The Best 10 Places to Eat in Kobe, Hyogo

Kobe is one of the most popular port towns in Japan. There are many fashionable places, such as Kitano where the western-styled houses are lined up next to each other or the Water Front. The town has not only sightseeing places to visit but also wonderful gourmets! Because it has had a lot of trade with foreign countries as an international port since a long time ago, starting with the Kobe-beef to Ethnic foods, the class-B gourmets are lined up. Kobe is only a 30-minute-ride on a train from Osaka. I’m introducing to you the popular foods in Kobe.

1. Kobe Plaisir

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The Kobe-beef is internationally well-known as the top-class brand of Japanese beef. The cows which are carefully bred and satisfy a certain standard can only obtain the prestigious title. The Kobe-beef is the living proof of the top-class Japanese-beef. With its thin fatty layers evenly spaced, Kobe-beef melts in the mouth. It has been chosen among the “Foods which are the most expensive in the world” by the American media.

The “Kobe Plaisir” is the restaurant which has been directly run by the JA Zennoh(National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations) Hyogo. This restaurant uses the fresh ingredients produced with great care by the producers in the Hyogo prefecture. The purpose of this restaurant is consuming only the products from their prefecture which were produced there.

The shop restaurant offers various courses, such as the Seiromushi (steamed food in the basket) and the Shabushabu cooked with the fresh ingredients produced in the Hyogo prefecture, besides the Kobe-beef steak. As it is a fairly popular restaurant, I suggest that you should book a table in advance.

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2. Takoyaki Tachibana

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Akashi is close to Kobe. The tasteful firm common octopus which develops in the Akashi Strait with the most rough current in the Harima Sea is worth trying. The famous “Akashi-yaki” is cooked with eggs, the soup-stock and the common octopus inside. It doesn’t have the flour taste like ordinary takoyaki. It is a fluffy round small omelette. You can enjoy dipping it in the piping hot soup with the mitsuba (Japanese parsley ). Everyone of all ages loves them!

The “Takoyaki Tachibana” with a 40-year-history is highly recommended. They use the live octopus caught in the Akashi Strait in the Inland Sea. Their Akashi-takoyaki is fluffy and melt in the mouth. You can ask for the sauce instead of the soup, if you like. One portion consists of 10 of them, but you can easily finish them off.

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3. Akaman

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In Kobe, there is the renowned China Town and you can enjoy various authentic Chinese cuisines there. The grilled gyoza is one of them. Surprisingly many gyoza shops are dotted around in the central Sannomiya town. The gyoza in Kobe has a different style for sampling. They are dipped in the Japanese-styled miso-sauce. Please enjoy the mixed food culture of China and Japan.

If you want to try this gyoza in Kobe, the “Akaman” is recommended. Their menu is very simple. They offer only the 7 gyoza for ￥290 and a bottle of beer. (The order is accepted from 2 portions and upwards.) The filling with garlic and ginger flavor wrapped with the thin coating dough is quite plain, so you can eat a lot of them if you wish.

You can adjust the taste using the special miso sauce or Chinese chili oil whichever is your favorite. They are cooked after an order is made.

4. Madras Kitchen

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Now, many Indians live in Kobe. Since the port had opened, Kobe had prospered as the international port. And many Indian merchants had come to settle down. Therefore, many famous Indian restaurants are found in Kobe. It may be an unexpected thing for you to encounter the Indian foods in Kobe, but please try the authentic delicious Indian cuisines.

I recommend the “Madras Kitchen”! Most of the Indian restaurants offer the foods from the northern part of India, but the “Madras Kitchen” offers the unique foods from the southern part of India.

It is the food with the spicy plain flavor along with rice as the main serving. The Biryani and the distinctive southern Indian light meal are familiar to people who eat rice as the main dish.

5. Nagata Tanksuji

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The Sobameshi has become famous nationwide as the B-class gourmet in the Nagata-ward in the Kobe-city. It is the mixture of the noodles and the boiled rice grilled on the iron skillet. It is neither Chinese fried rice nor grilled noodles. It contains the softly boiled sinewy meat called Bokkake and tastes salty sweet. It has an unexpected delicious taste.

The popular Sobameshi shop, the “Nagata Tanksuji” is very attentive to the noodles and they use 2 different kinds of their original noodles. The professional cooks cook them with separation and they are very tasty. The sinewy meat is cooked with wine until it becomes very soft and creamy.

Besides the Sobameshi, the modern-yaki and the Okonomi-yaki are also recommended. Please enjoy the new B-class gourmet at this shop.

