Dining and Lounges WAGYU SELECTION
"WAGYU" is a world-famous Japanese beef with its delicate meat quality, fat sweetness and appetizing aroma.
Please enjoy all the dishes you can enjoy at the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo.
The Imperial Hotel, Tokyo houses a butcher section dedicated to selecting and managing meats used in the menus of the hotel's eight directly operated restaurants and banquet rooms.
The Butcher Chef is a meat expert who ages selected meats in an aging room so that they can be served at their perfect best, taking into account various factors such as season, menu, cooking method, and cuts.
Dinigs and Lounges
Teppankaki Kamon
Teppanyaki is an original Japanese style of cooking which has recently become a global favorite. Part of the fun is watching the chefs' performance as they prepare your food right in front of you., to your specifications.
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17F, Main Bldg. 
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Parkside Diner & The Rendez-Vous Lounge / AWA
You can enjoy Japanese beef in a variety of atmosphere, including Imperial Hotel-style diners, lobby lounges, and champagne bars.
| Location |
1F, Main Bldg. 
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11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. (last orders 9:30 p.m.) 6:00 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. (last orders 10:00 p.m.) 6:00 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. (last orders 10:00 p.m.) |
The Imperial Lounge Aqua
Enjoy the flavor of Japanese Wagyu Beef with the night view.
| Location |
17F, Main Bldg.
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6:00 p.m. - Midnight (last orders 11:30 p.m.)
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Old Imperial Bar
Sophisticated time to drink and enjoy in a calm space.
| Location |
Main Bldg. MF 
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| Service Time |
11:30 a.m. - Midnight (last orders 11:30 p.m.) |
Room Service
Enjoy WAGYU in a private space.
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| Service Time |
6:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m (last order) |
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*The indicated amount includes service charge and consumption tax.
Wagyu and One Chef's Story
We're bringing you the story of wagyu, a cornerstone of Japanese culinary culture even within Japanese cuisine. With its unparalleled sweetness and rich aroma among beefs around the world, wagyu is one of the special elements enjoyed by travelers visiting Japan.
For this reason, we'd like to introduce the person who knows more than any other about the wagyu that is an essential part of the Imperial Hotel's various menus. As we do that, we'll be taking you to a secret location inaccessible to visitors.
The Gatekeeper Passing Judgment on All Wagyu
9:15 a.m.
Lines of wagyu are set out on a large table. Captivating filets and sirloins, obtained from four top suppliers. A single chef stands before them and begins to cut into them, one by one.
This man is Butcher Chef Tetsuji Murano.
"I begin by checking the inside of the meat, as you can't tell its color or the state of its marbling from the outside alone. There are even some cases where we decline to purchase something at this stage."
Murano may be a chef, but he doesn't cook. His job is to use his own eyes and palet to check all of the wagyu used in the dishes served by the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo.
"There are amazing differences in the taste, depending on the type of the wagyu, where it comes from, and the producer. We need to know all of this when finding the wagyu that we seek at any given moment in time. That's why I take a look at the condition of every cut of the beef we receive."
This ritual awaiting wagyu as it enters the hotel has been carried out for over fifty years without fail in the backstage of the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo.
The Duty of a Chef Who Doesn't Cook
Fifteen years have passed since Murano became Butcher Chef. Until that, he acted as a veteran chef responsible for banquets.
"I was asked about working as a butcher after about twenty years as a chef. I really did agonize over the decision. I entered this world because there's nothing I love more than cooking. Becoming a butcher, though, would mean less time in the kitchen."
The Imperial Hotel's style is to select wagyu in-house, rather than relying on dealers. This means that checking meat is the lifeline determining the quality of countless dishes. It's for this reason that a butcher must understand the tastes of the Imperial Hotel and possess the talent needed to know what ingredients match them best. Murano accepted the role.
"Even among Japanese hotels, it's rare to find a business that is willing to spend as much attention on the ingredients it purchases as the Imperial Hotel. I felt areal sense of duty."
Choosing Beef and Carrying On Traditions
We asked Murano about his recommended wagyu dishes, and he happily obliged.
"There is so much amazing beef around the world. What's notable about Japanese beef is the sweetness of its red meat, its highly aromatic fat, and its texture that seems to melt in your mouth. If you'd like to enjoy these appealing traits in the winter, you can savor the flavor of this beef at teppanyaki restaurants such as Kamon. I also hope that you'll visit Torakuro, as there are times when it serves original wagyu dishes that complement the season."
Murano is well versed in many wagyu preparation methods that work with the seasonality of Japanese ingredients such as grilled vegetables or mushrooms, and he works to inspire the chefs in the kitchens of our hotel's restaurants by delivering them the perfect cuts of beef.
"Wagyu is graded based on factors such as color, level of marbling, and more. Globally, what's thought of as wagyu is primarily the top grades, which contain a large amount of aromatic fat. For roast beef, though, leaner meat without too much fat is required. Rather than slavishly relying on such grading, generations of our Butcher Chefs have trained their eye for meat in order to spot the perfect lean wagyu, maintaining our traditional flavors."
Wagyu's Hidden Potential
In recent years, large amounts of top-grade wagyu are being distributed thanks to the efforts of producers, resulting in less leaner beef on the market. Murano's approach to meat is to ask whether or not an ingredient is needed in order to make the best possible dish. It's for this reason that he values his own senses cultivated through experience over standardized ranks for the market.
"The wagyu that comes to us is, without exception, of the highest quality. For this reason, the wagyu we purchase is never decided only by brand or place of origin. I'd like to show people through our cuisine that any wagyu has its own unique
potential."
To end our interview, Murano showed us to a room even deeper in the floor: a wagyu aging chamber. Here, wagyu quietly rests until it is ready for preparation in our kitchens.
"I come here to check on the aging every day in order to send this beef to our kitchens in the best condition. When I can't be sure by look, I judge it by taking at hin slice, cooking it with salt, and eating it. I worked as Butcher Chef for twenty years, but I never imagined that raw wagyu underwent such complex changes in flavor. I understand that the previous chef could tell everything about the flavor of a piece of wagyu just by looking. I still need to taste it myself to figure that out."
If you come to the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo and find a wagyu dish while enjoying a course meal, we hope you think of our Butcher Chef. You'll be eating something checked by his own eyes and hands.
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