Kobe Japanese Steakhouse — Restaurant in Castle Hills

My husband and I found this place online while visiting San Antonio. The website was well-designed, and the average was 4.4 stars. We chose this place because my husband wanted steak and I like sushi. When we walked in, the server was attentive and seated us immediately. His service was prompt and professional. We ordered the vegetable tempura appetizer, which arrived hot, but so oily that it became soggy before we could finish eating it. I ordered the eel and mackerel sashimi (the nigiri option is called "sushi" on their menu), smelt egg (masago) sushi (nigiri) and the San Marcos roll. My husband ordered the filet mignon and chicken, with the steak temperature medium rare. His entrée came with steamed rice, and the same rice that his was served with was used for my roll. It was bitter and metallic, overcooked, and tasted like it had been boiled. Worst of all, it wasn't the right rice for sushi. I would be willing to bet it was Minute Rice that had been overcooked. Most of his rice was a lump of paste, and no rice vinegar had been used to season the rice. His steak and chicken was served in chunks, intermixed. I certainly hope that it wasn't cooked together, as that is a cross-contamination issue. It had been cut before it was cooked, and his steak was well done, not medium rare. It also was not filet mignon. When you cook steak, you cook it in one piece and allow it to rest before serving because cutting it will release all of the cooking juices and make the meat tough and dry. His was cut before it was cooked, so it would have been incredibly difficult to cook anywhere in the medium to rare range. My sushi tasted fresh enough, but the roll options were very limited and using overcooked, unseasoned, long-grain rice to prepare it was a major mistake. When we notified the server that the rice was overcooked, he offered to bring my husband fried rice as an alternative, and he was very respectful. His service is the only redeeming thing about the place. I'm making a one-star review so that I can write a review. In reality, the food was zero stars. I don't know why this restaurant was so well-rated. Perhaps it changed owners, or the hibachi gimmick has mesmerized other tourists, but I would recommend staying away from this place. Our tab was $66 before tip, and the food was abysmal. Don't waste your money.

Towards the end of our meal, I smelled a foul, pungent odor in the restaurant. It smelled like old fish or mildew, but I don't know if it came from the walk-ins, the restroom, or the dirty water feature in the entrance. The restaurant was dark and while our table was clean, I can't speak to the cleanliness of the back of the house (where the food is cooked). I originally posted this as a two-star review, but my husband is sick in the bathroom right now, so that warrants an update. I'm going to contact to health inspector to check this place out after reading reviews about cross-contamination, food poisoning, cockroaches, and...

I really held off on writing a review this long for the sake of being a nice person. But by not sharing our experience there, I am ultimately being a walking contradiction.

So I am going to share all the details I am able to recall, almost one month after our visit.

We took my mother in law for a mini vacation between Christmas and New Year’s to San Antonio as a thank you for being such a great grandmother. Well on the way back, we decided to visit the San Marcos outlets then we would look up a place to eat at afterwards.

Kobe was our closest option after deciding on Habache. When we arrived at the location, it took us to a building that had what looked like a foreclosure took place, although it looked newly renovated. We headed back towards the highway when we noticed a building on the corner with the same Kobe sign. We parked, but we were all skeptical when we noticed the condition of the building.

The curtains were yellowing and had cobwebs, it looked like in desperate need of a paint and parking lot renovation. The water fountain was no longer working, which would’ve been ok if only it did not have algae as if it had been neglected for at least a year.

Usually this can be a sign of a hidden gem, hole in the wall type of vibe. This is where some of the best food can be found. We’re always open to trying new restaurants, I eat at a new place almost everyday for lunch. The inside was in worse condition, as soon as you walk in a repelling smell hits you first since it’s so gloomy in there you can hardly see a thing. It’s not the romantic, quiet setting; it’s the old, yellow fluorescent lights that are so dim you can hardly see your dish in front of you when you’re eating.

I’ve read mixed reviews on the service, for us that was the only reason I believe the place is still running. The guy was purely awesome, which makes us wonder why he even worked there. He was very attentive and polite.

Our review is based on the quality of the food and the maintenance/cleanliness of the place. Zero across the board, from the clear soup being more like dark grey soup to the sushi tasting so old that my husband almost gagged as soon as he put it in his mouth. We were actually attempting to drink the soup and eat the other food. My MIL ordered yaki soba, super bland and veggies were not fresh.

The restrooms are where the smell comes from, it’s so strong the women’s restroom is kept open. The toilets had the same layer of dust the rest of the building had, which almost made me run back to my family in panic. There should not be a layer of dust on toilets that are being cleaned hopefully at least 2 times per day.

We were not able to eat our food, they could not have paid us to do so. It was not worth the price, far from being a place that should be allowed to serve the public. Not sure how they have remained open this long, but I would not recommend this place to...

Okay so first and foremost I don't know of this is supposed to be the same company as the one is San Marcos, The logo is the same but the menu is different and so is the interior.

Now let's dive into the food, atmosphere and service

The Service Walking in we were immediately greeted and seated by the server, we opted for the tables vs the kitchen seating. The server was nice and overall made the experience very pleasant! He definitely deserves 5 stars for his service. The reason it was rated 3 was for the food as that was so bad that the service and atmosphere could not fix it.

The Atmosphere The atmosphere was great, best thing I can compare it to (Being from California) is a Benihana without the price, it's like ordering a Benihana from Wish. You get the vibe but not all the class and price to boot. Overall was very clean and tidy and seems like a great place to enjoy the night.

The Food The fooooooood.... Sigh... Having been to the San Marcos location first, this has a very tiny sway in my rating but even if I had not been to San Marcos this food was subpar. My girlfriend and I ordered the Beef Yakki, Never have I ever... Had food so salty. I swear to you my girlfriend and I begged for water because we were so full of salt, we swelled. Now I am not sure if this food is Always this salty or if the cook had a slip but wow, Imagine getting a piece of steak, coating it in a salty sauce, marinating it in salt, then coating it in salt, then adding salt as a garnish, that's basically what it was, I swear I was eating grains of salt as I could hear the crunch. The plate could have been awesome I am sure but the salt was just unbearable, honestly. Then to top it off we were served on disposable wear, I paid 45 bucks for an overly salted plate of food that arrived on a foam platter... I've had microwavable bowls of Teriyaki Beef that tasted better and looked better...

Overall: Seriously this place feels like a rip from the San Marcos location, Same logo, different menu, style, vibe and taste. The server was wonderful but that is where the journey ended. I am willing to try it one more time but if the food is as salty as it was this time, I can not imagine ever even driving past...