A Warning, especially for foreign visitors!
I’ve never written a review before, but this was the worst dining experience I’ve ever had. My boyfriend and I specifically traveled to Kobe to try authentic Kobe beef at this restaurant. We thought we had clearly ordered the set with three different cuts of Kobe beef for ¥35,000. We repeatedly pointed to the correct option on the menu, and when the chef (who didn’t really speak English) asked if we wanted the ¥59,000 set below, we explicitly said “no” that we wanted the cheaper set and pointed at it again.
Excited to finally taste Kobe beef, we didn’t pay much attention to the specific cuts since we were primarily interested in trying all three varieties. However, when the bill came, we were shocked to see we were charged ¥59,000 for the set alone. We tried to explain the misunderstanding, but the chef insisted we pay the higher amount since we had eaten the more expensive set. Another chef, who spoke English, even assured us the price would be adjusted to the correct set, but this promise was never kept.
We asked if we could at least meet halfway since the mistake wasn’t ours, but we acknowledge what we ate, but again the chef refused. The reasoning? The chef had mentioned the names of the cuts when serving, and we hadn’t objected but in fact, we didn’t understand him and were simply excited to enjoy our meal. The beef he showed us and the one on the picture look exactly the same, so from looks alone we couldn’t tell.
I want to believe this was a genuine miscommunication, but the lack of understanding and flexibility from the staff made our entire evening uncomfortable and gave us a bad impression of the city even. For a restaurant serving a dish that attracts international visitors, better English-speaking staff and more customer-oriented service would go a long way.
To anyone considering dining here: triple-check your order and be cautious of potential miscommunication. What should have been a memorable experience turned into a disappointing one.
P.S.: after reading the other bad reviews, apparently it wasn’t the first time something like this happened.
This is also from 2025, since my review did not go through with publishing until now
