Kobe Japanese Steak House

Kobe really stinks like REALLY STINKS like mildew! Phew! They also kept asking us if we wanted a take out box – while we were STILL EATING! SO RUDE! They didn’t even offer us to see the dessert menu.
Latahs Kobe’s! Going to Benihana’s or Tanaka of Tokyo next time!

Great place! The steak and lobster tail taste so good! Service was mediocre, but it’s worth the price just for the food. They also have a good selection of cocktails!

The Kobe steak was good, but I was disappointed that the other steak and other foods were not good. And the «show» of preparing the food was non existent by the two roughly 21 year old cooks we saw. I would not return or recommend it to others.

Meh. Good was good, but pretty run down spot. Price was comparable to Benihana’s and Tanaka of Tokyo, so if I had the option I would go to those first.

Great atmosphere and great food! I’ve eaten here many times and you can never go wrong with their steak dishes. The chefs are all very talented and each bring their own finesse to the table (literally). Roy is always friendly and you can always see him around. He’s a dedicated owner and I can’t wait to go back again.

Tasty and fun! Use the local discount if possible. Plenty of food. Once seated, the wait time can be a bit lengthy. But it’s worth the experience!

It’s no wonder that Kobe is getting very low reviews from customers. The service is AWFUL. We dined in and asked if we could add a gift card on top of our order. Simple enough request right? NOPE. Both managers/​owners came out saying they have to do separate charges and that they don’t know any restaurants that do that. It’s one thing to separate charges but to make your customers feel like the request doesn’t happen anywhere else is just plain RUDE & UNPROFESSIONAL! Lyn, the manager kept repeating herself and when I said its been explained already, she had an attitude and said, «whatever’s.» The restaurant is just like the managers, ugly inside and out. And it’s not ADA compliant! If you have a stroller or wheelchair, you’re not getting the full experience. Food is so-​so. So save you’re money and go somewhere else!

This restaurant blew my mind. Not in a good way. I asked what the Vegis were that would be cooked on the grill and were told that was the only variations of Vegis I could get. After my meal was served I saw another chef come out with a different variation of Vegis, something I would have preferred. The restaurant was disgustingly dirty and unkempt. Please see attached photos. Cost of the meal in total was absolutely not worth it. We should have waited and went to tenaka of Tokyo instead. Lesson learned.

Great food and great service. After reading so many negative reviews, I was reluctant to dine here. However, Im glad I did not experience the horrors other people have experienced.
The wait was long considering we had reservations but the food was ono and the 2 chefs we had (2 tables, 20 people) were insane. The guy from Alaska who reminds me of Carrot Top and the local guy Brendan couldnt have done it better. Id ask for them again and again and again. The only drawback in my opinion is the parking.

Do not go here if you expect to be full after your meal! The portions are extremely small. We spent 150 for 2 of us and we were both still hungry…
Also the place in terrible shaped, we actually considered leaving when we saw the building inside and out. The bathrooms were even worse. The only reason I gave it 2 stars was because the food was tasty and our cook was a sweet and funny guy! Don’t waste your money! We won’t be back.,

Reservations are a good idea for this place. It gets very busy, even on weekdays.
Service: We had excellent service the whole time! The valet guy was nice. The host was really nice. The waiters and waitresses were very friendly and polite. And our chef for the night was very good! I apologize, I didn’t catch his name, but I think he said Brenden or Brandon. He said he’s been there about a year and he’s from Aiea. Anyway, to our chef, thanks for making my first time very fun and memorable!
Food: The food was very good! I had the Scallops and Steak Combo. The scallops were big and very tasty. The steak was tender and juicy. All the sides that came with the meal were good too; lots of flavor.
Drinks: I had the Lychee Martini and it was very good! Not too strong, not too weak.
Note: I would definitely go back!

Had a reservation at 9, got seated about that time but waited over an hour for our cook to arrive. Restaurant was not busy, we got our drinks and was not helped once after. I had the same empty glass of water my whole meal, and when I asked for a second drink I did not receive it along with some of our food that were ordered.
Two stars only because it was a terrible first time experience although, those at my table along with my date said it is usually better service and their food was extremely good.

