomerates & corporations. Even Seibu or Oriental Land. Or the JR group. They don’t need to survive independently at all.