Kobe Japanese Steak and Sushi

Horrible service. We’ve been waiting for our 6:30 reservation for over 40 minutes now. We’re sitting in the bar area and not one server has checked in on us. If it wasn’t my son’s birthday dinner, we would have been out of here a long time ago. Definitely won’t be back.

it was great! I had fried rice and
was awesome. also it is including drinks so I am very satisfied. but it was quite salty.

Waited 45 minutes for a chef to arrive. Shellfish allergy communicated up front and the chef repeated it… then he cooks
the shrimp steak and chicken side by side. Had to wait for them to cook the chicken upstairs because of this. By the time it finally came down, it was too late… everyone had eaten.

Imagine eating a meal, then the check comes and it says they charged us for «extra shit.» Looks like the restaurant knows that there food is «shit.» No one should talk about food that way, very inappropriate. Especially coming from a restaurant.

Unfortunately my experience was terrible, the only reason I waited so long is because my wife wanted hibachi and it was her birthday. These people did not respect our reservation, they had us waiting for 1 hour and 40 min. before taking us to our table. Another extra hour later the guy in the grill shows up. The attitude of the staff, specially the the lady who received us at the entrance was like she thought they were doing us a favor. The food is good, my appetizer was brought when I almost had finished my main dish, I ordered the hibachi filet mignon/​shrimp and I was given the sirloin/​shrimp which is cheaper, I had to remind the waiter not to charge me that. I think there are definitely better choices in Richmond.

I’m been back to Kobe a few times since my first Hibachi experience, trying things like the ramen, tempura, and gyudon.
The food is okay. I’ve certainly had worse, but overall I’m just not wowed. The ramen is better than any Americanized dollar ramen obviously, but it falls into a slightly bland category and the noodles aren’t as firm as they should be. The salad is meh and miso not bad. I will say I like their gyudon. My fiancée tried the tempura and thought it wasn’t bad.
The real problem I have is the service. I normally come here around 2:00 and there’s not a lot of people. You’d think you’d be able to order a rice bowl and eat it within an hour, but there have been a couple times I was late back from lunch.
The staff is pretty friendly, but the speed of the whole experience leaves a bit to be desired. When my fiancée and I came for dinner one night it took us nearly 2 hours, and we both ordered pretty low prep time food.
So I’m not sure. I don’t love the food but it’s not bad. I haven’t really had bad experiences minus the time to get your food, but 2 hours is long time.
If you’re in the immediate area and want some Japanese food but don’t have a strict time limit, give it a try.
See original review for other comments and hibachi notes.

This isn’t a traditional Japanese restaurant, it is a diner-​like Americanized Asian fusion mediocre food place. The service is not amazing, which isn’t acceptable in a Japanese restaurant. The food is very mediocre. The sushi came looking like it is made by a five year old; lacking any aesthetics and taste. I’ve had better sushi in whole foods market. The noodle soup was plain, not bad, but could easily make it at home myself. The alcoholic drinks weren’t to die for, my favourite item on the menu was the miso soup which tasted pretty okay.

This place is not a traditional Japanese steakhouse:
They charge $ 2 for fried rice, give clear soup instead of miso, and They don’t preform, ex: don’t throw pieces of veggie in your mouth, sake, etc.
That right there is a huge turn off for me, I will not be visiting Kobe again.

Had dinner here last night with my boyfriend. The food was wonderful, and the service was great. Only «issue» is they charge extra for fried rice, on a hibachi order. I think that’s weird…
Anyway George our chief was awesome. And the upcharge for the rice won’t keep us from going back.

great tempera shirmp and seafood udon～the restaurant is spacious and pretty too～and it is not expensive at all。 I also tried beef ramen and Cajun roll, not good. The shirmp in the roll seemed have cooked for a long time, and the ramen just taste strange.

Wait staff was friendly, but the sushi had very little fish. I ordered the spicy tuna roll, and there was barely any tuna. Very disappointed.

I must say that this is one of the better Hibachi places I’ve been to. Great location right in the heart of Shockoe Slip, but the prices really were fair. I kept it simple and ordered the Chicken Hibachi for $ 14, which came with the typical salad w/​ginger dressing and miso soup.
Our server and hibachi cook were both a ton of fun. We had a large group and they managed to keep us all happy and entertained. Saki bombs are a must if you come here– they make quite a show out of it! The bar upstairs is pretty nice and drinks are strong.

This past Saturday (⁶⁄₂₀) some friends and I came here for a brief respite from packing a moving truck. The air conditioning and water were much appreciated.
We had lunch on the second level (well the first… I guess I mean we were not in the basement downstairs).
The host and our waiter were both very professional and courteous. Although not very talkative. I ordered a breaded chicken which I enjoyed… it was not overcooked or undercooked. For a picky eater like me, it was as close to a chicken nugget as you can get. The miso soup appetizer was tasty, and it’s the first time I’ve ever liked tofu in anything. Japanese food tends to be very artful… if you are a picky eater, be sure to tell them not to garnish your plate. In my case, they added onions, sesame seeds and ginger. I was able to push those to the side and my food was otherwise pretty good. Others at my table enjoyed a hot shrimp appetizer a dark noodle dish and various other meat dishes.
I can definitely see myself coming here again, if I find myself in the Bottom.

Not impressed.
I’ve sadly had better sushi from the grocery store. The sushi was not fresh, the fish did not seem to be chilled properly, and most of the roll flavors just blended together. Not that a skill cannot be taught — it’s just a little disconnecting when the sushi chefs are not Japanese.
Not bad sushi, just disappointing.

