Kobe- Wakkoqu - Chuo Ward

Teppanyaki Kobe beef. I had Wakkoqu lunch set which is 150g Tajima surloin beef for around ¥6500. My personal preference is yakiniku so this is not my thing but the quality is considerably nice (so may be if you always enjoy yakiniku, you might not be so thrill when having teppanyaki other than the show). Plus, this restaurant is super travelers friendly. They have English menu, English-speaking staffs and online reservations.

Excellent service and presentation from the chef. I went for the lunch special, and the A4 Kobe beef was great. It’s a very thin filet, so you may want to choose rare over medium-rare. Only negative was that they tack on a surprise 10% service fee at the end. Just add it to the price upfront like every other restaurant in Japan!

Omg, where to begin with this meal. I will make a trip here for this experience every time I am in Japan. The chef was absolutely incredible as was every course of our meal. The A5 Kobe beef was cooked in its own fat and so amazing. The fried rice was delicious and so was everything else. This restaurant is a MUST GO. Please do yourself a favor and make the trip for the experience and delicious food. You cannot miss this meal!

What an incredible experience. The restaurant only has 7 grill spots and is very small. It is outside of the touristy "steak zone" where huge signs and employees try to hound you inside. Wakkoqu is nestled in a small building with a simple entrance and nothing fancy. From traveling I know that pictures outside on the street are a bad sign. Good food and word of mouth will bring people in without issue. The restaurant had 3 grills filled with people and we headed in without issue at 130 on a Tuesday with reservation. The lunch menu special is A4! Only the top left and bottom left are actually A5 Kobe. They are very straightforward about prices and grades and speak "Ok" English but not a lot. They have bathrooms in the back that are clean and high quality. I went as a group of 4 and we had the A5 tenderloin (tall round cut) and sirloin (traditional marbled "slab"). I reccomend them both as they taste completely different. We split and shared them. Beware the A5 expense. With a single beer and single sake, with 4 portions of beef fried rice, the total for 4 people was roughly $390 US dollars. For A5, if you split 1 dish per 2 people, it should be $100 per person. They do take all major credit cards with no issue including our Amex and Chase Sapphire. It is NOT cash only. Tipping is not required as this is Japan. Phew, on to the food. The chef starts with your meat displayed proudly on a wood stand so you can see the beautiful marbling. The first thing on the grill is the thinly sliced garlic you will later eat with your steak. After the garlic crisps up the meat goes on for the first session of deliciousness. They put salt, pepper, hot mustard, soy sauce and ponzu to dip your steak in, they reccomend dipping into soy sauce that had hot mustard mixed in. I tried some with only salt, some with garlic, some in soy, etc. The chefs will guide you but feel free to play around. The vegetables, tofu, and sides are delicious but aren't really the star here. The steak, both tenderloin and sirloin are incredible. The A5 does indeed melt in your mouth and just explodes with flavor after adding salt and soy. A slice of garlic on top just blows the mind. The chef will trim the sirloin and save the fat and some other bits to make fried rice. He adds perfectly minced carrots, mushrooms, chives, and a few other vegetables. No American style egg is added. The clear rendered beef fat makes the mouth feel of the rice something that I've never experienced before. You NEED to try the fried rice. It is only 10 dollars per person. The meal was finished with some absolutly amazing coffee and tea with ice cold cream resulting in the wonderful pictures. The only thing I'll knock them for is pretty crazy drink prices. 7 dollars for a Coke is a bit much but a minor quibble for a meal so grand. If you are visiting Kobe, make a reservation a few days or even a week in advance. You can call and they do speak English. Everything was absolutly amazing although expensive. Stay away from the tourist traps on the main mall and small odd side streets with someone outside. That shows they don't have the reputation to have steady business.

It’s very easy to find Kobe beef in Kobe. Finding a full service restaurant with value for money meat is not so easy. This place is not cheap. It’s about 12-30K per person (not including alcohol). To note they will give you 2 salads + 1 soup prior to the beef. With the beef steak comes grilled vegetables and konyaku. The quality of meat is superb. They display it on a plate prior to cooking it so you can appreciate the marbling. I had mine medium-rare and it was perfect. Lovely place with great staff and environment.

Amazing quality, delicious meals, efficient service, and kind staff! Wonderful experience for This is a small restaurant, so if you can make a reservation, but around 2pm they weren’t too busy. Restrooms are clean, just like the restaurant. Bibs are provided, the Asian people in the restaurant actually wore them too. Wet towel for cleaning your hands is a great touch. The garlic is cooked first, then salmon and salad. All are very good, I saved some garlic for the Kobe beef and it was a delicious pairing. The vegetables were cooked nicely, even tried some new ones, and cold ones come out as well. There are sauces on the side they suggest you dip it in, but it was all so good I didn’t care too much for it. My husband loved adding the hot mustard to his veggies. The meat is cooked to your liking, we did medium rare and it was spot on. They did cook medium for another member of our party and he was satisfied. I think my husband should have gotten the $156 meal by himself instead of sharing, we really enjoyed it! The fried rice was AMAZING. Must try it! Tea and coffee are served after the meal, really great. The soda was about $6USD, so that can help you gauge pricing for this restaurant, it is spendy but worth it.

I had the A5 Kobe tenderloin dinner set. It was a fantastic meal. The steak was superb, tender and flavorful. Smoked salmon appetizer, salad, and garlic fried rice were all really good. Chef was friendly and informative too. You definitely pay for it though. I still can't decide if it's worth the price.

Reserved 3 seats a little over a week before the dinner date. The seats were almost full when we went, but not too hard to book comparing to other places. From reservation to dining, it’s very foreigner-friendly. They have multilingual reservation site and menus. Staff would try explain things in English to you throughout the dinner. The head shop just has beautiful interior and ambience. Ordered A4 and A5 Kobe beef course. Service was superb. Appetizers tasted way better than they look on pics. Most courses come with 200g Kobe beef (most other restaurants have only 120-150g), so great value. We were really really full after the whole course. A young chef served us. He definitely needs some improvement on his skills. We could tell he was a little nervous and an older chef was guiding him on the side when he cooked. But overall the experience was enjoyable. Hopefully he will improve over time through practices.