As when someone claims to have the best barbeque (BBQ), churrasco, brai, or whatever in your own nation they call grilled red meat, claiming to be ‘the best steakhouse’ generally are fighting words!

I was surprised today to see an Instagram post by Chef Eric Ripert, co-owner of the Michelin three-star rated Le Bernadin, long rated annually as the #1 ranked overall restaurant in North America, who was stating that Cote in Manhattan is now rated as the #1 steakhouse in North America and the #4 steakhouse in the world. Those ratings are by WorldsBestSteaks.com. Cote (“coat”) has been awarded one Michelin star. Even more remarkable, Cote is a Korean cuisine steakhouse.

Well, hold my Stetson! The #1 ranked steakhouse in the nation that invented barbeque is an Asian cuisine restaurant? I generally think of grilled red meat as American or Australian barbeque, South American churrasco, or South African brai. Yet here is a 26-minute video about Cote.

I suspect its top ranking is justified. Look at Cote’s dinner menu (click this hyperlink). For examples:

• The twelve-item ‘Butchers’ Feast’: Gogi Cha (beef bone consomme), Ban-Cha (pickled seasonal vegetables), Scallion Salad, four cuts of USDA Prime & American Wagyu beef (or Japanese Wagy if you pay UD$34 more), Red Leaf Lettuce with Ssam-jang, Savory Egg Souffle, two Stews with rice, and Vanilla Soft-Serve ice cream with soy sauce caramel, for US$74 per person.
  
• Or the Steak Omakase for US$225 per person! An Omakase, a Japanese term, is where the chef chooses how many course and what you eat according to his own choices of what he thinks are the best things to cook that day.
  
• Or the Kimchi Wagyu ‘Paella’ for US$35, which is Kkaldhugi kimchi, Wagyu beef fried rice, and a soft poached egg.

I’ve been to Peter Luger’s, Smith & Wollensky’s, Kean’s, Morton’s, etc. However, I think my next New York steakhouse trip will involve chopsticks.