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→The Best 10 Okonomiyaki Restaurants You Must Eat in Shinsaibashi, Osaka

 
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6. Café FREUNDLIEB

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You may notice that there are many bakeries in the Kobe town. When the Kobe Port opened the breads used to have been baked for the foreign residents. But soon, the bakeries for Japanese customers had increased and the bread culture is settled in Kobe. Nowadays, the purchase amount of one family is the highest in Japan. The breads have become widely popular among the Kobe citizens.

The highly recommended bakery is the “Café FREUNDLIEB” which was started by a German, Mr. Freundlieb in 1924.

The present shop used to be the former Kobe Union Church which was built in 1928. It has the high ceiling with an open feeling. The shop is on the 1st floor and the café is on the 2nd floor. You can enjoy the shop’s original menu, the sandwiches with the freshly baked bread.

7. Yooshoku-no-Asahi

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There are many western-styled delicious food shops in the international Port of Kobe. The characteristic of the western-styled foods in Kobe is that many shops were started by the chefs or cooks who used to work at the Oriental Hotel or at the restaurant in the foreign liners. You can enjoy the exquisite foods, such as the meat cuisine cooked for days with the demi-glace-sauce, the rice with hashed meat or the beef stew without any sense of hesitation.

The popular shop in Kobe, “Yooshoku-no-Asahi” has the beef cutlets as their signature menu. They are cooked through marvellously. The demi-glace-sauce brings out the delicious texture of the thickly sliced tender meat.

Apart from this, there is such a variety in the menu, such as the substantial croquette and hamburger. As it is a very popular shop, there is an hour-long queue at lunch and dinner time. Please be aware of it, but it’s truly worth it, even if you have to wait your turn.

8. Roushouki

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In the Meiji-era, many people came and worked in Kobe all the way from China. The Kakyo Town was gradually established. Nowadays, in the Nankin-cho in central Sannomiya there are many Chinese shops and Chinese ingredients shops. The area has been bustling with sightseers from Japan as well as overseas all year around.

Amongst many foods, the most popular one is the Manto. The pork Manto with the substantial filling inside wrapped with sticky dough is an indispensable snack to Japanese.

The highly recommended shop is the “Roushouki”. The founder from China had devised the Tianjin Pork-bun in the Tianjin region in China to fit the Japanese palate. That’s the origin of the Japanese Pork-bun.

The Pork-bun from the “Roushouki” is full of meat juice inside. You may need to stand in a queue for a short time, but I’d like you to enjoy the Chinese gourmet which has been loved by the Japanese.

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9. Patisserie GREGORY COLLET

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140 years have passed since the Kobe Port opened. As it is an international town, the relationship with the western sweets is profound. The famous confectionary in Japan , such as the Juchheim, the Goncharoff and the Morozoff have all started their business in Kobe. Kobe had absorbed the foreign cultures very flexibly. So, the sweets in Kobe have a variety. You can enjoy the sweets from the traditional ones to the modern ones in Kobe.

In 1995, when the Hanshin Awaji Great Earthquake struck Kobe, a French Patissier, Mr. Gregory Collet opened his shop, wishing for the reconstruction of the Kobe-city from the disaster. He was the manager of the confectionery department at the Nice Negresco Hotel.

He wanted to propagate the authentic French sweets, so the sweets were made from the top-class ingredients. The cakes and parfaits look beautiful to the eye as well.

10. Hon-Kobe-Meat Moriya Shoten

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For the Kobe citizens, the handy snacks are a pork-bun and a croquette. At the front of the butchers’ they fry the croquette with the piping hot potato, the beef flavor filling inside and the crispy batter outside. It is a small exquisite gourmet!

The “Hon-Kobe-Meat Moriya Shoten” is a butchers’ who deal with the top-class Kobe-beef. They make croquettes at the front of their shop. Their croquette contains the abundant top-class Kobe-beef inside. It is simple, but has the luxurious delicate flavor.

The price is ￥80 for one. The shop is too popular to buy one straight away. You need to stand in a queue. But it’s really worth it.

Let’s Enjoy the Delicious Gourmet in Kobe!

Do you agree that Kobe has a lot of delicious exotic gourmets? It is not an exaggeration to say that Kobe-sightseeing is equal to tasting top-class gourmets. You can enjoy all sorts of foods from the B-class gourmets to the top-class ones. I’d like you to try the many tastes all around, enjoying the view of the town at the same time.