Called in earlier the previous day for a reservation of 4 people at around 7pm on a Friday night. Usually when you place a reservation for a restaurant, you would expect the table to be ready in about 5 minutes, however, that was not the case. When we arrived for our reservation, we didn’t get seated until 15 – 20 mins later. Not only was this an issue, but the people that came in before us got seated quicker and they had not even made a reservation.
Now onto the food…
The food was just O K. Nothing too great about it, just tasted like steak and shrimp. The service was pretty consistently awful, we got seated very late, and the waitress hadn’t even taken our drink orders until 20 minutes later.
I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt and say it was probably because of how busy the downstairs section of the restaurant was, and they did give us a free round of drinks which made me give them that one extra star.
In conclusion, I don’t think you should come here unless you have a gift card, which I luckily had. Paying $ 30 for a mediocre meal/​experience is just absurd.

Came here for the first time a couple weeks ago. My parents were visiting me and helping me get my house ready for my wife and kids. We had Tino as our chef.
First of all, Tino was hilarious. He couldn’t have been more that 23 or 24 years old, but he had great people skills. He wasn’t the best at all the tricks (although, I wouldn’t have been able to do any of them, so I was still impressed), and instead of a smoking volcano, we got a fireball. But, he made us laugh, which added to the fun.
Now, the food. If you go, request Tino. He is a wiz behind that grill. The food was the best Japanese food I’ve had by far, and was easily on my list of best restaurant food I’ve had. I can’t wait to take my wife and kids here when they get to the island. Worth every penny.
Thanks Tino!

The restaurant reminded me of a stripper. A stripper far past her prime with leathery skin and beady eyes and a cheap cigarette dangling from her lips. A stripper who looks a whole lot better when it’s dark and smoky. I’m pretty sure if they turned the lights on full blast in Kobe it would be downright terrifying. Like a gory murder scene but instead of blood the place would be covered in horrifying splatters of oil. Decades of oil. Oh if the oil could talk, what stories it would tell.
The food was okay. I would have been appalled if we had to pay the actual prices listed on the menu, but we were armed with a $ 50 gift card from last Christmas and also received the kamaaina discount so it wasn’t too painful. The fare was quite ordinary and our steaks were overdone, but it didn’t taste bad. Just not very good. Let’s settle with «decent».
Our chef was young and seemed to be putting in a good effort though his skills were definitely not polished. I didn’t enjoy his cooking since I felt like I was nervously watching him fail repeatedly. Watching the shrimp tails miss his hat. Watching the spatula go flying onto the dirty, filthy floor. Watching the volcano fall over sideways and the steaks being cooked far too long. It probably didn’t help that the restaurant was almost empty. I would describe the atmosphere as halfway to giving up coupled with an underlying current of quiet desperation. Not the most fun I’ve ever had.
I can’t imagine Kobe Steak House will be around much longer unless they make some big changes. We will not be returning anytime soon. Or possibly ever.

NOT SO ‘HAPPY’ ANNIVERSARY
Looking for a place to celebrate my wedding anniversary, Kobe has gift cards at Sam’s Club for 25% of ($ 100 gift card for $ 75) so being in the mood for their colossal sized scallops, we bought the gift card and headed to Kobe. Right off I noticed a sign offering Kamaaina discount at the front door– even better. I haven’t been there in a few years now and it didn’t look like any upkeep has been done, ever. It looks run down– carpets filthy, walls dingy (probably from all the cooking that goes on) and table feels greasy. I also noticed that the placed wasn’t packed like it used to be– quite a few empty tables on a Saturday night. When the chef came, I was delighted to have a vet– he said he has been doing this for 28 years. His «show» was lack luster– maybe after 28 years performing for diners gets old– but surely his food would be on point right? Wrong! I noticed he kept dumping oil over everything– that was a red flag. It is so dark in there, I didn’t notice at first how oily my fried rice was, but then I saw a pool of oil at the bottom of my rice bowl. My stomach immediately started to turn realized how much oil I was ingesting. There were 2 steak orders at the table– 1 med rare and the other med. He cooked both orders exactly the same amount of time and served it. What was the point of asking how you want your steak cooked if he was only going to cook them at the same temperature??! The med rare guy commented that he normally likes his cooked less. And then there were my scallops– beautiful U 10 – 15 Jumbo Nova Scotia scallops lightly dusted with flour. It was a CRIME how long this dude cooked those scallops. He turned them in to rubber balls. They were so over cooked that the texture reminded me of tako– I was chewing for days! I was so disappointed. That must be why this place is not as full as it used to be and they have to offer all kinds of discounts just to get butts in the seats– run down and low quality. Although we essentially only paid $ 75 plus tip (~$ 100), that’s nothing to sneeze at. I left feeling queasy and like I had wasted money. Another downside is that there is no parking– you have to do valet for $ 5 and it’s not like you can walk around afterwards.

