What was your impression and do you think it was worth the price?
I had Kobe beef in Kobe, Japan. We went to a high-priced restaurant (came out to about Y 20,000 per person, roughly US$200) on the grounds that we’d probably never be in Japan again, what the hell, you only live once. The rest of the meal was fairly tame, they didn’t want anything to get in the way of the beef itself. The beef was amazing. It was literally “melt in your mouth,” didn’t need chewing. I cut a piece and let it sit on my tongue, and my mouth just filled up with the incredible flavor; then I’d let me teeth bite it, and get another wave of that flavor. I swear, it was the most incredible food-eating high that I’ve ever had.
If you’re talking about Kobe-style beef in the U.S., which I had since, it was a let-down compared to the real thing.
That’s an interesting experience. How long ago was it? From what I’ve heard $200 per person would currently be cheap for even an average meal.
I think many places offer “Kobe” beef that really isn’t.
It is usually beef from Wagyu cattle, which are supposed to have better marbling than other breeds of cattle. It most certainly isn’t of the beer fed and hand massaged daily variety.
I called up the distributors for my former company while I was in Tokyo and told them that I wanted to go and have a beer. They dragged me out to dinner at what I think was this restaurant. It was pretty fantastic and they arranged to pay the bill beforehand. I’m sure it was outrageously expensive, but it was one of the greatest meals I’ve ever had.
I’ve had a $16 Kobe beef burger at that hamburger stand in the Mandalay Bay hotel in Vegas. It was pretty good, but I prefer a Tommy’s chiliburger.
I had what was marketed as Kobe beef at Chinois in the Caesar’s Forum. It was good beef, yes, but I thought it was overpriced in the sense that it was three times as expensive as any other good steak (well, probably more like four or five, if you count the difference in portion sizes – the Kobe was SMALL), but not three (much less five) times as good.
Kobe burgers are an ambomination. The whole point os Kobe or Waygu is the marbling, but to make it into ground? The fat runs out easier, and you wind up with an overly greasy burger.
I’ve eaten here a few times. It’s pretty damn good.
Kobe is a very abrasive, belligerent guy, and he’s got a beef with nearly every other player in the NBA. Is he worth the money? I don’t think so. 
I’ve had something that was listed on the menu as “Kobe beef,” but I don’t know if it was the bona fide article. Real or not, it was hands-down the best steak I’ve ever eaten. (This was in the US, by the way.)
I had Kobe [possibly style] beef at the Brown Palace in Denver. It was phenomenal. A 12 oz steak came to about $110 and it was the single best piece of meat I’ve ever had. It didn’t help that while agonizing over whether or not I should spend the money, my wife remarked how jealous my father (another foodie) would have been. (He died about 6 months before the meal)
It was a singular experience that not many people would understand.
That hotel concierge girl.
I’m going straight to Hell, aren’t I?
Want to try Waygu and want to make sure it’s top notch?
Lock up your credit cards and then go here, home of the worlds best and most damned expensive steaks on earth.
It’s divine stuff, but like I’ve mentioned I can’t cook steak to my liking so I only have some when there’s a real grill man around.
From there web page:
So is their some particular standard for Kobe beef? Is all other Kobe-style? If a restaurant is offering Kobe Style beef for under $100 are they really just offering wagyu beef from outside of japan without all the beer and massages?
Pretty much, yes.
Jumpin jehosaphat! How many times am I going to make you answer the same question?
Sorry man, I didn’t see you had already answered when I posted what is essentially the exact same question I already asked and you already answered…
In Japan, most certainly. For beef to be labeled as “Kobe” is Japan it needs to:
- Come from a pure-blood tanba animal. Tanba is a particular variety of wagyu cattle.
- Must have been raised in a recognised farm, all of which are in Hyogo Prefecture.
- Must come from an animal that has never given birth.
- Must have been shipped and inspected at a Hyogo meat center and meet safety and quality standards.
- Must be of BMS grade 6 or higher (BMS is a measure of marbelisation).
- Muscle grade must be either A or B.
- The carcass must weigh less than 450 kg.
“Kobe” is only one of many, many brands of beef in Japan. Other famous brands include Matsuzaka and Omi. Each has similar standards.
Otawara beef is often brought up as the most expensive in Japan (and possibly the world). In Tokyo, an Otawara steak can cost as much as 1000$.
With the incredible demand and price for this meat, I wonder why no US rancher has set aside a portion of his land to try to replicate it here in the states?
On my first trip to japan, we (a whole group of my relatives from the states) were treated to a banquet put on by our relatives in japan (I am 3rd generation japanese). They pulled out all the stops, and among the items on the menu was Kobe beef. This meal had a large assortment of dishes, and I remember the beef came out later in the meal. To this day, I have yet to taste any beef that even comes close. “Amazing” is an understatement. It seems like “melt in your mouth” would never apply to something like beef, but this meat truly did just that.
Perhaps the best indication of how incredible this meat was, was that by the time the beef was brought out, a number of us were already quite full from the previous dishes. Out of curiousity and politeness, we tried the beef despite no longer feeling hungry. I can remember almost making myself sick from continuing to eat this meat, even though I was stuffed ! (And I wasn’t the only one). The rest of the meal (which included lobster that was caught that morning…by one of my relatives !) was not lacking in the least. Yet this beef was clearly the topper.
I would say that if you are in Japan, even if it is a bit of a stretch financially, it would certainly be worth it to partake. My experience was certainly unforgettable, and there are not many foods that I could say that about !