Got no beef with Kobe

We only gave Kobe in the Hyogo prefecture one night but made the most of it by arriving before lunch and leaving the next day in the late afternoon and certainly got a good impression of the port city. Our hotel was the vast Kobe Meriken Park Oriental, perched like a boat looking across to Port Island, our balcony gave great views to the mountains and out to sea and they had a convenient regular shuttle bus to and from the central station.

Port view, from left to right: Kobe Port Tower, Meriken Park, our hotel the Kobe Meriken Park Oriental.

Close by was the memorial park, dedicated to the memory of the 6,000 killed, 40,000 plus casualties and nearly 300,000 buildings destroyed when the Great Hanshin Earthquake hit in January 1995. There were still pavements uprooted here and there but in general the city has had a remarkable recovery.

Takahama Quay, Former Kobe Port Signal Station, Mosaic Big Ferris Wheel, Kobe.

We had a pleasant afternoon in the sun walking around the Meriken Park complex, finding a football in a park and singing along to the Elvis tunes playing by his statue.

Dinner was all about beef: Kobe is synonymous with the best beef in the world by those in the know. Famed for its delicate marbling and sweetness, its actually just one of many types of wagyu. Taking advice from the hotel concierge, we went to the restaurant Mouriya to sample it, sitting right in front of our personal chef and his tapanaki grill, he carefully and precisely prepared our dishes.

Watching our beef being prepared, Mouriya steakhouse, Sannomiya, Kobe.

We opted for two grades of beef to compare, of course MoJo preferred the pricier one! It was one of the most expensive meal of our lives to date. Was it worth it? Jury is still out but it was certainly a memorable experience.

Blowing the budget. Going to be hungry. If only this was a meal MoJo didn’t like…fat chance!

We spent the next morning having a fun look around the Kobe Maritime and Kawasaki Good Times World Museum which share a site on the harbour.

Keeping dry aboard a jet ski, Kawasaki Good Times World Museum, Meriken Park, Kobe.

The two sections are quite different, the first a traditional collection of model ships and displays of maritime history, the second offering hands-on experiences with modern technology from Kawasaki. We were surprised at the variety of machines the company has produced over the years, from its signature motorbikes and jetskis to the first Shinkansen, helicoptors and robots. We probably spent the most time playing with an enormous train track!