Tourist Trap & Billing Irregularities — Very Concerning Experience
We were extremely disappointed and disturbed by our experience here, especially given the restaurant’s unusually high rating (4.8★ with 2,000+ reviews).
First, the billing issue:
After dining, we were initially presented with a bill totaling ¥128,782, which clearly did not add up based on what we ordered. When we questioned the charges and pointed out the discrepancies, the staff suddenly issued a second, revised bill for ¥57,981. While they were doing this, they immediately tried to throw away the original receipt, which we had to explicitly ask to be returned to us.
The fact that:
• Two vastly different totals were produced for the same table
• The first receipt was almost discarded without explanation
• The correction only happened after we complained
is extremely alarming and unacceptable at a restaurant operating at this price point.
Second, the overall experience and food quality:
For Kobe beef at these prices, we expected professionalism and transparency. Instead, the experience felt rushed and tense, and the service attitude became noticeably defensive once we questioned the bill. The food itself did not justify the pricing, making the situation even harder to accept. Most of them were chewy and tough, just much worse than any other beef places we tried throughout Japan (and much more expensive). We know that this is definitely not a resemblance of Kobe beef, which is such a shame to have these people pulling this off to tourists.
This experience closely mirrors other reviews here warning tourists, which makes us deeply suspicious of how consistently this happens — particularly to non-Japanese customers.
TL;DR:
• Extremely concerning billing practices
• Attempt to discard an incorrect receipt
• Only corrected after confrontation
• Overpriced for the quality and experience
We strongly advise other visitors — especially tourists — to be very cautious. There are many honest, high-quality Kobe beef restaurants in Kobe that deserve your money far more than this one.
