Last weekend, I went to Kobe for the first time since December, to try Kobe beef (at last!) and to see Chinese New Year festivities in Kobe’s Chinatown.

A friend and I ate a multi-course Kobe beef lunch at Kobe Plaisir near Sannomiya station.

The beef was very good, with that rare umami flavor, but there was room for improvement. I hate to criticize something so luxurious as Kobe beef, but the honest truth is that the beef wasn't as good as I’d expected. I purposely ordered the sirloin cut, which is more fatty than the fillet cut (I like the fat), but it ended up being so fatty that I couldn't taste the actual beef very well.

Also, even though we ate teppanyaki style, fresh off the grill, the medium-rare cut was strangely cold. So cold that I couldn't help but think about it being meat, and the poor cow I was eating (does this mean I really will turn into a vegetarian, or at least a pescetarian, one of these days, as I sometimes suspect I will? What about my love for In 'n' Out?).

The meal was beautifully presented, though, and cooked with exquisite artistry by the chef at the grill in front of us. The way he worked those utensils was like a dance. He was also very gracious about my taking an endless number of pictures. (Note: I recently upgraded from my point-and-shoot to a digital SLR—I think it’s going to become my new best friend.)

The sides that came with the beef were delicious as well, including sashimi, a yummy potato pureed soup, and an excellent garlic fried rice that the chef fried right on the grill. Yum. Or, as they/we say here, oishii.

Below, pictures from the restaurant, as well as pictures from the very crowded Chinatown, where there was lion dancing, oodles of Japanese-influenced dim sum, and panda-themed vending machines.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!