It was close to evening by the time we were done with checking in and settling down. There was this beautiful park at the back of our hotel so we decided to explore the hilll before heading downtown for dinner.
It was very windy and cold, Sofia was pretty exhausted by the time we reach middle of the hill.
So we took the ropeway again to enjoy the city view.
Of course, the highlight of the day was to have Kobe beef for dinner!! That is exactly what Kobe is famous for right?
We chose this little restaurant where you can order any type of Kobe beef and grill it at the table yourself. The beef tasted REALLY good. We were told that there are actually quite a few conditions to "qualify" Kobe beef, for example:
-Tajima cattle born in Hyōgo Prefecture
- Farm feeding in Hyōgo Prefecture
- Bullock or castrated cow, to purify the beef
- Processed at slaughterhouses in Kobe, Nishinomiya, Sanda, Kakogawa and Himeji in Hyōgo Prefecture.
- Marbling ratio, called BMS, of level 6 and above.
- Meat Quality Score of 4 or 5
- Gross weight of beef from one animal is 470 kg or less.
On top of that, the cattles are fed one beer per day, massaged with sake daily, brushed to set their fur, and fed on grain fodder. I am not sure if the above is true unless I visit the farm itself and witness all these "extra" treatments but if this is truly happening, then it does have an impact on the beef because it was REALLY GOOD! In the end, the three of us went back to the hotel with a bulging waistline!
