Palm Beach Meats Orlando is a sanctuary for rich and highly marbled cuts of Japanese beef

The world of wagyu can befuddle the most ardent of beefeaters, so here’s the bottom line: As great as American and Australian wagyu are, nothing compares to Japanese beef. Now that doesn’t mean the 100 percent full-blood black cattle Japan shipped to the United States and Australia prior to the export ban in 1997 haven’t yielded supreme strips and loins — they have. But the cows in Japan are just different. They live relatively stress-free lives in their ventilated barns, famously being pampered, massaged and cared for by their handlers. They’re also raised in small herds and fattened on a highly specialized diet for a longer period of time than their Aussie and American counterparts. More importantly, this is the way Japanese farmers have been doing it for generations, resulting in black cattle that are genetically predisposed to yield marbling of Michelangelesque proportions.

Take your average supermarket steak, or USDA Prime ribeye from a high-end steakhouse, for example: They’ll likely have an edge or cap of fat on the outside. But with wagyu, as Joe Heitzeberg, CEO of online meat delivery service Crowd Cow, says, “The cow metabolizes the fat internally, so it’s integrated within the muscle.”

And Palm Beach Meats Orlando is the place to get it. When owners Eric and Meghan San Pedro moved here from Palm Beach and opened an outpost in SoDo, they brought the only business in the nation licensed to sell Kobe beef in a retail, wholesale and restaurant setting. Yes, it’ll cost you $300 a pound, but there are other top-grade, or A5, wagyu varieties here. Takamori, or “drunken wagyu,” comes from cows that are finished on a sake mash. Ribeyes are $199 per pound, and picanha $99 per pound. You’ll also find Kirameki, Miyazaki and Kagoshima wagyu for $130.99 per pound.

The latter is also a menu offering, should you desire a 4-ounce steak ($89.99) of unmatched buttery richness. Four ounces may not seem like a lot, but when you’re eating a steak of which 60 percent is melt-in-your-mouth fat, it doesn’t take much to fill you up. BTW: San Pedro doesn’t consider Japanese A5 wagyu to be “steak” because it doesn’t eat like your typical steak. “As Americans, we sometimes want to use our teeth,” he says, “and if I’m looking to eat a steak, I prefer Australian.” Specifically, he likes cuts from the Phoenix Master Selection, which he says “eats as the best steak money can buy.”

A more affordable (or less expensive) way to enjoy the lush feel of A5 wagyu is to order the Philly cheesesteak ($22.99). It comes with Australian wagyu, along with caramelized onions, piquillo peppers, Swiss cheese and truffle aioli, but upgrade to the shaved Kagoshima wagyu for $14 and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Plus, with its ultra-high levels of monounsaturated fats (more than what’s found in fish), heart-healthy oleic acid and cancer-averse omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, wagyu is good for you. At least that’s what I tell myself every time I eat it. In fact, I’m eagerly awaiting PBM’s “Steakhouse Night,” when patrons can purchase a cut from their display case for the kitchen staff to sear and serve with a bevy of sides. Those events will commence in the next month or so.

Until then, you’d do well to indulge in chef Brett Wright’s menu. The wagyu in the bologna sandwich ($18.99) may be American, but it’s my better half’s favorite sandwich right now. Along with the hot dog ($14.99), they’re the only items employing domestic wagyu. Me, I prefer the sando with the Australian wagyu strip. Yes, it’s $44.99, but holy cow what a sando it is, with its crustless milk bread, panko-crusted beef and garlic Kewpie sauce. The Aussie filet sando ($24.99), great as it was, lacked the textural “steakiness” of the strip. I’m waiting for my coffers to replenish before dropping $99.99 on the Japanese wagyu sando. If there’s such a thing as a special occasion sandwich, this would be it.

Still, I’ve stuffed myself happy without breaking the bank on the burger ($18.99) — ask for some wagyu bacon — as well as the breakfast burrito ($15.99) and the tapa ($18.99), a dish that plays into Eric’s Filipino heritage with marinated shaved wagyu served atop wagyu fried rice with a fried egg and atchara, or papaya pickle. I’ve had beautiful wagyu wontons ($14.99) with crispy garlic, Frito pie ($10.99) with wagyu chili, and lumpia ($10.99) stuffed with ground wagyu. Again, it’s Australian wagyu that’s used in these dishes. It keeps the cost down, sure, but Australian wagyu is also halal — which serves the dual purpose of luring Muslim patrons to PBM.

Another lure? The brownie sundae ($13.99). Wright uses wagyu tallow in the caramel sauce, in the whipped cream and in the brownie itself. Rich? You bet, and so was the vanilla ice cream from Sutton Milk Dairy Farm in Okeechobee. After polishing it off, I couldn’t help but leave the premises with a big grin on my face.

And, as you can imagine, it was fat.

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This article appears in Feb 12-18, 2025.