Thread: Kobe beef - the real deal

As far as I know, there is only a handful of places to get *real* Wagyu beef in the US. Most restaurants, including most "fancy" places, serve American-bred Wagyu cattle. That's fine and it has its place; but the Japanese are far too particular and exacting to settle for what we do.

You can't eat a steak of high-quality wagyu - you'd throw up - it's mostly fat. It's best eaten in small pieces, lightly grilled to render the fat.

In Japan, it's graded on a scale of 1-12, 12 being the fattiest. Most of the "wagyu" or "kobe" beef you get here in the States would probably register as a 5.

At Urasawa (in LA), they serve an A10. Any fatter, he says, and it's too much - look at the marbling and color:




To give you an idea of why no American restaurants serves this quality? That piece of beef cost $3,000.00 to get over here. $3,000! A similar chunk of regular ol beef of that size cost about $150.

If you're paying $100 for a steak, you're not getting the real thing. Ask to see the meat - if they actually show it to you, it's probably decent quality - but highly unlikely to be anything more than a 7.

Cut in LA also has pretty high-grade; probably A8-9 based on the pics I've seen.

- chuck

are there any taste differences between the real deal and the american bred? i am guessing with all that fat, it might not taste too good

Originally Posted by chidoks

are there any taste differences between the real deal and the american bred? i am guessing with all that fat, it might not taste too good

Quite the opposite; it tastes phenomenal. I had some ok Wagyu at Tao in NYC (remember that place Toch?) but it didn't look nearly as marbled as the example above. Used it for shabu-shabu.

you just educated me.

Originally Posted by chidoks

are there any taste differences between the real deal and the american bred? i am guessing with all that fat, it might not taste too good

There is a huge difference. Fat improves taste, to a point.

i remember tao in nyc.. we gotta do it again

Originally Posted by Turbology

Quite the opposite; it tastes phenomenal. I had some ok Wagyu at Tao in NYC (remember that place Toch?) but it didn't look nearly as marbled as the example above. Used it for shabu-shabu.

Originally Posted by chidoks

are there any taste differences between the real deal and the american bred? i am guessing with all that fat, it might not taste too good

if you eat sushi, imagine the difference between regular tuna and toro. each has its respective (good) qualities.

i prefer a 8-week dry-aged steak to a non-aged kobe. however, in small quantities, i prefer the fattiness of the kobe.


i will be traveling to Japan in Sept and they seem to be the most sophisticated beef growers in the world. i intend to try everything - wagyu from different areas (Kobe being the most popular) and non-wagyu.


For the beef-o-philes, Spain also gets it right. They don't treat it as an art like the Japanese, but they do treat their animals, and product, with reverence, and respect, unlike America. The cows there live longer (infuses the meat with taste), eat mostly grass (better tasting), and they dry-age the meat much longer (more intense taste, helps break down toughness of the older cows.)

- chuck

Wow, great info. I never knew that info before, I got my learn on...

hi chuck i believe kagaya serves authentic wagyu. It is by far the best tasting shabu shabu i ever had. Its in the little tokyo sector of downtown LA. I had the kobe at cut and this blows it away...make sure you order the premium wagyu!!!

418 E Second St
Los Angeles, CA 90012-4209
Phone: (213) 617-1016

Awesome post Chuck.

When i was in Japan i tried some KOBE (dont know what scale) and it was GOOD...but at $250 for a TINY slice it better have been!!!!!

Where are you going in Japan???