Wagyu beef is a Japanese type of beef, known for its tenderness, fat marbling and buttery soft flavours. A high-grade piece of wagyu would be full of flavour and melt in your mouth. These cattle are often fed, massaged, and sung to on a daily process prior to their deaths, in which trophies would be created to represent their life 😲.
Kobe is a city located in Hyogo Prefecture famous for producing Wagyu beef from their Tajima black cattle and shipping it around Japan. The term Kobe beef is specifically for these cattle born and raised in this prefecture.
I got to splurge on some delicious Kobe beef today.
Kobe is a city located in Hyogo Prefecture famous for producing Wagyu beef from their Tajima black cattle and shipping it around Japan. The term Kobe beef is specifically for these cattle born and raised in this prefecture.
I got to splurge on some delicious Kobe beef today.
I didn’t research much into my lunch choice prior to my arrival because I was more concerned with where I was going to dump my luggage for 4 hours. After a brief Google search, I found Kobe Beef Kiyama, with 4.3-star ratings. I picked this restaurant because it was open at 2PM, accepted walk-ins and served Kobe steak for a reasonable price.
Entrée
I ordered the kobe beef sashimi, recommended as their best selling dish and having won first in the district in 2018. Look at how cute the trophy was! This sashimi was a beautifully rich bite with effortless chewing. The meat was the perfect cut. It had a slight grainy texture, possibly from how it was designed to taste like sashimi. The sauce on top was a nice savoury and slightly sweet soy flavour. It cost 1,200 yen for one (equivalent to $15 AUD) and I ended up ordering another one 😂.
This was a nice corn soup served to undercut the beefy flavours. It was smooth and sweet, complementary to the meal.
Another complementary dish, a Caesar salad. The thing with Japanese salads is they use a sweeter and creamier mayonnaise, with a distinctive egg yolk flavour, similar to Kewpie Mayonnaise. The Parmesan flakes and refreshing cherry tomatoes cut through the thick flavours.
Main Course
I ordered 100g of A1 graded Kobe steak 🥩.
In the wagyu world, beef is categorized in three categories A, B or C (A being above standard, B is standard and C is below standard) and a number is graded on their marbling, fat ratio, colour, texture and BMS (beef marbling standard). Thus, C1 is considered the lowest in quality of wagyu and A5 is the premium, best of the best.
They showed me the marbling prior to slicing and cooking it and my gosh, I almost drooled onto my camera when I saw it 🤤. My steak came out a gorgeous medium rare colour, in medium-sized pieces. The condiments were salt, wasabi and a sweet soy flavour, with the peas and pumpkin sides. It was an A1 grade, meaning this beef was above the standard, with an average ranking in BMS. It did show, as the beef did not disperse immediately once it hit my tongue. It took 3-5 chews to swallow the piece.
In the wagyu world, beef is categorized in three categories A, B or C (A being above standard, B is standard and C is below standard) and a number is graded on their marbling, fat ratio, colour, texture and BMS (beef marbling standard). Thus, C1 is considered the lowest in quality of wagyu and A5 is the premium, best of the best.
They showed me the marbling prior to slicing and cooking it and my gosh, I almost drooled onto my camera when I saw it 🤤. My steak came out a gorgeous medium rare colour, in medium-sized pieces. The condiments were salt, wasabi and a sweet soy flavour, with the peas and pumpkin sides. It was an A1 grade, meaning this beef was above the standard, with an average ranking in BMS. It did show, as the beef did not disperse immediately once it hit my tongue. It took 3-5 chews to swallow the piece.
The cost of this steak was 4,800 yen (approx. $60 AUD). As I was travelling solo and on a budget, it was worth the spend for me, as I was only there to satisfy my Kobe cravings. I’ve had A5 Kobe at the famous Kobe restaurant in Tokyo 2017 (LINK) and let me tell you unless you’re willing to pay $300 AUD for a steak, it would be hard to get that heavenly flavourful beef in your mouth. A5 wagyu (Kobe) is considered one of the finest delectable dishes of life, ranked high with caviar and truffle 🤤.
Service
The service was impeccable. Everyone tried really hard to speak English to make me feel welcomed (even though I was replying in Japanese 😅).
Review
Overall, I loved my dining experience at this restaurant. I recommend visiting this restaurant if you’re ever in Kobe or trying one of the many other wagyu restaurants nearby (most were teppanyaki or burgers).
Thanks for reading and happy eating!
Thanks for reading and happy eating!
Wow, marvelous blog layout! How long have you been running a blog for? you made running a blog look easy. The entire glance of your website is magnificent, let alone the content!!
Wow, fantastic blog format! How long have you ever been blogging for? you made running a blog look easy. The full glance of your website is great, as smartly as the content material!!
As soon as I found this website I went on reddit to share some of the love with them.