Saw the promotion at Costco, so decided to try it. Our chef was good but not so talkative since he didnt know much English (but his performance made up for that), the waitress is a different story, she must have been deaf since she didn’t get my order right but got my gf’s right even though we ordered the exact same thing. The food was tasty, its identical to Benihana, plus its pricey, ours came out $ 97 for two filet mignon with two diet cokes.

Dear Kobe,
For a party of 3, we spent $ 150 (including tip) for dinner. I really hope that a portion of our payment will be placed into the «restaurant improvement» bucket, because you are in a serious need of a facelift. The last time we were patrons at your restaurant was on our honeymoon 19 years ago. Just for kicks we decided to make a reservation to celebrate my husbands birthday and to introduce your restaurant to our 18 year old son. It doesn’t look like anything has changed — the place is run down now.
I’d have to say that without having an awesome Chef, Taka, the dinner was not worth the amount we paid. It doesn’t even include a view of the ocean, a birthday song to go along with the scoop of ice cream and candle to blow out, or a souvenir photo. The décor and ambiance was a disappointment. The staircase is hideous (my shoes were making a «sticking/​sucking» noise as I was making my way downstairs because it’s filthy). The stench while standing at the main entrance and waiting area was disgusting. I had high hopes, but that was diminished as soon as I walked in to check in for our 6:30pm reservation.
The food was good. A big part of that was because Taka would give us a small sample to ensure it was made to our liking before he placed the rest of the serving onto our plate. He was also very entertaining and had good stories about where he was from and how he became a chef at Kobe. So, 1 star for Taka and the food!
Our waiter did his job well. He took our order in a timely manner and our food was delivered in a reasonable time. We didn’t have to wait until the rest our table was full (there was 3 open seats), so our chef started right away. 1 star for service!
Valet service was great! I was glad to see the service available for $ 5 right in front of the store. But, it would’ve been nice if it was free plus gratuity. 1 star.
Kobe, unless I hear you’ve remodeled, I’ll just see you off of the road as I drive on by. Take care!

I read some pretty rough reviews! We went tonighr for my birthday.
My experience there was great. We made reservations for 6 and was promptly seated. Our waitress came and made sure all of our waters were refreshed almost as soon as my glass was empty. We waited for a half hour for our chef, but thats standard for wait times anyway and I’ve waited longer before. So no big.
Our chef Jeremiah was awesome. Told jokes, made us laugh. He cooked my steak (medium rare) to perfection.
My only complaint would be that it was hot in there. Then again to be fair, we were stitting at a stove.

Marquee location in the heart of Waikiki, just past the Ilikai and Hilton Grand Waikian tower on Ala Moana Blvd. The entrance, bar and seating areas are in dire need of a renovation, especially in comparison to the more popular Tanaka of Tokyo or Benihana. The ventilation at our table was poor, causing our guests to get «smoked out» during our Teppanyaki presentation.
Best item on their menu was an appetizer — Seafood Dynamite
Great service and skill by our table chef. Similar cooking show as the other restaurants, but our chef was very friendly and attentive to our needs. The food prices were high, but the quality and taste were very good.