The waiter was nice and brought out water right away. We put in our orders pretty quickly (2 shrimp curry udon and a virgin piña colada). He had mentioned he was new so he wanted me to point out my order on the menu for him. The miso soup and salads came out in a few minutes. They were both pretty bland but ok. After about 15 minutes, I inquired about my piña colada and the waiter seemed to have forgotten about it. However, it did show up a couple minutes later and it was good.
The food, however, took 1 hour to arrive on our table after we first ordered. During the wait, we asked he waiter about the food and he told us they are short staffed so the owner, himself said he will cook the udon noodles. He said it’ll be about 15 minutes. About 45 minutes later, our food comes out. They came out as shrimp curry donburis. We ordered udon, not rice bowls.
At this point, we were just happy we have food in front of us. The food tasted fine, not amazing. I expected full shrimps. Instead, we got chopped medium sized shrimp. There couldn’t have been more than 2 or 3 medium sized shrimp total in the bowl. Extremely disappointing to say the least.
The total bill came out to be $ 40. Both entrees plus $ 8 for the non-​alcoholic piña colada. Normally, we would not ask for any discount but the wait time was just atrocious. The manager came over and when we asked, she offered a 10% and we said we will take whatever she can give but we were expecting more like 50%, explaining our horrible wait time for the food, etc. she explained being short staffed. I don’t see how that is our problem. She, then, went into the kitchen (presumably, to ask the owner) and came back out and said they can do 50% off.
TLDR: Food tasted ok. Service was horrid. Took over 1 hour to get the food (they were not slammed). Manager, initially, did not offer a discount. No apology. Never going there again and would not recommend to anyone.

Went in today for lunch. We arrived around 12:50, and the door was open, so we just walked in. Ooops… doesn’t open until 1 pm (they sat us anyway). The waiter waited until exactly 1 pm to wait on us though, which I thought was funny, but anyway… to the food!
We ordered two appetizers, the CHICKEN GYOZA (3.5 stars), and the CHICKEN YAKITORI (teriyaki style, 4 stars). Both were well-​cooked and seasoned. I especially liked the sweet/​savory teriyaki skewers. The gyoza (dumplings) were tasty, but can fried dumplings really taste bad? They didn’t «wow» me for sure.
I ordered the CHICKEN CURRY-​DON (4 STARS) for lunch. This Japanese curry had carrots, potatoes, chicken, green onion, and spices. I could really taste the cumin and turmeric. It also had a sweeter taste than what I am used to in Indian curries. I loved it! I did have two gripes with the curry (if resolved, this would be 5 stars). Unlike our appetizer, the chicken was tough and over-​cooked; it also had a strange texture. Secondly, it was not spicy enough for my taste. I resolved this with some sriracha, though. :)
I would go back, albeit not at peak hours, as they were relatively slow with four people in the restaurant.

Three words.
Hire. More. Staff.
Or at least get some temporary staff for busy nights! Our poor waitress seemed to be covering at least half of the restaurant during our New Year’s Eve dinner. Rather than reflecting poorly on her, especially when she was clearly apologetic and trying to maintain a semblance of serenity as she bustled from table to table, this experience shows how misguided management at this restaurant appears to be. I would definitely recommend going at a time when there is more staff around because it took way too long to just get food or water out to our table. The hostess seemed very stress and borderline hostile when trying to get people to their tables.
Other than those misgivings, the restaurant is very nice ambience-​wise and the food is decent. We ordered three rolls (Killer, Caterpillar, and Big Shot) and each were quite tasty. They were a bit on the smaller size for the price, but that’s how things usually go at these types of restaurant.

I love this place. Is it fine dining? No. Can the quality of service sometimes vary depending on how crowded and/​or how experienced the staff is? Yes. Is the food always fresh and delicious and served with a little bit of entertainment? Absolutely.
As with all hibachi restaurants, most entrees are between $ 20-​$ 30 but when you leave you are FULL of goodness because you get a lot for your money. I’ve been here many many times and have had my share of bad service experiences but I always return because it’s just a fun and delicious way to spend a night. The last two times I’ve gone our chef has been absolutely hilarious. It was like our own private little comedy show. (Plus, there’s usually a Groupon for it!)

It seems I can never catch a break when it comes to lunch in downtown Richmond. This isn’t my first lunch experience at Kobe but it’s close to being my last. I’ve had the express lunch downstairs and like 95% of hibachi (it’s total shit). Zero flavor and zero seasoning and overall feels like cafeteria line garbage. I have a problem with hibachi places (
)
This time around my lunch crew and I decided to eat upstairs. No worthless hibachi crap for me. I’m getting the $ 12 sashimi entrée this time! Good thing I’m dieting. Sigh. It was fine I guess. I don’t know what to say anymore. Every f*** place from Mom Siam 2 to this place think ICEBEURG lettuce with lumpy ginger dressing is «Asian» or something.
It looks pretty I guess so if you want tiny little slivers of fish bait this is the place to go. It’s my fault for ordering sashimi and not sushi. Funny enough, the Miso here is also pretty good. Maybe I can just drink a gallon of Miso soup.
Maybe I just need to blow $ 40 on lunch and order those fancy huge dynamite rolls, or the Shockoe slip roll, samurai roll, barrel roll, spicy lobster roll, cinnamon roll, volcano roll, you get the idea. Yep, I think that’s my problem. Trying to eat an affordable lunch when what I really need to do is order that «Sushi Lovers for two» which I saw uploaded. That thing looked amazing.

Came here for the first time the other day. I got the Rich Roll, Miso soup with beef ramen, and chicken teriyaki.
The side salads that came with the meals were fresh, and of course that dressing was delicious.
The Rich Roll was so good. One of my favorites and the sushi portion wasn’t skimped.
The ramen was different. I would give that a ⁴⁄₅ stars. And lastly the chicken teriyaki was just alright. I was least impressed by that dish.
I wouldn’t mind coming back, but I think I’m just going to stick to the sushi rolls instead of the other entrees.