I've had a couple of "grown-up" quality knives in my life, and enjoyed them all, but this is by far the best one I've ever owned. Perfectly balanced, feels great in hand. I have two cutting boards, a Boos Block, and a cheap plastic one for meat, I was hesitant to use this on the plastic, but i am happy to say that this knife holds a great edge, even on plastic. Only requires a quickly weekly honing with a ceramic rod to stay razor sharp!