Akanoren — Restaurant in Kobe

Horrible experience, so much that I truly wish I could turn back time and not visit this place at all.

Firstly, because we did not speak japanese, they whipped out an english menu with inflated prices, it felt so unfair as we would have gladly work our way via google translate and order off the Japanese menu with normal prices 💀Just felt like a rip off and greed from the establishment because we are not Japanese.

Ordering process was fine (we just pointed at what we wanted, nothing complicated). We waited awhile for our meal, and when it finally came we thought that it was visually pleasing but was soon met with disappointment. I ordered some kind of wagyu beef katsu, while my partner ordered a wagyu rice box. Side note is that we have been eating at many many many beef restaurants in Japan so we have a good comparison of the standard of food.

My wagyu tasted horrible, it was so so so CHEWY and BLAND that I could not swallow or even separate a piece within my mouth. This was my very first piece and I was like there is no way I could eat this at all. This is my first time not being able to swallow beef. Im not sure of the doneness but it looked towards medium rare which even surprised me more as shouldnt it be decently soft? Typically I eat medium well, but I’m ok anything as least I can at least swallow them. I’m quite sad because visually it look good how can it taste so bad in terms of taste and texture?

We called for the server and we held up google translation in Japanese to tell him “the meat is too chewy can you cook it more for us”. This was because it was already slightly more rare than I wanted and also what else could I try other than cooking it more as I already could not swallow the meat haha. The server was so dramatic and overreacting, he kept scratching his head in distress and we were telling him to just speak in Japanese in google translate.

He said that “the beef will become harder if we cook it more” and we replied with ok and a universal hand gesture of ok, he nodded and left. Clearly this meant that we don’t mind and were asking him to proceed with cooking the meat more.

For the next 15minutes, my partner and I were not eating at all. He was waiting for my food and I obviously, was waiting for my food to get cooked more. During this time, the same server had to walk pass us serveral times as we are seated near the counter, each time he would glance at us not eating and waiting but he never approach us.

After 15minutes we were quite confused, we did not know if he would be taking away my current set to cook or were they making a new set for me as he simply nodded and left.

We finally called him again and this time we showed him google translate of “can you cook the meat now?” And he responded back in Japanese “would you like the meat to be cooked” and we said yes…. 5minutes later he came with a grill… so we waited for nothing for a whole 20minutes. He was not doing anything when we first asked him initially, I have no idea where is the miscommunication because he kept looking at us NOT eating, clearly we were waiting for something and our first request was already to ask him to cook the meat which he understood but did not carry out the request.

Anyway, after cooking it further the beef was slightly more edible, some pieces were softer than before but majority of the pieces were equally chewy and inedible. The beef they served were so tasteless, even putting salt did not help. All i got at this place was a workout for my jaw. Most of the pieces i just chewed and spat out in another bowl.

My partner’s meal was not nice too, we have so many other wonderful recommendations for Osaka (and cheaper too) but this place is NOT IT. Please save your money and visit somewhere else especially if you...

100% not recommended and please be patient to read below:

I am writing to share my disappointing experience at a restaurant during our first visit to Kobe. We selected this restaurant based on online research, but unfortunately, it did not meet our expectations. While the food itself was average, the overall experience was poor. We ordered one wagyu steak set and one fried wagyu beef set, confirming our order in English and using gestures. When the Wagyu beef steak dish arrived, it was served in two small portions of beef, which my husband initially appreciated as a considerate gesture. We were traveling with our 1.5-year-old child, and although we requested a baby seat, it was not offered until we inquired about it. Additionally, the restaurant’s ventilation was inadequate, making it uncomfortable to stay inside. I also noticed the kitchen was unclean, with dust and dirt visible when the kitchen door was open. After about 45 minutes, we were ready to leave, we were charged for two wagyu steak sets and one fried wagyu set. When we questioned this, the staff SAID we SHOULD have known what we ordered and implied that we should have asked for clarification about the dish being served in two portions. One staff member even assumed we had ordered the raw wagyu for our child. All their responds is : You’ve ate 3 set so you should pay You should reconfirming before you eat This experience was very frustrating, and I WOULDNOT recommend this restaurant. I did not take any photos, as the atmosphere was very...

The restaurant was on the second floor, giving a hard time for my mom who had knee problem. They opened in the afternoon while others closed at 2pm. I had doubt if the food would be good but it turned out great.

The atmosphere was good b it staff barely communicated in English. However, they have English menu. We ordered beef set and beef with abalone set but the waitress didn’t brought the abalone. When we asked she just walked away. We had no idea if we had wrong order or abalone would be served later. When we called them, waitress rather hesitated to talked to us. It took a long while to sort things out.

Beef was very delicious despite sitting for more than 10 minutes. It was tender in every bite, the best part was...