Day 7: Must Eat Kobe Beef When In Kobe | Kobe Beef at Akanoren

Last year, I did go to Kobe but we didn’t eat any Kobe beef. This time around, it is a must to eat it!! There are many Kobe beef eateries around, very easy to find. Don’t worry about them charging high price for it if it is located in the tourist attractions, there shouldn’t be such problem. They all charged pretty much similar and do not worry about it being fake. I believe Japanese don’t do that and they take pride in their beef and their integrity.

There are so many of them at Nankin Machi, Chinatown of Kobe. We didn’t have ours here because it was still early. This is quite an interesting place to go and it is also a foodie heaven. Eateries everywhere!

We had ours at Akanoren(3 Chome-9-5 Sannomiyacho, Chuo Ward, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0021, Japan). This restaurant was founded in 1906. It wasn’t plan, we just decided to go for it because of the rain and it was already way over lunch time and we were so hungry after so much walking at the shopping streets. It rained throughout our time there. That’s why we ended up at the shopping streets instead. This Kobe Beef restaurant is located at Sannomiyacho which is also a shopping street hahaha…

When you order, make sure it is printed as Kobe Beef in the menu(they have English menu), not the other beef on the menu. You might be tempted to order cheaper option but those will not be Kobe Beef. I almost ordered the cheaper option then realized it is not under the Kobe Beef category phew… We ordered the set that cost 7000yen. They have steak only which was around 3000-4000yen. In fact, this is good enough if you just want to eat meat.

Left: My first time eating beef shashimi. Interesting… No weird taste, just beef melt in your mouth…

Right: The most awaited main!!! Love it! I love my beef just lightly seasoned with salt and pepper and grilled. They didn’t ask us how we want it to be cooked though. I don’t really mind as long that it is not rare or well-done. I’m sure they know what is best and I’m happy with this even though it looks rare than what I usually will eat, I didn’t mind, it’s not bad at all. With the heat from the hotplate, it will be cooked further too. Not a problem at all, it’s grilled to perfection! No taste of blood or anything. Just yummy, tender, juicy, melt in your mouth beef.

They served it on hotplate and they provided us with bibs to protect our clothes from oil splatters from the hotplate.

This is the set. The sashimi was served first which is not in this photo but it’s in the photo above this photo while the dessert is below this photo.

So, you know why I said you just need to order the steak instead of the set. I personally just need the meat, I don’t need the salad, the rice, the soup, and the dessert. It was a bit too much for us. We ordered one set each, regretted a bit because we could have save about 2000yen if we ordered just the meat but it’s OK, still a satisfying meal. If you plan to go, just skip the set, doesn’t matter which shop, you don’t need the set.

Left: Since we ordered a set, that means we had dessert to end the meal. The ice cream were yuzu and green tea flavours. They tasted quite nice.

Right: If you are not sure whether the place serve real Kobe beef, here’s how you can make sure you are getting the real deal. The bronze plaque displayed in the store means that it is appointed by the Kobe Meat Logistics Promotion Consociation. When you order, make sure it’s listed under the Kobe Beef section in the menu.

Before I end the post, here’s the travel vlog, see Kobe beef in action hahaha…