Indifferent Kobe burger (not a big surprise, considering)

Considering where it was offered and ordered, that is.

10oz Kobe burger listed on the menu for $13.95, with fries, at the Cafe Roma in Caesar's Atlantic City. The premium for this treat was minimal; regular cheeseburgers were $9.95 and smaller.

I didn't expect much, and I wasn't disappointed. I asked for it as close to medium rare as the cook would allow, and it came with a bit of pink. I'd call it medium, and a victory in a restaurant where the menu declares all burgers well done. The burger itself was indistinct. There was nothing about the taste that I would consider extraordinary or exceptional; it was a slightly juicier restaurant burger, maybe a little bit beefier... maybe because I was looking for some reason to think it was better. It was not hand pressed, and I'm sure it was from frozen; a casino restaurant in mid week during down times isn't going to keep Kobe burgers in the refrigerator waiting for someone to order one.

All that being said, it was OK enough; it was a burger. Get it if you want to skip a meal, 10oz is a lot of hamburger. The fries were pretty decent. And I'm not going to slag the idea of a Kobe burger. I had one in Hawaii at Brown's Beach House that was better than most steaks I've eaten in my life. Just sayin' that putting "Kobe" on the menu doesn't change the facts about where it is that you are placing the order; it doesn't guarantee an exceptional burger. And the reverse is also true; most of the outstanding burgers you will eat in your life won't be Kobe.

I'm of the opinion that "Kobe" burgers are nothing more than marketing.  Any Kobe worthy of what the name used to imply is a lot more than 13 bucks.  But, it sells burgers, and people think it's "fancy".  

I have never understood the hype of Kobe beef. Have you tried it at many other places? Is it truly exceptional when ordered from the right restaurant, or is it generally worth skipping? I'm intrigued by the concept, and I do generally like steaks even though I try not to eat too much red meat. I've had Kobe a few times and I just don't get it.

From my perspective (grew up on a farm in Illinois, and later lived in west texas, and having been entertained in Japan, being served true Kobe) here my take.

True Kobe is only from the Kobe area in Japan, not anywhere else.  The proper way to sell Kobe style beef is to call is Wagyu which is the type of cattle that they use to make Kobe beef.  Now just because you use wagyu animals does not mean you get Kobe beef.  It is much more how it is raised and fed and treated.  These techniques like so many things in Japan go back a long way in time.  We have available to us here in Thailand both wagyu and kobe.  A wagyu style beef is never called Kobe, a Japanese person can tell the grading pretty easily by the marbeling so its not possible to cheat as it is in the states.  Like so many food names in the states Kobe is misused all the time, and the American consumer thinks by paying a few bucks more he is getting something special, when in fact he's getting wagyu raised who knows how, but someone calling it Kobe.  It would be pretty much like me saying I offer Wisconsin Cheese here in Thailand, but its actually made here...to me thats deception, and so is what is being pawned off as Kobe beef, its not unless you are paying a huge price and outside of a few places in large city areas I doubt you will ever see it.  Here's a site that seems to sell true Kobe, and you can see from the prices that there's no way a $14 hamburger could be made from this type of beef, nor would you ever grind this up and use it as such, just plain deception as far as I'm concerned.  

http://1-800-kobebeef.com/kobefose.html

I did a check from one of my suppliers, current price here for fresh Kobe top marble is almost $325 a pound.  

Buyer be ware and I'd suggest challenging some of these places that pawn this stuff off as Kobe beef.

Finally if you get a chance to have it let a good Japanese chef prepare it for you, it won't come as a steak but incorporated in a japanese style dish, and it will be good.  I enjoy it when someone else is paying for it, but would never order it myself.  Frankly for me give me a prime cut well aged US, Argentinian or Austrailian steak and I'll cook it very rare and enjoy that much more.

Nice link, Rod, thanks. The burger I had in Hawaii was labeled Wagyu, and I recall it being around $20 in 2001. Aside from the taste, I remember it being a bit mushy and not holding together well; I finished it with a fork.

I have heard that Kobe/Wagyu suffers from grinding to a hamburger consistency, I  think the fine marbling disappears, and gets cooked off on the grill as dripping fat, so it's not a component of the burger anymore. 

 

MsDiPesto


I have heard that Kobe/Wagyu suffers from grinding to a hamburger consistency, I  think the fine marbling disappears, and gets cooked off on the grill as dripping fat, so it's not a component of the burger anymore. 

 

Ms you may have hit the nail on the head.... makes perfect sense to me. When you cook a burger the fat melts and drips away, whereas a steak holds as much juice in as you allow it to.



Dennis in Cary 

I had my first (and only thus far) Kobe burger at Burger (R.I.P.) in Pittsfield, Mass. The cook definitely wasn't Japanese, but the burger was delicious.  Admittedly, Amy & I finished it but didn't understand the hype.  It was great but certainly not the best we'd ever had (but we didn't expect it to be that).  It was very tender but not very firm.  It was $15 in 2007, and I was intrigued enough to keep looking for one elsewhere, if it's not cost-prohibitive.  Here's our money shot!    Chris

so, was it worth the money?

sk bob


so, was it worth the money?

Mine? Let me put it this way. I would have paid twice as much for an outstanding burger, but I didn't think the extra $4 was worth it for that burger, no.

I probably would have bit for the extra $4 to try it one time.
just to say I've tried one.