Kobe Hero

(As good as it gets in Charlotte)
I have been twice recently on Tuesday nights, and both times I received a private show since I was the only patron in the restaurant. I also went once on a weekend night a while back and it was much more crowded and slow, especially since one chef had called off of work. To be completely fair to the restaurant, they provided free appetizers to make up for the long wait period. So day of visit definitely affects the experience here.
My most recent visit was last night: 1 March 2016. I was seated quickly, the order was taken, and soup and salad were quickly served. Service here can range from disconnected (not unfriendly, just disconnected aka high) to attentive and cheerful. Last night was closer to the latter…
The chefs are always friendly and open to any special requests you might have.
Last night, I ordered my seemingly usual order of the U&I (Shrimp, Scallops, and Lobster Tail) with a side of Filet Mignon. I am not sure if the kitchen misproportioned the «fillers» (rice, veggies, noodles) or if it is because I always make it a point to make the 30 minute drive to eat here when I am in town visiting my family, but I received a GENEROUS portion of food (much more so than on previous visits). The rice, veggies, and noodles took up an entire plate and I had to request a second plate for the meat.
The seafood is fresh, though I do notice that they use a warm water lobster tail. This means that it is larger, but also means that it can have a «fishier» taste than normal (still should not be overbearingly so or it is spoiled). I have also noticed that they use dry packed scallops versus the horrid wet packed scallops that many other restaurants in the area use. As for the shrimp, there is no price difference here to «upgrade» to Jumbo Shrimp (meaning all shrimp are the same size).
The filet almost always falls apart on the grill, not from lack of quality but from tenderness. Living in Brazil with steaks often coming from Argentina and Uruguay, this is something I greatly appreciate!
The flavour pungency of the food can wildly vary, but it is always tasty. If you want an extra sauce here or an extra seasoning there, feel free to ask.
This is not one of the absolute best teppanyakis that I have been to, but for a full service hibachi restaurant in the Charlotte area, this ranks near the top. Since Sogo’s Japanese Steakhouse in Concord (MUCH closer to my family) has been rapidly decreasing in quality and quantity, Kobe is my choice in the area!
(Btw my review of the sushi here is much more critical and much less positive)

Not the best one I have been to, but it is also not bad. It is really crowded and it may take a while until you get seated, specially in a Saturday night. The drinks are cheap here, specially martini’s, margaritas and beers. They have a early bird special which might be worth to check it out, but you have to eat at 4pm (Florida style)!

We had a good experience. The chef was on the money, the food was good, and we were entertained while in good company. The only negative is that all three of us had washing-​machine-​like stomachs later that night. This had nothing to do with the quality of the food, which was good; it was because we had such a variety of sauces mixed with eggs. Won’t make that mistake again! This place is also a little on the pricey side, but it’s worth the effort, especially for a special occasion. We went on the weekend, which I think is why we had a good experience.

I grew up eating here with my family and it was always delicious, it was where I fell in love with Asian food! Hadn’t eaten there in about 10 years so my husband and I decided to try it out recently. The service was excellent but we probably won’t be back due to the lack of quality and flavor in the food. Everything was bland and even the shrimp sauce, which I could pretty much drink from other restaurants, tasted weird. Disappointing!

Great place to eat can’t beat all you can eat Sushi for $ 11… if your hungry and love Sushi or Hibachi (you can get both) come check this place out!

Was hesitant on eating here based on a review however the food, staff and chef was excellent. Do plan on coming back.

Kobe Hero was great. We usually go to the Japanese restaurant in Huntersville. Decided to try Kobe Hero because we had a coupon from
. I am glad we did. This place is much better. Service was very good. Chef made my kids laugh and scream with excitement.
My family felt special and welcomed. The staff at Kobe Hero appreciated our business. We did not feel that at other restaurants. With 7 of us we spend a lot when we go out to eat. Feeling like the we are appreciated instead of a bother is important!
Thanks Kobe Hero!

