What is wagyu beef?

Four types, sorted by bloodline. The Australian Wagyu Association looks at how much of an animal traces back to the Japanese foundation cattle (AWA). Japan itself has four wagyu breeds, and over 90 percent are Japanese Black (JETRO).

Because it started out as a draught animal. In Japan wagyu were bred for endurance, which led to fat stored inside the muscle itself: the marbling (AWA). From plough animal to luxury product. Not every career change goes this well.

That fat isn't like ordinary beef fat. It's mostly monounsaturated and melts at a low temperature, so it spreads through the meat as it cooks (AWA). Fat from Japanese Black cattle raised in Japan melted from 24 °C in measurements (Smith, 2016). That's well below your body temperature, so it starts melting before you've swallowed.

A5 is the top grade on the Japanese scale. The Japan Meat Grading Association gives every carcass a letter for yield, A, B or C, and a number from 1 to 5 for quality (JMGA). That number weighs four things: marbling, the colour and shine of the meat, firmness and texture, and the fat. The lowest of the four counts, so beautiful marbling won't rescue a pale piece of meat.

The marbling itself gets a BMS score from 1 to 12, and quality 5 needs BMS 8 to 12 (JMGA). Australia has its own marble score, from 0 to 9+. Australian fullblood wagyu averages around 8 on it (AWA).

So an A5 grade belongs to Japanese beef. Our menu has Australian wagyu without a Japanese grade. We don't make a secret of it.

All Kobe is wagyu, but not all wagyu is Kobe. Kobe beef comes from Tajima cattle, a black wagyu line, born and fattened in Hyogo Prefecture (Kobe Beef Association, AWA). On top of that come strict rules: only heifers or steers, a quality grade of at least 4 and a BMS of at least 6.

The name is protected in the European Union as a geographical indication (MAFF). So it isn't a word you put on a menu lightly, however good it sounds. Kobe isn't on our menu.

It's close to Japanese wagyu, but not identical. Australian wagyu is raised in Australia, mostly from Japanese genetics. The first purebred animal arrived in 1990, and 221 fullblood cattle left Japan between 1990 and 1997 (AWA). About 95 percent of Australian wagyu uses Japanese Black genetics.

Today Australia has the largest wagyu herd outside Japan, with more than 100,000 registered fullblood cows (AWA). The difference is in the details. A Japanese study found slightly more oleic acid in Japanese Black than in Australian wagyu, and intermuscular fat that melted 4 °C lower (Obana et al., 2025).

Our wagyu comes from Margaret River in Western Australia, about a 280 kilometre drive south of Perth (Tourism Australia). That's a long way for a steak. The beef makes the journey, you only do the last bit to the Vlaamsekaai.

Three cuts: picanha, bavette and a tomahawk for two. At Faucher it's Australian wagyu from Margaret River. Our menu describes it like this, in Dutch: “Vol van smaak, hoogste marmering en botermals speciale selectie voor Faucher.” Modesty has never been a menu's strong point.

Which three cuts we serve and what they cost is on our page about wagyu in Antwerp.

About 125 to 180 euros a kilo for Australian wagyu. That's what we read on 11 November 2026 at the Belgian online shop butchery.be: picanha 139.98 euros, bavette 125.20 euros and tomahawk 177.38 euros a kilo, for Australian wagyu with a marble score of 8 or more. Japanese A5 entrecôte was 263.11 euros a kilo.

One reason: wagyu is fed for a long time, and a feeding period of 350 to 600 days is common (AWA). That's a lot of meals for one cow, and she doesn't pay for any of them. With us, a 220 gram wagyu picanha costs 59 euros, grilled and served with a cold sauce.

Fast and hot, like any good steak. We couldn't find an official wagyu rule from a meat body. For beef in general, the Australian industry advises taking the meat off the heat 3 to 6 °C before your target core temperature and resting a steak for 3 to 5 minutes (Australian Beef).

Medium rare sits at 60 to 65 °C, according to the same source. Here the wagyu goes on the charcoal grill in the open kitchen, over a mix of eucalyptus, black acacia, beech and oak. You probably don't have that wood at home. A good thermometer will do more for you than an expensive grill rack.