Best chef knife under $150

C

Ceriano

Joined
Jul 1, 2020
Messages
9
I’m in the market for my first decent chef knife. I tried the 8” Shun classic at the store and I really liked the fit and the finish. Looking at the reviews online people don’t speak high of them. If Shun is overpriced, what can I buy under $150? Does it worth to pay a bit more and get something let’s say in 2-300 dollar range? I spend a lot on hunting knives (some I never end up using!) but I don’t have any decent kitchen knives.
Thank you all for your help!
 
Well there is a lot that goes into "best", not the least of which is personal taste. So I'm sorry there is not just a single answer, but there are a bunch of knives that are excellent for the money. The one that best suits you is better than the objectively "best" knife.
You can get better blades for the money, but if F&F are priorities then the factory knives like Shun and Miyabi are hard to beat.
As far as worth, well I think if you have some knife skills and can sharpen you will certainly feel the difference between a good $150 knife and a $250 knife.

If you go to places like Japanese Knife Imports or Chef Knives to Go you can find many options. You should figure out your own tastes first - rock chopper vs push cutter/chopper. Heavy vs thin.

For what it's worth, while I think you can get a better blade for the money there is too much hate of Shun. You know, in all the high end kitchen stores, the first factory Japanese knife that made it big in the US, the sales stuff they have floating around.
I'd say most of those who are into Japanese knives have mostly blacksmith forged knives. Those knives skew towards more blade for the money - in Japan it's on the owner to get a better handle installed.
And in spite of having many gyutos myself, I've been reaching for a $70 Vietnamese blade a lot lately. Fitting my usage is more comfortable than what is the ultimately superior knife.
 
The lowest tier Gesshin line at Japanese Knife Imports is right at your budget and solid knife in that price range. Less expensive still is the Tojiro DP line, which you can find on Amazon and other online kitchen knife dealers; also a solid knife for the money. When you get into the $350 range, your choice of great forged knives starts to open up a fair amount. I like the Tojiro DP line, myself. A good performer that I don't need to baby. I don't mind babying my blades, but my wife has no time for that and a really good forged carbon blade would be wasted and abused in our kitchen.
 
Last edited:
The two alternatives that I like the most so far are Takamara Chromax and Tanaka Ginsan. I don't mind spending a bit more if I can get something nicer but I'm hoping to keep it under $300.
 
Ceriano said:
The two alternatives that I like the most so far are Takamara Chromax and Tanaka Ginsan. I don't mind spending a bit more if I can get something nicer but I'm hoping to keep it under $300.
Click to expand...

Of those two, I prefer the Takamara. I have not used either, but I don't like the profile of the Tanaka Ginsan as much as the Takamara. It's too curved for my tastes (it's also a small gripe I have with the Tojiro I mentioned above). I like more of a flat edge with a slight belly toward the tip; more in line with the French Sabatier-like profile that the Takamara has. Other than that, both of those knives look pretty good to me. And the profile preference is really a matter of individual tastes. I am more of push slicer, but a lot of folks like to rock the blade, as is common with German chefs knife profiles - those people want more belly.
 
Last edited:
staxnet said:
The lowest tier Gesshin line at Japanese Knife Imports is right at your budget and solid knife in that price range. Less expensive still is the Tojiro DP line, which you can find on Amazon and other online kitchen knife dealers; also a solid knife for the money. When you get into the $350 range, your choice of great forged knives starts to open up a fair amount. I like the Tojiro DP line, myself. A good performer that I don't need to baby. I don't mind babying my blades, but my wife has no time for that and a really good forged carbon blade would be wasted and abused in our kitchen.
Click to expand...

Wakui White 2 Stainless is another one I'm looking at but I'm leaning more toward Takamara. It's $50 cheaper too. Is r2 superior to chromax?

https://knivesandstones.us/collecti...hite-2-stainless-clad-kurouchi-nashiji-finish
 
Last edited:
I think your in the money range where it’s all very subjective and hard to justify price by performance...but we’re all on a knife forum because we like knives. Alton Brown swears by Shun and I trust his opinion, I’ve got a Messermeister meridian that I love....but I also love my global...and my victorinox fibrox which for the money just crushes knives that cost 2 or 3 times as much. If I could only keep one it would be my messermeister but it doesn’t cut any better than the victorinox at 1/3 the price. Get the one that makes you happy, you’ll use it more and take better care of it.
 
ergonomics and your actual skill are the most important aspects regarding kitchen knifes. with mass produced 'all around-[hobby]-chef'-knifes i would go western style knifes prob 10 out of 10 times in that price range. 150 will get you a really nice wüsthof (eg) with lifelong guarantee.
if you 100% want a japanese style chef knife - even the entry level shiro kamo are imho very good and also affordable knifes for what you get
 
My wife picked out my shuns basses on cosmetics. Not the best for the money but I am very happy with them. I have drawer of various steels and designs. I was buying $40-60 chef knives to figure out what I exactly wanted. She preemptively got me shuns lol.