Great service and Sushi! Should check this place place out! The owner was even nice enough to give us our coupon back and say we could use it next time

Went for the Hibachi-​Sushi All You Can Eat Lunch ($ 11.95 pp M-​F) Last Monday, we go there when it was opening. Sushi was all being made fresh. They had over 20 different kinds of sushi rolls to choose from along with tossed salad, seaweed salad, soup and rice and a pick your own veggies /​meats/​noodles which you brought to the Hibachi chef and the waitress brought it back to you cooked. Great price for everything we got to eat.

Liked it. Now we are new to the area so i would like to try a few more before I pick a favorite but the place was clean and friendly. The noodles which is spaghetti they can really do aw3ay with but everything else was good. /​the even have a play room so the kids can go and play if they get bored. The table next to ours was done before ours so I was glad we did not sit through the speed table but food wise it was all good

Went her for lunch again, this time with my son + wife… Overall worth the money if you are a big eater like me, but KOBE, please modify your SUSHi selection at the buffet to include more «basic» selections, such as adding some spicy tuna, yellowtail, etc,.The sushi they are offering is very pretty but very short on actual fish… service is very good again, and the hostess/​owner is SUPER friendly …

The magic of the classic Japanese steakhouse has just disappeared.
We had an ‘okay’ meal at Kobe last week. We originally picked it out because we had been sitting on a $ 50 gift cert from
. My bride had a couple sushi rolls which were not well rolled but had decent flavor. The rest of us had steak, shrimp, and scallops. This particular restaurant just seems to have gone downhill a bit and looks quite aged in décor and cleanliness. We received our bill and they had only removed $ 25. Once we pointed it out, they said that it was then invalid and they wouldn’t count the drinks as the amount needed to hit the $ 100 to make it valid. We ordered some desserts and finally got it handled 45 minutes later. Our servers were all excellent but the manager obviously had total disregard for customer service. We benefited by saving money but we were late for our event just to be able to redeem their stuff. Didn’t really make a lot of sense.
I would recommend sticking to Charlotte’s JPN Steakhouse options.

We’ve hit up quite a few of the sushi restaurants in the area, and while we have found our favorite (Sushi @ the Lake) we are always up to trying new ones. I had gotten a deal to Kobe Hero through
and we finally decided to head out and try it out last week.
Kobe Hero has an interesting interior, as it serves both sushi and hibachi. We told the host that we wanted sushi and they proceeded to walk us to a hibachi table and instructed us to join a random family. Not for nothing, but I didn’t want to be eating sushi while having the hibachi smoke blow in my face while the chef shot a bottle of fake ketchup at me. We asked her if there was somewhere else we could eat, and the hostess led us to another room that contained the sushi bar, as well as several intimate booths and tables. If you’re going for sushi definitely make sure they seat you here as opposed to the hibachi section.
One of the first things that caught our eyes was the drink menu. The drinks are pretty cheap, with things like martinis and other cocktails costing only $ 5. This wasn’t just the nightly special… this is EVERY NIGHT! We never get cocktails out since beer and wine are generally cheaper, but with prices like this we treated ourselves. The missus got a nice flavored martini for a Lincoln and not only was it a pretty big drink, but it was strong as well. Don’t let the price fool you… they don’t skimp on the booze.
For an appetizer we ordered the edamame ($ 3.95) tuna tataki ($ 9.95) and the wasabi shumai ($ 7.95).The edamame was what you would expect from salted bean pods and were good. The wasabi shumai was a bit overpowering with the wasabi flavor and not the best I’ve had. The tuna tataki consisted of some seared tuna slices which was pretty darn tasty.
For the actual sushi we ordered the kiwi roll ($ 9.50), midori roll ($ 9.75) and the east sea roll ($ 11.00). I don’t exactly remember all the features of each roll so I can’t give comments on them individually. However, I do remember them being decent but none of the rolls were mind-​blowing or exceptionally stood out.
The sushi and drink prices are great, which make Kobe a tempting visit. However, the quality just doesn’t compare to some of the other sushi joints in the area that may charge a bit more but have better original rolls that go outside the box. Still, I’m sure that if we want a change from our usual sushi place this is one we will return to.

