Death by Marbling: Kobe, Japan

Well, the day has finally arrived, the day I’ve been imagining for years: having a Kobe steak in Kobe, Japan.

Every time I go on a trip, I usually have one nice meal and stick to street food for the rest. This time, the choice was obvious. I had to make it to Kobe.

Being in Osaka, the trip wasn’t too far: a 20-minute walk to the train station, a 30-minute ride, a train change, another 40-minute ride, and a 15-minute walk.

I made a reservation at Mouriya Royale, a steakhouse that’s been around for 140 years and is known as one of the top places to eat in Kobe.

Upon arrival, I was greeted at the door with a “Mr. McReynolds”, which is always pronounced MAC-Reynolds. The hostess introduced me to my personal waiter, who stood behind me for the entire meal, ready to assist if I needed anything.

The restaurant consisted of a series of teppan grills (flat-top grills). Behind the grill was my chef, dedicated solely to preparing my meal.

The waiter presented the whiskey menu, and I selected a Yamazaki, a prized 12-year-aged whisky that won the 2024 Supreme Champion Spirit competition.

The waiter explained:

“On the nose, you can expect peach, pineapple, grapefruit, candied orange, and Mizunara oak.”

“The taste should have a buttery front, with notes of coconut and cranberry,” he continued.

Then ended with: “It’ll have a long finish, with sweet ginger and fresh cinnamon.”

While I detected a range of different flavors myself, I found it to be an easy drinking whisky.

As I sipped, the chef began prepping his ingredients, sharpening his knife, and eventually walking me through the menu.

There were only a few choices:

Size: 100g, 150g, or 200g. I, of course, selected 200 grams—roughly 7 ounces.Cut: Filet, Ribeye, or Sirloin. I went with Sirloin.Quality: Wagyu, A5 Kobe, or… something very special.

The chef explained: “Today, we have a champion-graded cow that produced the highest beef grade not just A5 but also a beef marbling score of 12. Sir, today you have the opportunity to try the best steak in the world.”

Naturally, I chose the special. It was twice the price of the already expensive regular Kobe beef but surely a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Then the waiter brought out the raw meat along with its corresponding paperwork. They presented the award the cow had won, confirmed its authenticity with a nose print, and even showed me its lineage going back four generations. The marbling was visually incredible on par with what I’d seen earlier in the week at the meat market.

I watched the chef slice through the meat with remarkable smoothness, a testament to both the quality of the meat and the sharpness of the knife. He cooked individual pieces, only three at a time, to ensure each bite was hot and fresh.

Before my first bite, he placed a small plate in front of me with salt, pepper, freshly grated wasabi, and fried garlic.

He balanced the first three pieces on his knife before placing them before me.

“For the first bite, just salt. Second bite, try with wasabi. Then, make it as you like,” he instructed. “No sauce,” he added.

I took my first bite. Interesting. Soft.

But… not what I was expecting. As I continued eating, I realized: the marbling, what I’d been so excited about, was basically just fat. The marbling had been taken to such an extreme that there was significantly more fat than meat.

I mean, this cow probably wasn’t butchered, it likely died of clogged arteries. I can only imagine its diet consisted of milk shakes, french fries, and pizza.

It’s not that it wasn’t good, it was. But who wants to eat seven ounces of cow fat?

The more I ate, the less enjoyable the experience became.

I suddenly wished the entire steak had been served at once, so I could just devour it and be done, but no.

A slow burn. One small piece at a time. A disappointing meal, especially compared to the wonderful skewers I had earlier in the week. 

There are only two high-end meals I’ve had while traveling that left me underwhelmed: one was in Peru, at a Michelin-starred restaurant where I tried guinea pig (that part was actually great), but the rest of the meal was just okay. The second, this one. My dream meal. An A5 Kobe steak in Kobe.

It just wasn’t it.

Never meet your heroes, folks.