I would go with a decent Japanese vg10 8" chef knife.

Be careful as just yesterday one of my shuns got bent open a pickle jar. I turned around and walked away...
 
Ceriano said:
I think I probably spend a bit more and go with the Takamura R2.
Click to expand...

I have to warn you: my first Takamura led to other Takamuras. Personal tastes vary a lot, of course. But Takamura hit my sweet spot perfectly. And R2 is a superb kitchen knife steel.
 
Ourorboros said:
For what it's worth, while I think you can get a better blade for the money there is too much hate of Shun. You know, in all the high end kitchen stores, the first factory Japanese knife that made it big in the US, the sales stuff they have floating around.
I'd say most of those who are into Japanese knives have mostly blacksmith forged knives. Those knives skew towards more blade for the money - in Japan it's on the owner to get a better handle installed.
And in spite of having many gyutos myself, I've been reaching for a $70 Vietnamese blade a lot lately. Fitting my usage is more comfortable than what is the ultimately superior knife.
Click to expand...

I'm far from an expert on chef knives, but I agree Shun gets a bit too much hate. Shun isn't a bad knife, especially if you like the belly on some models, and they tend to have a very nice fit and finish...they are arguably nicer than 99% of the kitchen knives in most kitchens! The Shun knives I owned had a nicer handle than my Fujiyama. But, like you noted, the blade is what you are paying for with other models, and that is where one can notice a substantial difference.

I did not realize in Japan the custom was to let the owner do a nicer rehandling job, but that explains why my handle was a bit on the plain side of things!
 
pnsxyr said:
I did not realize in Japan the custom was to let the owner do a nicer rehandling job, but that explains why my handle was a bit on the plain side of things!
Click to expand...
At least for the better knives. The pictures you see of Japanese stores selling blacksmith made knives have rows and rows of blades with naked tangs.
A lot of the simple handles are more placeholders, something to sell for the US & European market.
That's why you see lower cost wood/ferrules on $300+ knives. It's like driving on an emergency spare tire.
Remember, Japan also has a long history of quality woodworking too. I've seen few groups that are as perfectionist when they want to get something right.
 
Ourorboros said:
At least for the better knives. The pictures you see of Japanese stores selling blacksmith made knives have rows and rows of blades with naked tangs.
A lot of the simple handles are more placeholders, something to sell for the US & European market.
That's why you see lower cost wood/ferrules on $300+ knives. It's like driving on an emergency spare tire.
Remember, Japan also has a long history of quality woodworking too. I've seen few groups that are as perfectionist when they want to get something right.
Click to expand...

Nice! I've always wondered why there were so many nice forged Japanese knives with such basic handles and now I know! Here is my Fuji...it's not a bad handle by any means but it is pretty basic relative to the blade itself. (I've recently been thinking about re-handling it.)

Screen Shot 2020-07-05 at 9.08.23 PM.jpg
(Don't mind the holder. I recently moved and the holder I have for it is packed away somewhere, so I "created" my own.)
 
pnsxyr said:
Nice! I've always wondered why there were so many nice forged Japanese knives with such basic handles and now I know! Here is my Fuji...it's not a bad handle by any means but it is pretty basic relative to the blade itself. (I've recently been thinking about re-handling it.)
Click to expand...
Yeah, I've gotten the feeling that some Japanese forges feel like it's more of a thing they condescend to for the Euro-American market.
From another forum, I gather there are some owners who are into woodworking that are into making their own handles. Of course there places that do it too.
Some handles are over $100 before shipping. Shop around.
 
I would say look for one on the exchange here from one of the BF makers I see them pop up every so often and prices range from the mid $100 to the $300 range usually iirc.
 
PirateSeulb said:
I would say look for one on the exchange here from one of the BF makers I see them pop up every so often and prices range from the mid $100 to the $300 range usually iirc.
Click to expand...

Absolutely.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top