This is a way overdue post from our March trip… but you know how things are! So many adventures, so little time to write about them haha! To make up for it, this weekend will be a Kobe weekend special!

What do you think of when you think of Kobe? Surely it’s not Mount Rokko nor Hyogo Port, but the world-famous KOBE BEEF? (if you did indeed think of the mountain or port before its renowned marbled beef, then know that you sure are very, um, unique…)

We were actually in Osaka but I deliberately penciled Kobe in for a day trip since it was just an hour’s drive away. I mean, Kobe beef IN KOBE??? Does it even make sense to pass on it?

I searched online in Japanese to find where Kobe locals recommend for Kobe beef. An overwhelming number of recommendations were for Steak Land due to it’s value for money (taste + price) so that was where we headed!

Judging from the queue poles set up, it seems long queues are a familiar occurrence for Steak Land, and we should be so lucky we only met with this small queue as we visited during off hours.

We were seated on the second floor which had many small clusters of tables set up. What they do is fill all the seats and get our orders before getting the chef to over to cook in front of us.

We ordered one Kobe Beef Steak set and one regular steak set just so we could compare and see if Kobe beef is really that much more delicious.

TIP: Lunch is cheaper than dinner gram for gram for the same kind of meat!

We both ate a piece each of Kobe beef and regular beef.

Verdict?

Kobe beef… is actually less tasty than the regular beef!!! :O

I know, I know. I was quite stunned too.

I’m sure we didn’t mix up the two types of beef – I paid extra attention since I was quite excited about the little experiment. I also double checked with Fu to make sure I got the beef types right. So maybe we were unlucky and got a poor cut of Kobe beef? Maybe the chef mixed up the beef and told us wrongly? Maybe inexpensive Kobe beef (our Kobe beef lunch set was 3,180 yen or about $30 for 150g) is just not more tasty than good regular beef? Or maybe… we both just have crazy/cheap tastebuds?

I’m kinda relieved it wasn’t life changing though. Imagine craving for Kobe beef and unable to eat it because it will either be too expensive or too far! Ok, I lied. This being positive in all situations act is too hard to keep up. Relieved my ass. I’m annoyed and disappointed as heck that Kobe beef wasn’t mind blowing and make me feel like I died and went to beef heaven.

Oh well. Whatever it is, at least we can say we tried Kobe beef and cross it off the to-eat list.

In case you’d like to try it for yourself, I’m including the details below. There are 3 branches in the vicinity and I’m linking to the one we ate at.

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STEAK LAND KOBE

Website

〒650-0012 Hyogo-ken, Kobe-shi, Chuo-ku, Kitanagasadori, 1 Chome−8 1F
Nearest station: Sannomiya