Kobe beef Daichi — Restaurant in Kobe

Having been to Japan the first time when I was 12, it set the bar really high on what quality gourmet food is. Now that I’m in my 30’s I’ve gone to Japan numerous times and have dined 3 Michelin star restaurants but have always dreamed of having Kobe beef in Kobe. I chose this place cause of its high rating on tabelog but it’s the first time it’s let me down. Coming from America it feels like we’ve been brainwashed that “Kobe beef” is some mystical beef that is suppose to be superior in texture, quality and taste. I spent 25000 yen = $173 usd on 165g of premium Kobe beef and it was not worth it. This trip I ate at a bib gourmand teppan in Osaka that was half the price and was way better. This was a Suzuka Formula 1 focused trip and even that race track had way more amazing food than Kobe has to offer. 2000 yen for one stick of Matsusaka beef from a tent was better than this meal. They even had 2800 yen a rice bowl of a4/a5 Kagoshima kuroge from a food truck that way better. The only other time I can say I had Kobe beef in Japan was a shabu shabu from Shibuya square for 6000 yen for A4 and that was amazing. I’ve also had teppan at four seasons Tokyo and Westin Miyako Kyoto where we just ordered middle grade and was way better. I can’t say this meal was terrible but just didn’t live up to my expectations taste and price wise. I feel like this entire trip, this was near the bottom and was probably the most expensive. I did not get 5x-10x satisfaction from the price. The funniest part is I actually had better teppan in Southern California from a Mexican...

I am confused by these reviews. We booked a reservation here because the restaurant had such great reviews on google and on tablelog, but wow this is the first and only time I’ve ever felt scammed in Japan.

You pay $100 for the exact same beef - EXACT same: same amount, same cuts - that they sell just outside (out of the same restaurant) for like $5 on a stick. I thought we’d be getting more beef, at a higher quality, and getting an engaging show of preparation. But it’s legit the exact same as if you ordered from a food stall, with the addition of a few veggies (and I really mean a few, I got one broccolini, half a radish, two mushrooms, 1/4 of a potato). My wife and I left $224 poorer, and we had the smallest steaks possible, miso soup, a salad, rice, and one glass of wine. If you want fried rice (instead of plain white) it’s also extra money. We were in and out in less than 30 minutes. There’s no engaging with the cook, and cooking that amount of steak and veg takes no time at all so it truly just felt like we went in, got hustled, and left.

I really am shocked, I feel sick at how much money we paid for what we could’ve gotten for maybe $15 at Nishiki market. Avoid. Or, just go to the stall outside. I wish I had just walked out when they gave me the menu but considering it’s in grams and yen, I didn’t put together what I was paying for the amount I was getting until I saw it - and that’s my...

We randomly looked up a Kobe beef restaurant for dinner and we made a reservation on Tabelog website, turned out the restaurant was quite empty when we arrived, so don’t waste money making a reservation.

I have been to other Kobe beef restaurants before and had amazing experiences, but this time was really disappointing. The Kobe beef itself was still good quality, but the whole point of teppanyaki is the cooking, and that’s where it fell short.

Instead of an experienced chef, they had a really young and inexperienced chef at the grill. The meat wasn’t cooked properly, the timing felt rushed, she cut the meat in different sizes trying to make every person receive an equal amount of beef, and the usual finesse and fun you expect from teppanyaki just weren’t there. At first I thought it was only us who had a young chef, but looking around the restaurant, all chefs were young and inexperienced.

For a place that charges a premium price for Kobe beef teppanyaki, I expected way more. It’s not just about the ingredients – it’s about the skill and experience of the chef. For this reason, I don’t recommend...