Kobe Plaisir — Restaurant in Kobe

This place is one of the high end restaurants that offer Kobe beef, so I think for the price you’d expect only the highest quality of ingredients and service. They prepared coronavirus measures such as alcohol before walking inside the restaurant and having a spare mask and a mask case in the seat that is prepared for you when you sit down. There’s also a small pamphlet where you can see the ingredients and where did they get that from in Hyogo prefecture. It’s sad that I didn’t get to see the whole teppanyaki experience because I was seated on a table rather than in a counter, but it’s mostly my fault since I didn’t reserve a seat and I just went there impromptu.

But they did not differ the quality of the meat whatsoever. I ordered the course meal with the Kobe loin beef at 120g. I’ll explain all items: Appetizer - cold potato and corn soup. Though thick and creamy, I did not like this one because I expected a warm one Salad - this one I liked, but I didn’t know half of the greens that I am eating. The weirest one was the cactus-like leaf with clear bubbles on the side that popped like salmon roe Main entree - plate with Kobe loin beef, and some cooked slices of onion, zucchini and red bell pepper. In the veggies, I particularly liked the onions cause they’re sweet. The Kobe beef I expected nothing less. Very tender but melts in your mouth like butter. Though I should have ordered a smaller portion because I felt dizzy halfway with all the amount of fat I had digested. They give you 2 sauces (ponzu and in-house steak sauce) and 3 spices (negitoro? not sure, wasabi and black pepper) but I stick with the wasabi and steak sauce combo. They also gave you a cute miso soup which I thought it didn’t really complement that well with the course. Drinks - they serve water of course, but they also have non-alcoholic cocktails. I ordered one but I really shouldn’t. They also serve warm tea in the main entree anyway.

Overall I think the price is what you get as evidenced by the food, but there needs to be improvements on their...

We came all the way from the US to try authentic Kobe beef, which is supposed to be top-quality meat you can only find in Japan. Unfortunately, Kobe Plaisir left us feeling very disappointed and deceived. It felt like a bait-and-switch aimed at foreigners.

We traveled out of our way to Kobe specifically for this experience and ended up paying around $250 for what seemed like low-grade meat. We thought we’d get a teppanyaki-style meal, but apparently, that’s only offered to Japanese customers. Instead, we were seated in a hidden area behind curtains. Not sure if that was for privacy or to keep us out of sight.

Then came the menu—an English version that was clearly different from the regular one. We were only offered one option: beef chuck, not the higher grades we expected. When we tried to look through the menu, the waitress literally held it down, not letting us even flip through it to see other options. It felt like we weren’t allowed to choose.

When the food arrived, everything was rushed. The salad tasted bad, and the steak was mediocre at best. We started to question whether it was even real Kobe beef, given how low the quality seemed compared to the price. The meal ended with a minced beef and rice dish that came with some miso soup on top, and it tasted terrible.

This experience left a really bad impression. We had expected Japan to take more pride in its Kobe beef, but instead, it felt like we were overcharged and served subpar food just because we were foreigners. Overall, a very...

I recently dined at Plaisir in Kobe, and my experience was a mix of disappointments, particularly with the rushed service and the quality of the meat.

Firstly, the service was extremely rushed. We barely had time to enjoy each course before the next one was brought to the table. The meal started with appetizers, followed quickly by a salad. As soon as we finished the salad, the beef was served, followed by rice and pickles, and ending with miso soup. The course order felt odd and disjointed, leaving little time to savor each dish.

Moreover, there was no indication of the meat grading on the menu. This was a significant oversight, especially for a restaurant in Kobe, where the quality of beef is a major selling point. The meat itself was average at best, far from the A5 grade Kobe beef one would expect.

We chose the 15,000 yen menu per person for four people, hoping for a premium dining experience. Unfortunately, the overall quality of the food did not justify the high price. While the dishes were decent, they were not exceptional, making the meal feel overpriced.

In summary, Plaisir in Kobe did not meet expectations, particularly given the price point. The rushed service and lack of transparency about the meat quality were major letdowns. The food was just okay, but given the cost, it was far from a worthwhile...