Since visiting Japan and having amazing wagyu beef there last year, my taste buds have been super spoiled. I’m already not a big fan of red meat to begin with, and aside from the occasional visit to K-town, I’ll almost never order beef or steak when I’m dining out.

This weekend, I found a place that I’d go back to again and again for their tasty cuts of beef. Yakiyan has earned its place as hands-down the best beef I’ve had in the states.

Located in the Rowland Heights area (where good Asian food is so so plentiful), the high-end omakase style Japanese BBQ restaurant features 9 courses of high quality beef, including both American and Japanese wagyu, that will melt in your mouth and leave tears in your eyes.

We were seated on the patio and sipped on some fresh-squeezed Japanese lemonade made with yuzu (so yummy!) while we waited for the first course to come out.

Raw egg that’s safe to eat is pretty hard to come by in the states, but it’s a staple in a lot of Japanese food and Yakiyan really did it justice! A spoonful of beef sashimi with uni was followed by some seared beef and a beef tartare that were melt-in-your-mouth good.

Then came the main course.

My mouth is still watering looking at the marbling on these fresh cuts of meat!

Aside from the many various premium cuts that you’re served, you also get a dish of bone marrow with rice that’s topped off with a drizzle of sauce made out of rendered beef fat and garlic. The umami in the dish was insane. So. Good.

Take my word for it, this place out of any has the best BBQ I’ve tasted in the US. Service, presentation, quality of food was all a 10/10. Next time, I’m definitely going to skip Japanese BBQ on the west side and drive east to visit Yakiyan.