Out To Dinner in Kobe...For Kobe Beef

On Saturday night, Mike and Ilena joined some of Mike's colleagues (in visiting from the U.S.) for an evening out in Kobe. As it turns out, this was Mike's first time trying Kobe beef. We went to a terrific small Kobe beef restaurant named Wakkoqu. (Can I buy a vowel?)

The four of us sat at "the bar;" in front of us, was a huge cooktop area, where our own personal chef would cook our dinner in front of us. He started by cooking slices of garlic into servings of garlic chips (turning each slide individually until cooked to perfection). He cut the fatty ends of the meat and cooked the fat to generate the oil for cooking the rest of the meal, which includes our steaks and an array of vegetables and sprouts.

The Kobe beef, which is super-marbled, was seriously melt-in-your-mouth good. A very different taste from other steak. It is served alongside small piles of sea salt, pepper, and a spoonful of mustard that can be combined with soy sauce to dip if you like. The salt and pepper and beef combination was perfect. You just cannot eat too much of it though, because it is incredibly rich. We were pushing the envelope at 250 g (a little over 8 oz.)

For more information, here is a good little review from a local foodie blog that has more description about the place and the food. And, for those of you who are more historically inclined, here is a little history of Kobe beef.

At any rate, it was certainly not the kind of meal you go out for often, but it certainly was a delicious experience.