So you were in Kobe for two weeks, did you eat Kobe beef??
This was a common question we’ve been asked on a number of occasions.
Our answer: DUH…
But the big surprise comes when we mention that we only tried Kobe beef once during our entire stay.
Why?
Because genuine, high grade, Japanese Kobe beef is worth it’s weight in pudge. In otherwords, it’s expensive!
We scoured every food forum and blog we could find about where to eat this local delicacy and eventually decided on Mouriya.
While doing our restaurant research, we clarified our understandings on Kobe beef, so before delving into the details of our meal, here’s a quick rundown of what we learned.
The Japanese translation of “Japanese cow” is Wagyu, which refers to a breed of cattle known to have a diet consisting of a combination of grain, grass, and beer. If that weren’t enough to nurture the beef’s high fat content, they are also massaged on a regular basis (sometimes with sake!).
What makes beef “Kobe” beef is that it is from the Hyogo Prefecture, where Kobe is the capital and Mouriya sources its beef directly from Yabu City located in the northern area of the prefecture. The restaurant also maintains high quality standards and even keeps a birth certificate for each cow they serve.
Ahhhh…. now it makes sense.
Armed with this knowledge and since we studied the menu beforehand, it didn’t take us long to figure out the components of our carnivorous meal: an A5 quality cut (read: the crème de la crème of Kobe beef) and an order of Wagyu beef.
We sat back and watched the dexterous chefs meticulously slice, flip and sizzle our beef and its accompaniments to bovine perfection.
The meat didn’t just melt in our mouths. As we barely chewed it, the beef seemed to tickle every part our taste buds with its fatty essence. The Wagyu beef had the ideal harmony of meat and fat (marbling is probably the fancier term) and the Kobe beef was downright luxurious — so tender and rich that a dribble more of fat would have toppled it over the tipping point of our lard tolerance. One thing is for sure — that meat was raised with love.