Ambiance was what to would expect from your average Japanese Steakhouse. We had a group of 7 including a child, and accommodations were good. The routine of the chef was good, and he catered to the child a bit which was nice. One of our group had a birthday the day before, and they still did the birthday routine for him, which I thought was above and beyond. Overall, service was excellent.
On to the food. We started with a sushi appetizer (California roll). It was very good. I had shrimp and chicken hibachi as my main course. Fried rice was excellent, as was the chicken and shrimp. However, as others posted, there was noodles that were served that definitely were out of place. They were much more like a spaghetti with garlic than even a Chinese lo mein dish. The garlic was overpowering, but fortunately, due to reviews I read in here, I kept it separate from the rest of the food and this saved my meal. My advice is ask for them to hold the noodles.
So my scorecard:
California roll, hibachi chicken and shrimp, and fried rice: homerun and 5 stars.
Garlic noodles: swing and a miss and 1 star.
Normally I would have given a rating of 3, but due to the superb service, I gave it a bonus star for a total of 4. I definitely recommend, just skip the noodles.

As I expected, the food was delicious. I had the veggie combo plate. Also I decided to order their sushi appetizer. Both were welcomed graciously into my belly! The restaurant is your typical hibachi grill where the chef cooks your meals in front of you on a large flat grill. Surrounded by his patrons, the chef puts on a show to tantalize those taste buds with every explosion of flames and every flip of the spatula.
This isn’t my first visit to this type of establishment. When comparing it to others I’ve been to; this one is very high up on the list for greatness. We arrived with a party of 14 and were greeted, seated, served and finished in an orderly and, timely fashion, but not rushed. What’s more; you can almost be sure you will have a to-​go box upon your exit.
Kobe Hero Japanese Steakhouse was a pleasant experience for me and my family. I give the restaurant 4 stars because of the service. Good service is very important to me, no matter how good the food is. I hope this review finds you well.
Happy Belly,
Chris

We visited kobe on the way home to use a groupon coupon. It happened to be a rainy cold night on a tuesday. not many customers but the staff was very friendly and went out of their way to help. the sushi was a great value for the money compared to what we are used to paying in charlotte. The entrée was good also. Overall not bad !
I see some of the other not so good reviews but i think you have to keep it in perspective.

Oh how the mighty have fallen. This was my first ever sushi spot. I came here as a kid with my pops and it sure ain’t what it used to be. The hibachi may still be good, I don’t know for sure. Last time I tried it, I was sitting at a table with Dale Earnhardt, so its been a while.
I find myself up in the lake norman area on a regular basis, so when a groupon popped up one day I figured I’d give one of my old favorites a try. I knew the original owners had split up and all opened other places as well. I even knew that all of the good sushi and sushi chefs had moved down the street to sushi at the lake, but I had to give it a try.
Very simple fact in life. If the sushi bar isn’t busy, its probably not going to be that great. The menu was immense. A 2 sided pamphlet full of custom rolls. All kinds of deep fried, non-​traditional things to choose from. While trying to read this menu I was occasionally hit in the eye by a green laser that spread all over the walls. I don’t think thats good for your eyes.
Our waiters (yes plural) were young. We also had a boss lady coming by to take our orders as well? I really don’t know which kid was our waiter and which one was just checking up on us. Regardless, we told one of them to bring us a tuna tataki appetizer and it came out relatively quickly. The tuna looked good, but it just wasn’t that great. I pretty much knew what I was getting into at that point. Too bad that by the time that came I had already ordered another tuna dish.
The 2 main specialty rolls were ordered were «pretty». I don’t recall the names, but one had tuna as the nori and it looked reminiscent of a stuffed red pepper. If the tuna was a little better, it would have been good. It wasn’t, so I’d say mediocre at best.
The other dish we tried said it came out flaming, that isn’t quite the story. We were brought a plate that had a tinfoil packet on it. Our waiter poured a little booze around the side and lit it. He told us to wait for it to burn out then enjoy. The flames were small and it wasn’t much of a show at all. Once we opened it, I see that it cooked the salmon all the way through. Not exactly what I was looking for. Plus, it burned the sauce that was on the tinfoil which left a burnt flavor in my mouth. On top of all that, the plate was covered with salt to help make a dramatic crackling affect, but it also made the last piece of ginger taste basically like licking a salt block.
The food was edible, but I don’t see any reason why you would go there for sushi. Sushi at the lake is right down the street and hands down a better sushi place. Also, if you just want some cheap hibachi, check out Yoshi’s in Huntersville.

