Bucket List: Eat Kobe Beef in Kobe - Done and Done!

In my previous post on Kobe, which you can read here, I mentioned that we really just went along with Ady's friends for the ride (literally!) for our Day Trip to Kobe, but I was very excited to go so I could finally fulfill my bucket list of eating Kobe Beef in Kobe.

So, just in case you're wondering what's so special about Kobe Beef - here's what I found out:

1. Kobe Beef is a special kind of Wagyu Beef. So all Kobe Beef are Wagyu, but it doesn't necessarily mean that a Wagyu Steak is Kobe Beef.

2. For it to be classified authentic Kobe Beef, the cattle must be born, raised and slaughtered in the Hyogo Prefecture of Japan (where Kobe is located). 

3. The highest quality of Kobe Beef is A5. The letter refers to the yield grade with A being above standard, and the number refers to the quality grade with 5 as the highest. To achieve A5 certification the beef must be the highest quality in marbling, meat color, texture, and quality of fat.

4. The certification process is so strict, restaurants in Japan serving Kobe Beef must have the certificate with a 10 digit number to identify the origin of the cow.

Definitely something to try for any steak lover like me. So with that criteria, it comes as no surprise that Kobe Beef is quite pricey. When I was doing my research, I found out that the normal price for a 200g steak was around 10,000Yen. There are a lot of famous fine dining restaurants that specialize in Kobe Beef, but if you eat there, you'd definitely pay a lot more for the fine dining experience. There are also a lot of restaurants advertising Kobe Beef near the Sannomiya Station (Main Station in Kobe) but I think they may be the more touristy places. Since I really wanted to enjoy the meat more than anything, I was very happy when I found a hole-in-the-wall Kobe Beef place which had a more casual atmosphere and a lot of positive reviews, so I really wanted to try it. Not to mention, they also claim to serve big portions and encourage sharing, so I thought this was a great authentic way to enjoy Kobe Beef without breaking the bank.

Kobe Fuji is located in a side street a few minutes walk from
the Sannomiya Station.

They've been written up in English ,magazines.

The place has a big teppanyaki grill and only a few tables, so I emailed
them a few days before to make a reservation.

It's an open kitchen and all the cooking happens in the
big teppanyaki grill. Each table also has a grill to keep
your food warm.

The servers don't speak English very well but they have a Certified
Perfect English Menu, so you won't have a hard time ordering.

We opted to get the Certified A5 Prime Kobe Beef 200g Steak Course Menu (10,000Yen)
to try it. They recommend sharing as it comes with a lot of side dishes.

This is the certificate that came with our Kobe Beef.
Drooool. In lay speak it says, this is to certify that the
steak you are ordering was massaged and fed beer.

We also ordered an additional 200g of Kobe Beef Sirloin Steak (4,760Yen)
so we could see the difference.

Each Set Meal comes with the following, that's why it's big enough to share:

A salad that looks sad, but was actually not too bad.

Tonpei-Yaki
The Japanese Version of a Bacon Omelette. Sooo good!

Suji Negi-Yaki
Pancake with Beef Tendons and Green Onions. I wasn't really a fan.

I ordered a Ginger Ale because I knew I'd need the
carbonation to neutralize the fat.

They served the Prime Kobe Beef first. 200g is not really a lot.

I called dibs of the fattiest part for my first piece. Hahaha.
But I ate it the other way around, and I pretended not to see the fat.

The cross section of the Prime Beef doesn't really do much justice to
the marbling.

This shot is so much better. An A5 Certified Kobe Beef Steak is actually
more fat marbled in the meat, it's melt in your mouth and soooo good.

Then they served our Kobe Beef Sirloin Steak.

My first impression was that this steak was more mascular.
In a good way too, because it meant you could eat more.

Since there was more meat, they were able to serve it pinker.

Here you can really see the difference between the Prime and not Prime.

Each set also comes with Garlic Fried Rice.
Unfortunately, they served it after the steak.
It would have been much better eaten together.

Happy People. They were happy enough that I was able to convince them
to come back the next day so we could have Kobe Beef for dinner again!

The Globe CRM Mafia asleep on the train on our way back.

Fast Forward to Day 2! This time around, we knew what we wanted to order. We were just going to stick to the Sirloin Steak so we could eat more, order 1 set, and order the local dishes we wanted to try, and an extra order of Garlic Rice. Unfortunately, we didn't realize that the Garlic Rice plus Steak was more expensive than the Steak Course Set Meal - so of course we ordered two sets instead PLUS all the local dishes since we came back to try it.

Ready for Round 2!!!

These were the local dishes we ordered:

Omelet with SujiKon (550Yen)
Beef Tendon Omelet which is a local dish of Kobe

Kobe Beef Hamburger Steak (1000Yen)

Grilled Fresh Octopus (680Yen) as they get a lot of octopus in Kobe.

We ended up ordering 2 sets because it was cheaper than ordering
Garlic Fried Rice separately so we got double of everything.

This time around we asked for the Garlic Fried Rice to be served before
the steak.

Double the Kobe Beef Steak... Yummy!

The steak tasted so good, I was even afraid that they served us the
Prime portion and we'd get billed for it! Hahaha.

Our other theory was that they gave us a really good piece of meat,
since we're now considered loyal customers.

We had so much food, I don't know how we managed to finish it all.

Here's a comparison is pictures. The leftmost picture is the A5 Prime
Kobe Steak, the middle is the Sirloin Kobe Steak from the first night,
and the last picture is the Sirloin Steak from the second night.
It really had more fat than the night before but A5 marbling is better.

I'm so happy we decided to come back.

You can also order Yuzu Sorbet for 100Yen with every set meal.
This is a refreshing dessert after you savour all the beef marbling.

We had to take a group picture at our favorite Hole in the Wall place
before leaving.

Our server even joined us for the picture.

Thank you very much Hankyu Pass. Without you, I'm sure I would never
have been able to convince everyone to eat in Kobe 2 nights in a row.

I may have ticked this item off on my To Do List - TWICE!!! But I am definitely willing to come back, each time I visit Osaka and our schedule allows. just saying.


You can visit the Kobe Fuji English website here.