Niku X Launches New Yakniku Tasting Menu

Niku X, the upscale luxurious new Japanese steakhouse on the second floor of the Wilshire Grand Center in downtown Los Angeles, has launched a new Yakiniku menu.

Diners can order the new Yakiniku Tasting Menu ($150 per guest which begins with The Five, including the five grains, wheat, almond, corn, barley and flour, that are fed to the cattle at their ranch. This beginning course included a tasty bellini with trout roe and a corn potage topped off with Wagyu tallow popcorn.

Next came a sushi course with A4 Toriyama tenderloin and an A5 Miyazaki rib cap, topped with Half Moon Bay wasabi.

We also received some beautiful charcoal grilled vegetables including cucumbers, peppers, tomato and squashini. These all accompanied the steak courses well.

Our waiter seared tableside slices of Mishima beef tongue with Shio Kombu and Meyer lemon, Stone Axe skirt steak with Ume chimichurri marinade, A5 Miyazaki top blade steak with Asian pear, Yakiniku and a Jidori egg yolk, A4 Toriyama tenderloin with foie gras and a blueberry gastrique, Masami Ranch striploin with Strawberry sukiyaki and we finished with an A4 toriyama chuck roll ochazuke served with truffle and brown rice.

We ordered a side of their delicious Wagyu Tallow potatoes, a must order and delicious.

The dramatic space opens after entering two huge doors where diners can sit at the long narrow bar and enjoy cocktails and mocktails. The drinks are as innovative as the menu, including a Niku X martini with Wagyu washed Grey Whale gin, vodka and celery root brine bitters; a Sunomono Margarita with tequila, yuzu, pineapple shrub, cucumber, Gochujung Cahmoy and salt; a Ume Raba with Ketel One Grapefruit Rosé, Kaffir lime, umeshu, passionfruit, lemon, ginger beer and bitters and a Matcha Matcha with non-alcoholic gin, Matcha coconut orgeat, lemon, mint and toasted coconut match flakes. Diners are then led to dark wooden booths and tables, spaced widely apart to diffuse noise. The huge dining room is dimly lit with black metal accent walls and gray tiled floors. There are also tiger murals throughout the space as well as huge displays of hanging aging beef. We especially loved the beautiful presentation and tableside cooking of all of the dishes.

Niku X is located at 900 Wilshire Boulevard on the second floor of Wilshire Grand, reservations at 323.920.0302.