Bought my first Japanese chefs knife, wow

So on my home chef journey I started over a decade ago, my first purchase was a "good" chefs knife. I went with a JA Henckels $150 8" chefs knife. It's a durable beast that I thought held and kept a decent edge and was thick enough to take a pounding. It was fine.

Through the years, people have recommended Chef Knives To Go as a good resource to get professional grade Japanese style knives with good steel. I even recommended the site myself because the prices seemed reasonable and the forum there is helpful. But never bought one myself assuming I wasn't good enough to get the best out of a great Japanese knife.

Well, I bit the bullet a few days ago and ordered this "good value" Gyuto for $200:



LINK


It's made by a younger up and coming knife maker in Japan named Makoto. It came in the mail today along with a combo sharpening stone and few other accessories.

I already had dinner plans, but wanting to take it for a test drive and pulled out an extra small white onion I had lying around.

Sweet. Fancy. Moses. This thing is fabulous.

I get my knives sharpened relatively regularly, but my Henckle has NEVER been this sharp or handle this well.

I highly recommend upgrading to a Japanese knife. It's going to make a better cook over night, and speed up cooking times no doubt.