A 10-Course Omakase Showcasing Kobe Beef at Its Finest — Kobe Nikuryori Sugitani

Kobe beef means teppanyaki or steak. That much is true. But at a seven-seat counter in Sannomiya, it arrives in an entirely different form.

Kobe Nikuryori Sugitani is a single-course omakase restaurant that uses only Kobe beef. Seared, yukke-style, spring roll, hand roll, hot pot, chirashi sushi — ten dishes, one ingredient, unfolding over two hours. You sit down. Everything else is taken care of.

Why This Course

Owner Soichiro Sugitani's background is anything but conventional: overseas study, restaurant work, and then a stint in submarine and commercial ship construction before returning to Japan. A reunion with a university classmate during his time abroad set him on the path to the restaurant industry, where he trained across multiple kitchens before opening this place.

The concept is simple. "I want people to eat Kobe beef easily — locals, visitors from other parts of Japan, people from overseas." The course structure follows directly from that idea. By pairing marbled wagyu with Japanese culinary techniques, each dish feels lighter than it looks. The cut, the cooking method, and the serving temperature all shift from dish to dish, so that by the tenth course you feel full but not heavy.

The 10 Dishes

神戸牛の炙り 自家製ポン酢の冷菜 — Seared Kobe Beef, House-Made Ponzu, Cold Starter

The opening dish. Seared Kobe beef with house-made ponzu, served cold. The acid sharpens the sweetness of the fat, letting the quality of the beef carry the dish without any fuss.

鰹と昆布の出汁の卵白とじ 紅ズワイガニ — Egg White Soup, Bonito-Kombu Dashi, Snow Crab

A palate interlude between the beef courses. Egg white folded into a careful dashi — gentle, almost weightless. Its job is to receive the Kobe beef on either side.

神戸牛炙りユッケ風 卵黄ととろろ添え — Kobe Beef Yukke-Style, Egg Yolk, Grated Yam

A cut chosen for both texture and flavour, served raw and seasoned in the Korean-Japanese yukke style. The egg yolk and grated yam wind through the richness and soften it, adding a quiet depth.

神戸牛すじとごぼうの煮込みの春巻き チーズとカラスミ入り — Kobe Beef Tendon and Burdock Spring Roll, Cheese and Bottarga

Braised tendon and burdock wrapped in spring roll pastry and fried. The funk of bottarga and the richness of cheese hit first, then the crispy shell gives way and everything collapses together in one bite. An unexpected combination that works completely.

うに・神戸牛・カニの手巻き寿司 — Hand Roll: Sea Urchin, Kobe Beef, Crab

Sweet uni. Fatty Kobe beef. Crab. All three in a single hand roll, and somehow the whole is even more than its parts. I ended up biting straight in — there was no other way.

季節のきのこと味噌仕立ての神戸牛鍋 — Kobe Beef Hot Pot, Seasonal Mushrooms, Miso Broth

First-press bonito and kombu dashi. The beef is swished through it briefly, then eaten with house-made ponzu. The miso base carries the earthy fragrance of the mushrooms. The kind of dish that quietly takes over.

鰹と昆布出汁の茶碗蒸し 紅ズワイガニ添え — Chawanmushi, Bonito-Kombu Dashi, Snow Crab

Silky steamed egg, meticulous dashi, snow crab on top. The care in the stock shows clearly. A brief, clean interlude before the finale.

神戸牛のグリル 男爵いも添え — Grilled Kobe Beef, Baked Potato

Charcoal-grilled, unhurried. Served with a house-made tare. No embellishment, no technique for its own sake — just the beef and the fire. The most direct dish on the course, and possibly the most memorable.

神戸牛ちらし寿司 漬物と味噌汁付き — Kobe Beef Chirashi Sushi, Pickles and Miso Soup

The finale. Charcoal-grilled Kobe beef and ikura over sushi rice, served in tableware that dates back to the Edo period — around 180 years old. The antiquity of the bowl and the freshness of the dish exist on the same surface. Nothing feels rushed, even at the very end.

季節のフルーツ — Seasonal Fruit

A quiet close.

Two Hours to Understand Kobe Beef

Not teppanyaki. Not yakiniku. Ten courses that map out the full range of what Kobe beef can be.

What struck me most was how light it felt. Each dish is modest in portion, but by the end you're genuinely satisfied — not stuffed. The satisfaction is there; the heaviness isn't. That's a balance that only makes complete sense in retrospect, once you're standing up to leave.

For anyone who wants to understand Kobe beef from multiple angles, this course delivers.

Practical info:

• 📍 3-4-8 Kumoidori, Chuo Ward, Kobe — 5-min walk from JR Sannomiya / Hanshin Sannomiya
• Mon/Wed/Fri: 19:00 start · Tue/Thu: 18:00 start · Sat & holidays: 17:30 or 20:00 start
• Closed Sundays
• Counter seats only, 7 seats (fully reservation-based)
• Omakase course ¥13,800 (tax included)
• Reservation slots open on the 15th of each month for the following month
• Reserve: TableCheck / Tabelog