Yup, you didn't read wrong in the previous post, I decided to head back to Kyoto after Fukuoka; not because I wanted to look more around in Kyoto, but because I couldn't find any hostels in Kobe (and even though I wanted to, I wasn't about to try a capsule hotel with my huge heavy bag)! So of course I decided to stay at K's House Kyoto again, and after dropping off my bags, I rushed to catch the shinkansen to nearby Kobe (Kobe was only a mere half hour away from Kyoto by shinkansen!). Despite my best efforts, I missed the train I wanted to take to get into Kobe around noon, so I had to take the next train...but again, everything works out for a reason.
My main reason for visiting Kobe? To try the world famous Kobe wagyu (beef) of course! Besides that, I had no clue what else it had to offer before I got there. I knew it was going to be expensive; I had set aside $100 CDN in my budget just to try Kobe beef, but I decided last minute to try it at lunch than at dinner (my original plan) since it's cheaper, and I'm glad I did that because the timing ended up working out great. By the time I got to Kobe, it was 1PM, so I headed to the Crowne Plaza Kobe right beside the train station, where the Kobe beef speciality restaurant Wakkoku was located (on the 2nd floor). The Lonely Planet guidebook said there was no English sign out front, but they had one when I got there (and I found it very quickly and easily...many others have reported spending up to 15 minutes trying to find it)...they need to update their books more often.
Shinkansen to Kobe.
Arrived at Kobe, at Shin-Kobe, the shinkansen station for Kobe.
The Crowne Plaza Kobe.
I decided to go with the set lunch special, which offered a 150g cut of the marvellous Kobe beef for a little over 5000 yen. My final bill was a little over 5500 yen (around $70 CDN); it was the only time in Japan I had to pay a tip (there was a mandatory 10% service fee, I figure because it was considered part of the hotel, which is Western and in the upscale range). But it was worth every penny, and still at least 3 times cheaper than eating it in North America (and guaranteed that it's real pure Kobe beef). I savoured every single piece of beef and every second it spent in my mouth...I took around an hour to finish my lunch! Understandably, I didn't completely believe what others said about how Kobe beef requires no chewing and can simply be broken up using the tongue, but it's true! It was so smooth and tender - the butter of beef...they say it ruins everyday beef for you, and I completely agree (I really noticed this while having a steak when I was back in Toronto). It surprisingly does not have the strongest beef flavour that one might expect (like that earthiness you find in thick juicy steaks in North America), but it was still quite rich. I had a chef all to myself (understandably there weren't too many people there), who explained to me how to appreciate different condiments to enhance the tasting experience (it was really good). My favourite was the thin garlic slivers the chef fried in oil to perfect garlic chips! The chef also did a neat thing with the vegetables: he cut the outer fat of the beef and used the naturally melted, rich fat to cook the veggies. And at the end, all the oil had been melted out of the fat and cooked into crispy little strips...I'm normally don't eat the fat on any meat, but I made an exception this time, and it was amazing (very, very rich!). Okay, enough talk, picture time!
Outside Wakkoku.
The first course: cream soup.
Presentation of the beef before cooking. Look at that amazing cut of beef! The large amount of marbling, all evenly spaced, is what makes Kobe beef so tender.
The buffalo mozzarella salad.
Starting the cooking and separating the fat. It's genius how the chef used the weight of the beef to start pressing the oil out of the fat, which allowed more of the flavour of the fat to seep into the beef at the same time.
The first slices of the cut cooked and presented on the platter, with the condiments of real mustard, coarse salt, coarse black pepper, and the garlic chips. He recommended (which I followed) the following ways to taste it: dipping a slice just in salt, just in black pepper, in a mix of salt and pepper, with a garlic chip, and in a mixture of the soy sauce and mustard (you mix the mustard in similar to how you mix wasabi in the soy sauce when eating sashimi). The garlic was my favourite, followed by just the salt (that really enhanced the richness of the beef).
Dipping a slice in the mustard and soy sauce mix.
Grilling the veggies in the beef fat.
Cooking up some tofu.
More veggies and another round of slices. The fat from the beef was also cooked at this point (on the far left on the platter).
The final round of veggies and slices of beef.
Enjoying the crispy fat.
Cooked perfectly medium.
Last piece! Take a close look at the last photo and you'll be able to still see all the marbling!
Enjoying the garlic chips I had left (they could make a really good snack by themselves...provided some after-mints are provided haha).
The dessert: coffee and a scoop of lemon gelato.
