Steak Land, Sannomiya, Kobe

 We've been itching with the idea to try genuine Tajima beef while we were in Japan. While we were originally eyeing Steak Ron, we decided to go for a short trip to Kobe instead and check out the options available to us.

 While traveling in the Kansai region, it was almost a blasphemy if we did not go to Kobe for hunks of steak! 



 Just outside the Sannomiya station we were pretty spoilt for choice, but we opted for the pre-researched Steak Land. It's a pretty big spot with two separate dining areas, so you're pretty much guaranteed a seat even without a booking. The place was packed with people (mostly local businessmen and families) on a late Tuesday afternoon.

 I quite liked the Euopean-esque setting/feel of the restaurant. You may need to share a table with other people, which can be quite a pain if they smoke (and you don't)! (By the way my biggest gripe about Japanese cafes/restaurants is the indoor smoking.) Anyway, I digress... 

 Being pocket-conscious we knew we were not prepared to dish out >$100 for a meal (even if it is Kobe beef), so we triple confirmed that the lunch set was valid and that it was indeed genuine Tajima beef. The 150g steak set runs at just 2.980 yen ($48) and comes with rice, soup and salad. Their dinner sets goes up to ~$120, and at some other joints be prepared to fork out upwards of $300!

 Do take note that if the menu doesn't say "set", then it really does not come with anything else. As my sis didn't take beef, she ended up ordering 2 grilled prawns at 2,000 yen ($32) and it didn't even come with rice!

 The show began after he fried up some large garlic chips. Beef above is ~450g so it's enough for 3!

 I was already salivating at this point! We asked for our steak to be done medium rare.

 Thanks to it's awesome marbling, you don't really need much more than salt and pepper when teppan-ing it.

 At this point the aroma got a little heady @.@ the steak is sliced up into uniform slices and grilled on both sides.

 Sharp knife and soft Kobe beef, it's like a hot knife through butter.

 Look at that lovely colour! Good lord. Bite-sized pieces too, how convenient lol.

 And it's done!

 Served with bean sprouts and garlic chips, and a fantastic steak sauce for dipping, my first taste of genuine Tajima Kobe beef done teppanyaki ... fell a little short on my first bite. But the more you lather the sauce, the more pieces you shove in your mouth, you get that faint little tear in your eye ... at how soft, juicy and sweet the melting marbly goodness it gets. T_T

 Meat was tender and soooo juicy and adequately fatty. So damn good! It went incredibly well with the steak sauce and fragrant giant garlic chips. Initially I thought I wouldn't be full from the meal, but I was already very satisfied without really touching my bowl of rice! I thought this set was very worth it.

 Lunch set gets you all that for just $48! While it clearly wasn't the tip top grade of Kobe beef, for the price you can't get any better than that :)

Lunch hours : 11am - 2pm daily
Rating (out of 4) :