Japan Blog

Japan Diary: Kobe

We woke up at 7am (again, another early start) to visit Kobe which the guys wanted to visit as its known for its beef. I wasn't too keen to go there but before heading to the beef district we visited the Herb Gardens. We got a little lost on our way to find the Herb Gardens but once we got there we took the cable cart up. 

Unfortunately we didn't have enough time (I guess we got more than a little lost) to venture down the mountain like we'd planned as Luan had made a booking to go to Royal Mouriya which is a place specialising in Kobe beef.

To our surprise this place was pretty dang fancy and I was so surprised that they catered for vegans too! The chef made this amazing garlic fried rice which he prepared in front of us and it smelt so fragrant. I also ordered a salad which was pretty nice considering I'm not usually a leafy person.

I was even more surprised when I found this vegan bakery which specialised in waffles closeby. The name of the bakery was Kanauta. I got the chocolate and matcha one and it was a yum! The texture is different from a typical waffle, it tasted spongy and light with the texture similar to a muffin but fluffier. 

Afterwards my friends felt pretty peckish and wanted to consume more Kobe beef skewers so we walked around to find some. It was a bit of an awkward time to have a snack as it wasn't lunch time because it was too late, but also too early for dinner. So most places weren't open. We finally tracked down this beef skewer place (thanks to Google for the lil tip) but once we got there it was closed!! We did a bit more walking a found a place opposite China town. I was pretty full and didn't feel like eating anything (and they probably didn't have any vegan food besides rice) so I didn't order anything. The rest of the guys ordered meals. The waiter started bringing out the dishes which was part of the set. He started bringing out soup and even gave me a serving. My friends and I thought it was oddly nice that they brought it out. Then suddenly they brought out individual bowls of salad. I was starting to feel pretty suspicious and felt that this was oddly too kind... especially for free..? Then the waiter came back and with a plate of meat and plonked it on the table and I was so shocked!! It turns out Luan had double ordered two :O (Don't worry I didn't eat it).

On our way home we dropped by the supermarket and got some snacks and decided to call it an early night because we were planning to visit USJ the next day.

If you want to read more about this trip or this day in particular, visit Luan's blog here.