The new year is already shaping up to be like the last, with the trending of the Japanese restaurant. Rijo has opened in the long-shuttered Palomino space in downtown Honolulu, and elsewhere there’s teppanyaki for the high-earner crowd.

Restaurants out of Japan tend to be backed by quality, but the move is toward more specialization and transparency in sourcing, in response to an equally rising sophistification among diners.

With guidance from a couple of knowledgeable staffers formerly from Hiroshi, anotherlauded yakiniku house, the Japanese B.B.Q. Restaurant Yoshi experience manages to be both delicious and educational. You’ll want to pay close attention to grasp differences among various cuts of rib-eye, outside skirt steak ($16) and inside skirt steak ($14), knuckles ($38) and more.

Typical of Japanese-style yakiniku, the meat portions that arrive at Yoshi are quite small, and cook down to little nothings that leave you wanting more. But my stomach, although near iron-clad after years of professional eating, was not prepared for this much richness. If you don’t normally eat rich food, you may not want to overindulge on your first visit.

The star of the menu is a superb A5-grade Japan wagyu, Crazy Rib Eye Yoshi ($32), with its candy-stripe streaks of red meat and white fat. Connoisseurs consider A5 wagyu the best in the world, and Yoshi showcases it beautifully.

Have some patience. Trying the other cuts before graduating to this beef will be enlightening. A visit here is not about stuffing your face, but ultimately about appreciation.

The most affordable way to get your bearings is to start with the A4- and A5-grade wagyu set ($140 for two). The set begins with salad, namul selections, crispy seaweed, soup, kim chee and a mini kalbi sandwich. You then get an assortment of small cuts of beef, chuck steak, rib steak or roast, rib-eye steak with yam and egg, a choice of scallop or shrimp cooked in butter in a small pot on your tabletop grill, the day’s noodle or bibimbap (definitely not a highlight), and a choice of ice cream or mochi ice cream.

Beyond the set menu, you’ll be looking at prices ranging from $16 for U.S. Prime tongue to $48 for Snake River Farms U.S. Gold Grade Kobe. It’s $100 for 7 ounces of Japanese rib-cap A4- and A5-wagyu steak.

These all cook quickly on an electric grill, considered greener than others because of the easy cleanup. A few passes with a wet swab does the trick between orders.

If it’s cow tongue you want, you may want to inquire about the nodomoto ($25) the tenderest meat at its base. Flap-meat yukke ($16), Korean-style raw beef with egg, is the best I’ve tasted in Hawaii.

Black pork is also on the menu, including the loin ($12), belly ($12) and jowl ($15), served with wasabi.

But the one must-have is the Crazy Rib Eye Yoshi, grilled for you by the servers to ensure it’s cooked just right.

If it’s not available, the next best thing is the 3.5-ounce rib-eye yakisuki, with about half the marbling of its Crazy counterpart.

After grilling, both the yakisuki and Crazy Rib Eye are dredged through a mixture of yam and egg that adds to the silky consistency. Even on a full stomach, you will want more.

Nadine Kam’s restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Advertiser. Reach her at nkam@staradvertiser.com.

BITE SIZE

Have dessert first, if that’s your choice

I tend to call the shots when ordering at restaurants, so it was only last year that I learned of one friend’s penchant for starting dinner with dessert.

Well, I guess he’s not alone. Over at Off The Wall Craft Desserts & Kitchen (OTW Craft), which has sprung up in the former Tsunami nightclub space at 1272 S. King St., Kyle Matsumoto, Ed Morita and Andrew Mitani are giving diners the option of choosing dessert first.

The concept came about when Off The Wall owner Matsumoto was brainstorming with pastry chef Morita, who has always felt that pastry chefs get short shrift in restaurant kitchens. He wanted people to have the option to indulge in sweets before filling up on the savory.

So you can try Morita’s roasted banana "Twinkies" ($5.95), beer-a-misu cream puffs ($5.95) or kabocha sticky buns ($5.95) before digging into Mitani’s oxtail poutine ($15.65), mizuna-topped ozoni pizza ($11.95) or ahi poke "cupcakes" ($6.95)

Then take your stand on social media with the hashtags #DessertFirst or #FoodFirst. Call 591-9255.

Bite Size takes note of the new, the small or the unsung.