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At first glance, you could drive by Kobe Japanese Steakhouse. It's in
a strip mall near the corner of Anderson Mill and Research. But trust
me, you DON'T want to do that.
This restaurant has an unmistakable appeal: for families, couples, business
dinners, it just works at pretty much every level.
The basic dining accommodation at Kobe is the teppan-yaki grilling station.
(Teppan means an iron plate and yaki means grilling . While the huge
grill is not an iron plate, it's close.) Up to eight people can sit
around one station.
After the orders are placed, the chef, or star of
the show enters. With a regal bow toward one and all, he commences to
slicing and dicing vegetables, making a volcano out of an onion, flipping
eggs on his spatula, cooking up a mean fried rice, and of course, preparing
each diner's order to specification.
On the first visit, for appetizers, I tried the
Gyoza (Japanese potstickers). Very tasty. And I love the sauce that
they whipped up for the Gyoza. Also had the Shrimp Tempura. The batter
was perfect, not at all greasy. And a lovely dipping sauce. The edamame
(boiled soybeans) were firm and had a wonderfully fresh flavor. Then
it was on to the Hibachi Shrimp and Teriyaki Scallops along with the
fried rice. The Teppan-yaki style of cooking brings out the best in
shellfish. Ethereal dipping sauces complemented the fresh, seared taste
of the shrimp and scallops. For $24.95, which included a lovely miso
soup, salad, and of course the grilled vegetables, I thought it was
a good value.
On the next visit, I started with several Sushi
rolls. One was Issac's Roll, named after the chef. It had crabmeat,
masago, squid, and the chef's special, killer sauce. Delicious. Another
must try: The Cherry Blossom which is a California roll tuna, salmon,
masago, and spicy sauce. And then I got serious. I ordered the Hibachi
Chateaubriand dinner ($24.95) This is the center cut filet mignon. And
the Teppan grill brought out the exquisite flavor of the beef. It was
tender, flavorful, and to abuse an old cliché, it damn near melted
in one's mouth. You can also special order that most ethereal of steaks,
the kobe, by calling in advance. Very expensive, but for a special evening,
what the heck! Again I had the fried rice (once you've tried it, the
steamed rice seems insignificant). And I finished off with mochi (rice
cake) with ice cream inside. At first I didn't care for it as the texture
was strange to my palate. But by the third or fourth bite, it had grown
on me. The cheesecake was also first rate.
So there you have Kobe Japanese Steakhouse. Check it out.
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