I had a table all to myself! I really liked the dim and classy ambiance of the restaurant; very fitting for Kobe beef. As you can tell, I was the last customer to leave (there were only two other parties when I got in though).
The final bill: 5544 yen. And I amazingly had perfect amount of change!
The menu (lunch set special not shown). After enjoying my single most expensive meal in Japan, I headed to the centre of Kobe to explore the city.
I took the subway to Sannomiya Station, the central area of Kobe. I found out there was a shrine, Ikuta-jinja, directly beside the station, so I decided to give that a quick look. It turns out there just happened to be a traditional Japanese wedding taking place there, which of course I stayed to watch. I was very glad I got to observe one; obviously different from Western weddings. Everything works out for a reason: if I had caught the earlier train, who knows if the wedding would have started if I hypothetically arrived at the shrine sooner.
From the shrine, I headed up neighbouring Higashimon Street. I'm guessing it was a nighttime hotspot because it was lined full of clubs and bars...not much to look at during the day though. From there, I walked up into the Kitano area.
Kobe is known for its strong international atmosphere, as you can tell from some of the restaurants and religious buildings. The 3rd photo is of the Kobe Chuo Catholic Church (stopped in for a quick prayer while the organist was practising...that set quite the atmosphere), and the 5th photo is of the only mosque I saw in Japan (though I'm sure there's a few more), the Kobe Muslim Mosque.
Kitano Meister Garden. I thought it would be a beer garden or something...it was just a building full of speciality food stores (more treats and desserts).
Some more things I found interesting as I headed back to the Sannomiya area. Yes, you're seeing it right: the 2nd photo is of a giant statue on the side of a building of a baby urinating...
Passing through the typically long shopping arcade of Kobe, Sannomiya Center Street, to a wide main street called Flower Road (a flower lined street).
Flower Clock...pretty self explanatory haha. It's 6m in diameter!
At Higashi Yuenchi-koen, in front of the memorial statue for the victims of the Great Hanshin earthquake. The statue fell down during the earthquake, freezing the clock at the exact time of the earthquake.
In the area known as the Old Foreign Settlement - where the rich foreigners used to live in Kobe. Just looking at the architecture reveals the strong Western influence. As you can see, it's now more of a business centre, with several museums and consulates (even a museum for lamps?!).
At the Port of Kobe...very beautiful in my opinion, but I'm a sucker for well-developed harbours. I would say it was even better than the Harbourfront! Lots to do here, with many random performances (like the group of guys who were putting on some yelling/faux-demonstration performance). You'll see more things below.
The Port of Kobe Earthquake Memorial Park.
I think you're starting to see why I fell in love with Kobe.
A street performer by the stage name of Kera, performing breakdance, intensive body movements and magic tricks. He was really good! And the best part was the photo he let me take of him - I think it perfectly sums up my day in Kobe, and I love how it came out. It was really unexpected too, out of all the people standing around taking photos of his performance, he came up to me, stared straight into the camera lens and posed!
Some ship on display (I think the futuristic-looking ones were actually operated).
More of the port as the sun began to set. The big orange tower is the Kobe Port Tower, and the building that looks like a bunch of steps is some high-class hotel.
Pricey real restate.
A wedding chapel (I think thought it was another church at first, but it looked more like a wedding chapel closer up).
Perfect.
Inside MOSAIC in the area known as Kobe Harbourland, a very large entertainment complex comprising of a large mall (with a cinema, restaurants, shopping, game centres...the usual Japanese excellence) and a small amusement park. You can see it from the outside a few pictures above. I stumbled upon a high school jazz competition...so many things to do (they sounded great by the way)!
MOSAIC Garden, the attached small amusement park area, most notable for its giant ferris wheel.
Leaving MOSAIC to the nearest train station. I couldn't get the right exposure, but the street was lined with trees all dressed up in lights - it was very nice to walk along.
Back in the Sannomiya area, at Nankinmachi - Kobe's Chinatown. In my opinion, it was bigger and much nicer than Nagasaki's Chinatown...I'm not even sure why Nagasaki makes such a big deal of their Chinatown. They were doing some presentation that night (I don't know if it was in celebration of anything), so there were big crowds that made for a great night Chinatown atmosphere.
Then I caught the subway back to Shin-Kobe station and rode the awesome shinkansen back to Kyoto. I loved that stand-up noodle shop in Kyoto station so much that I didn't even eat dinner in Kobe and instead ate at the noodle shop once again! But to summarize, my day in Kobe was awesome. It's definitely in my list of top cities in Japan.
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