Before talking about the savory dish from Kobe, let me first introduce you to this beautiful city. Kobe is a city on Osaka Bay known to be Japan’s busiest port and one of Asia’s top ports until the Great Hanshin earthquake. While it isn’t as busy as it used to be, Kobe has many attractions along its harbour including various shopping malls at Kobe Harbourland (http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3553.html), Kobe Earthquake Museum (http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3555.html), and Meriken Park (http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3552.html).
While I didn’t have time for all three places, I did walked around Kobe Harbourland as there were lots to do and see. I was able to shop a bit at the four different malls, took some great shots of the ferris wheel, and had some freshly made Calbee chips. If I had more time, I would definitely check out the Earthquake Museum.
Kobe is the best place for Kobe beef, after all, it’s where it was originated. You simply cannot compare this with Wagyu beef from any other parts of the world. Kobe beef from Japan literally melts in your mouth. I was very fortunate to be able to have a delicious Kobe Beef meal at Wakkoqu (http://www.wakkoqu.com/). My cousin and I found this place at one of the blogs we were reading about Kobe, and we were not disappointed.
For a ¥5,480 meal per person, we were able to eat about 150g of Kobe beef, as shown below. The chef literally used all the meat in the entire meal, including the fat! It was definitely an experience, a very expensive one, but one that was worth it.
100% Japan-made: Sake
Aside from a delicious meal that I will never forget, while you are in Kobe, you should definitely visit a Sake Museum. Getting off at the JR Sumiyoshi station, and walking for approximately 15 minutes, I found myself standing in front of Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum (http://www.hakutsuru.co.jp/english/culture/museum.html), one of the most well-known Sake Breweries in Japan. Admission was free, and you can learn about how Japanese people make sake, by walking through the museum.
The best part about the museum was the free tasting at the end of 6 different kinds of sake. While one would think sake just taste like sake, you will be surprised that there are more than just rice sake! My favourite other than the original sake, and the limited version of sake only available at the store, was the yuzu sake. The plum wine at the end was a nice touch as well.
I ended up purchasing the limited version of sake available only in Japan as well as these jello sparkling sake (with flavours including white peach, yuzu, and plum). They were the best purchase of this trip!
If I didn’t had to fly to Korea after Kobe, I would have bought more bottles of sake, maybe next time. Note: the maximum purchase of alcohol to Korea is one bottle. Please check the flight regulations in respective country’s custom website for more information.
Japan, until next time!
