‘Unlimited Meat’ Arrives in Manhattan

A spread at Mikiya. Photo: Chubby Group

Few things seem likely to summon potential diners to a new restaurant more effectively than a banner announcing “unlimited meat,” much like the one hanging under the neon sign for Mikiya, a new shabu-shabu house in midtown. I saw it in action as two different men who exited the 51st Street station stopped on the sidewalk to inspect the Second Avenue storefront, looking longingly at a freezer display of vacuum-sealed primal cuts labeled “product of Japan.”

If they had stepped inside, they would have smelled the unlimited meat, too. Upon opening the door, I was overcome with beef fat, hanging heavy in the air like incense in a cathedral. The scent followed me upstairs where I was seated in a then-empty section — it was 5 p.m., to be fair — with an induction-burner table to myself.

I had arrived for the Japanese-style hot pot and learned that the “unlimited meat” is offered in different tiers: a “silver Wagyu set” for $68 offering American and Australian Wagyu, as well as seafood, chicken, and Kurobuta pork. A “diamond set” runs $98 and offers everything in the silver set, plus unlimited Japanese A5 Wagyu chuck, brisket, and shoulder. I went with a middle option, a $78 “gold set” that includes one serving of each A5 option, as well as unlimited Australian and American beef.

The procession begins with a starter — I chose Wagyu nigiri — and, you guessed it, unlimited sides such as karaage, sweet-potato fries, and salads of cold octopus, clam, and seaweed. Wagyu gyoza were fried until hard, and were a little bland until I dipped them in the creamy sesame dressing that came on the side. Soon, the platters of sliced meats arrived and I saw no need to keep appetizing.

My pot was split between sukiyaki broth and the mild house dashi. I swished a piece of heavily marbled chuck through the sweet sukiyaki for a few seconds with a quick dip in egg before eating and was taken with the contrast of fat and muscle. The brisket was distinctly meltier, while shoulder slices were somehow the beefiest. My server, who had offered to fill up the hot pot, but left me to my own devices when I declined, came around regularly to refill my genmaicha, turn down the heat when the pot boiled too energetically, and skim the foam off the top. When I had made a dent in the first round of meat, he asked if I was ready for a second, but even with more than half of my 90-minute allotted meal time left, all of the fatty meat started to fill me up.

How is it possible for a restaurant to provide luxury meat at value pricing? It will likely come as no surprise to learn that there are other Mikiyas out there. A Flushing location preceded this by a bit, opening in August, and there are others in Boston, Honolulu, and elsewhere. But the corporate reach is much larger.

Behind Mikiya is a company called Chubby Group, which started in 2015 as a restaurant in Las Vegas called Chubby Cattle. The owners built partnerships with Wagyu farms in Japan and Australia as well as setting up their own American farm on the border of California and Oregon. In addition to Mikiya and Chubby Cattle chains, Chubby Group runs Niku X, a steakhouse in L.A., and sells frozen dumplings for home consumers, which apparently allows it to designate select parts of its cows for the most appropriate use, whether that’s bone marrow for the starter at Mikiya, or mince for a soup dumpling. And of course, it’s what allows it to offer all-you-can-eat Wagyu so freely.

I thought of my dinner less as “all you can eat” and more like “all inclusive.” Shabu-shabu is not like AYCE sushi, which can be shoveled into your mouth as quickly as someone makes it. It’s more leisurely than that, and as I watched the other tables around me fill up with groups and dates, it didn’t seem like they were going out of their way to gorge themselves, either. Rather, the refilled platters could facilitate nice meals without any feeling of scarcity. Though the lone dessert is Häagen-Dazs, which did strike me as a little skimpy.

This post has been updated. The company is Chubby Group, not Chubby Foods.