Having lived in Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, these hibachi type steakhouses are all over the place. Being new to the area, we decided to take my sister here for her birthday.
When I heard the name «Kobe Hero», I assumed this was a «Kobe Japanese Steakhouse», which I frequent in the Orlando area. Apparently they are different.
The restaurant itself — very nice.
The front of house staff all seemed pleasant.
When we sat down at the table, we ended up being the only party for the ‘show’.
Ordered the following: Filet and chicken, salad with the house dressing, and the soup.
First, the salad was fine. The soup was a little bland, but good. It’s really no different than what is served at any other place, but it seems to have been watered down.
My entrees were cooked very well. The ‘show’ was nothing different. You get the «Japanese Egg Roll», «volcano» etc…
Our cook was good, but seemed tired. I know being a chef is hard enough, but having to also ‘perform’ multiple times nightly is just that much more difficult. Im not saying he wasn’t good, but he could have used a little spring in his step.
What I think could have been improved:
In every restaurant like this that I have been to, whether it be Kobe, Benihana, Japan Inn, etc… they all have two dipping sauces: One is a cream sauce, and one is a brown sauce (not soy sauce). For this meal, we only had the brown dipping sauce. I happen to enjoy the sauces.
We weren’t offered a dessert menu! It was for a birthday, and we weren’t looking for the singing cake thing, but we all wanted at least an ice cream dish. We ended up buying dessert elsewhere.
Other than that, it’s your typical Japanese steakhouse. I do feel they need to spice up the cooking show. It’s just like every other restaurant. Little changes can make this place stand out. I will still come back, because I do appreciate a well cooked entrée. I just hope to see the additional sauces.

When Kobe Hero first opened (It was originally just named «Kobe»), it was all the rage to go there. Sadly, they’ve changed management, raised prices & the «allure» of the show is just overrated. I have to agree with Claudine’s sentiments, it does get fake & annoying, especially when you hear the same show being done by the same chef next to you. Like there’s no variation. And I can imagine doing the same thing over & over gets old to them, so they just go through the motions.
The food is always delicious, especially the rice. Steak, shrimp, chicken is always cooked perfectly. Now, my question is, what’s with the spaghetti noodles & the carrots & broccoli with the zucchini & onions? Such a turn off for me. The onion soup is amazing. Literally, I could probably just have that, the rice & shrimp & be a happy girl. The salad is always fresh. Ginger dressing is just the right amount of bite! Shrimp sauce is a bit runny, but it’s still good, nonetheless.
The décor & ambiance is ok. Very low-​lit & there is plenty of seating in separate rooms. They have a separate bar area /​sushi area. Additionally, they have a separate play room for kids. Word of caution though, just curious if they sanitize those toys on a regular basis? (Germ-​a-​phobe here!) However, the restaurant as a whole is clean & after tables leave, they’re quick to clean them up.
The wait staff is efficient & friendly. We never had to worry about our drinks running low & the ordering was quick & easy.
This is definitely a splurge-​type restaurant.

Well a coworker of mine convinced me to drive all the way up to Kobe for an early dinner — she had a groupon.
These to me are so silly… the hibachi show… I mean really? It just seems so fake and somewhat annoying since he threw a piece of tall (shrimp) at me since it was my birthday… really? OK whatever.
We ordered the Spicy Dancing Tuna roll, I thought this was a great roll to start off on as my friend has NEVER in her life had sushi… so this was a good one to start off with. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good. We also had the gyoza… those were ok.
Then we had the dinner — I had shrimp with filet and she had the shrimp and chicken. Now had we known that we were getting soup (bland ass), iceberg lettuce with ginger dressing, greasy rice with egg, and greasy spaghetti and then our proteins, we would have left out the appetizers.
Everything tasted the same… bland. I did take my leftovers home as my dogs could eat all of this (except the onions of course) — they really loved it.
My friend said the soup «tastes like an old lady» — LOL not sure how she knows that, but I didn’t want to ask.