Steakland Kobe — Restaurant in Kobe

I have dined at numerous teppanyaki restaurants in various countries. This is so so disappointing of all places, in Kobe Japan.

This to me, is the Macdonald’s of the teppanyaki trade.

At the range of prices that this joint charges, there are certainly many other options.

Dont get me wrong, you still get decent quality of beef. But the robotic atmosphere of whole dining experience - set meal options (ala carte ? What ala carte), fast order (they expect you to order within 1-2 mins, and kept pushing one particular item), fast cook (chef appears with ingredients with no interactions), pile the food on your plate and they leave it to you to finish the food.

The place was busy, so waiters moved fast and place things (soup, salad, drinks etc) on your table with zero interactions, and in quick sequence. A very apt description would be a factory process - fast, precise and cold.

My main peeve has to be the hygiene standard of this restaurant. As we were led to our seats, i noticed that there were a couple of tables with dirty dishes lying around and not cleared. We were led to our seats with a cooking plate in front of us that appeared as not cleaned, obviously from previous sittings. There was a pile of fried garlics on a plate lying around that was exposed and not covered. The garlic was later used as a garnish for our beef. The whole cooking area was oily, unkept and food crumps all over. Was expecting some cleaners to do their job but instead, the chef appeared and started his job. The Worst of it all was the cloth that the chef used to wipe his spatula - it was oily, black, and looked dirty. It was lying there all this while at the side and i suspected it had been there for the whole day. In fact, there was a row of these as shown in the photo. (Note there were patrons sitting in front of those cloths, waiting for their meals to be served) As the chef was cooking my food, he was frying and wiping his spatula with that dirty cloth. I was really turned off. In all other teppanyaki restaurants, the chef appear with a clean cloth - they wipe/clean the surface and their “workspace” before cooking, and they do the same AFTER their cooking. They also has a clean cloth if they need to wipe off the oil during cooking. None of these was seen in this restaurant. As mentioned, this place was busy - there was even no time for the chef to do the basic hygiene steps.

To be fair, the beef was tender and fried to my request. Can’t really comment on the rest of the vegetables that came along - just basic frying with soy saurce.

Been travelling to Japan regularly over the past 30 years. This is the first time i felt such a letdown (or was it regret) between ordering and having my dinner in a restaurant in Japan. My only hope was that the beef better not disappoint. It didnt make things worse. But it certainly didnt overturn all negativity thus far.

All in all, it was just a fast-food experience for me, in a busy and unkept restaurant. Not forgetting the price is not really cheap. Nearly 12000 yen for dinner for two. There was a previous post that mentioned it is a gamble dining at this place. Well i guess the house won for my round.

Certainly will not recommend this place if you are looking forward to an...

I recently had the opportunity to visit a popular restaurant that is often hyped up among tourists, especially those from Thailand. Despite the expectations, my overall experience here was fantastic and I believe it is still worth recommending to others. The dining atmosphere at this establishment was refreshingly simple and practical, allowing diners to focus on the food and enjoy a pleasant meal. One aspect that truly stood out was the service, which was not only efficient but also incredibly friendly. The staff made me feel welcomed and ensured that my needs were met throughout my time there.

If you are visiting this restaurant specifically to try the renowned Kobe beef, I highly recommend ordering the Kobe Steak Lunch. The 150g portion provided was more than enough to fully savor the experience, and still leave room to enjoy other Japanese dishes in Kobe. It's worth noting that the entire dining experience was relatively quick, with the total time spent being less than an hour.The Kobe beef itself, certainly lived up to the hype and was truly worth trying. I had it medium rare, and it instantly became one of the best beef dishes I have ever tasted. The meat was incredibly tender, flavorful, and left me craving for more even after finishing my meal.

To avoid long queues and crowds, I would suggest arriving at least an hour before lunchtime. However, one minor inconvenience I encountered was the lack of storage space for jackets. I ended up having to hang my jacket on the chair, which unfortunately resulted in a lingering smell afterwards.

Despite this minor setback, I noticed that locals were also dining at this restaurant. This reassured me that it is a reasonably priced and worthwhile option for both tourists and locals alike. So, if you're on the lookout for a memorable dining experience with fantastic Kobe beef, definitely consider giving this...

I believe there’s two steakland that’s 20m apart. We went to the one further down where you had to take the elevator to the 6 floor. It’s less crowded here. There’s a ticket station where you punch in the amount of people and it spits out a number. You then wait for the host to call your number. Wait time was instant which was odd since it was Golden Week and it was lunch time. Inside there’s multiple tables where you will likely sit with strangers unless you have a large party. I ordered the Kobe tender steak from the lunch set which comes with soup salad and a drink. You get to pick orange juice or coffee. It felt really rushed and chaotic. I was suppose to get my soup but they forgot. I was supposed to get my drink but they also forgot. You would think they have the routine down but it just feels like everyone was scrambling. It’s like a fast food joint. The chef asked us what steak we ordered and how we wanted it. I can’t help but wonder if he remembers who got what. You could potentially be eating someone else’s steak while they eat your Kobe beef that cost way more. He cooked and he left in a span of 15 mins or so. I asked for medium rare but I got medium. No matter, it was still good. Very tender and juicy. Then we had cooked bean sprout which is pretty basic to pair it with a nice steak. Kinda odd. All in all, I believe I had Kobe beef but it didn’t feel like I had the best beef in my life. My wife cooks a better steak which she gets from Costco. I came here for Kobe beef because it’s something you have to try. Unfortunately I picked the wrong place due to its popularity. Or maybe I just got one of their bad days. Your...