Return to the Wakkoqu Kobe beef restaurant and afternoon at Kobe’s historic Kitano-cho district

26 November 2016 

Despite having Kobe beef for dinner on our first day in Kobe, our craving for the prized meat still persisted. Our memory of an enjoyable lunch at the Wakkoqu Kobe beef restaurant in spring of 2016 was still fresh in our mind. After visiting Himeji Castle, we decided to have lunch at the Wakkoqu again before exploring Kobe’s Kitano-cho area near there.

Wakkoqu is a Kobe-beef teppanyaki restaurant situated on the 3rd floor of, but not part of, the ANA Crowne Plaza Hotel. The hotel is located just across the street from the Shin-Kobe JR Train Station.

It was highly recommended to make advance reservation for Wakkoqu but we did not. As a walk-in customer, we had to wait about 30 minutes which was considered to be short! 

Once seats (or the chef) were available, we were ushered to one of the teppanyaki tables. This restaurant is more posh compared to Steakland Kobe where we had dinner on our first day in Kobe. The high grade Kobe beef in the Wakkoqu would not be cheap but coming during lunch time allowed us to order the value-for-money lunch sets.

We ordered the Lunch Wakkoqu Course that came with 150g of Sirloin (Tajima & Sanda Beef from Kobe), Grilled Vegetable (six kinds), soup of the day, salad, rice, Japanese pickles, dessert and coffee for ¥5,880. For a few hundred yen more, we opted to change the steamed rice to garlic fried rice which tasted very good during our last visit.

The creamy soup and fresh salad tossed with the delicious Japanese sesame based sauce were served first. Then the beef was brought to the table for our inspection and approval. More like for us to take a photo of the meat!

Kobe beef is a registered trademark that is strictly governed, sourced from Tajima Japanese black cattle that is bred, raised and slaughtered in Hyogo prefecture, the capital of which is Kobe.

300 g of Kobe beef for the two of us.

The chef separated the steak into a few different “cuts”. The leaner part of the meat was separated from the fatty parts, to be seasoned, cooked and served separately.

Various seasonings were provided to go with the grilled meat – fried garlic slices, pepper, salt, mustard and a ponzu dipping sauce. The first few pieces that were served seemed to be the best cuts and we were told to eat this with salt only. The well marbled grilled meat were “melt in your mouth” tender and full of flavour.

Although the chef recommended different dips or sauce for the different “cuts”, I prefer to just eat the bite sized chunks of meat with a dash of salt.

The chef grilled the fats to get the oil from the fats and used the oil from the fat to cook the vegetables.

The fatty parts of the beef was grilled to crispy bits and mixed with fried bean sprouts.

Preparing our garlic fried rice.

Garlic fried rice.

The sorbet dessert and coffee rounded up an excellent Kobe beef teppanyaki lunch.  My second visit to this restaurant did not disappoint. The meal experience was just as good as the first time. Maybe there will be a third time if I find myself in Kobe again.

We spent the afternoon exploring Kobe’s historic Kitano-cho district after lunch. This area is known for its western-style architectures that was established by foreigners who settled in Kobe after Kobe opened up to foreign trade in the 1860's. While China Town was established by Chinese immigrants and traders, just south of Motomachi, a settlement was set up for Westerners on the slopes of Mount Rokko.

Originally there were over 1,000 such houses or “Ijinkan", which in Japanese means foreign residence. About 30 buildings were still standing and some of these former merchants' mansions are now open to the public as museums but entry is chargeable.

English House.

All dressed up and ready for Christmas.

Kitano-cho area is also home to a number of souvenir shops and trendy bars, restaurants and cafes.  As the area is on slopes of Mount Rokko, there were a fair amount of steps and steep slopes to negotiate.

It was nice to just walk up and down the alleys, browsing at the souvenir shops and the quaint Western style houses.

The most popular of the Ijinkan is the Weathercock House. This house was the residence of Gottfried Thomas, a German trader in the early 20th century.

The open space outside the Moegi House and Weathercock House was a good place to relax and do some people watching.

While we were there, we watched a short performance of magic and street entertainment.

Statues of musicians were placed at various places and these also attracted the real musicians and buskers.

Who does this figure reminds you of? 

 

Denmark House.

Nice spiral staircase in one of the house.

Starbucks Kobe Kitano Ijinkan.

One of the “Ijinkan" was converted into a Starbucks cafe. The building itself is recorded as a cultural heritage site, making this one of the most interesting and unusual Starbucks stores. After an afternoon of wandering around Kitano, a cup of coffee in this store was not to be missed. Although the building and furnishing is unlike a regular Starbuck store, there is still one common characteristic. We saw a few young people studying inside this store!

By the time we left the Starbuck cafe, the sky had turned dark.

 

There were pretty Christmas lights on the trees outside as we walked down the street in the direction of  the Sannomiya Station. Our plan was to head to the Harbourland and Meriken Park area for dinner and spent the evening by the Kobe waterfront.

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Kobe Harborland and Meriken Park at night

26 November2016

We went to the Kobe Harborland and Meriken Park on our second evening in Kobe. These places were best visited at night as you could see from the photos.

Kobe Harborland is a shopping and entertainment district between JR Kobe Station and the waterfront of Kobe's port area. There were a few ways to get to Harborland – walk, subway or train. We took the JR train from Sannomiya Station (See Note below) to the JR Kobe station as it was cheaper than taking the subway.

Coming out the JR Kobe Station, we walked along the road lined with keyaki (zelkova) trees that were lit up with some 80,000 white bulbs. The light up occurs in December every year.

December light up along the road lined with keyaki (zelkova) trees. 

Kobe Gaslight Street - One of the lampposts with gas lanterns. The lights come in many shapes: Some look like sailors' caps; others resemble flower petals.

 

This 350 meter long street is also known as the Kobe Gaslight Street and it led us towards umie. The large ferries wheel marked the destination, so it was easy to find our way.

 The Elvis Presley statue along Kobe Gaslight Street near Harborland.

This Elvis Presley statue was originally erected in Harajuku, Tokyo in 1987, ten years after his death. In August 2009, the statue was moved to Harborland which turned into new "sacred spot" for Elvis’s fans. 

The most prominent shopping complex in Kobe Harborland is Umie which consists of three parts: Mosaic, South Mall and North Mall.  The South Mall and North Mall are enclosed shopping malls featuring a department store and more various smaller shops. We went to explore the Mosaic instead.

Entering into the Mosaic Mall.

Mosaic stretches along the waterfront and offers a wide selection of restaurants. Many of the eateries overlook the harbour with views of iconic red colour Kobe Port Tower and the Kobe Maritime Museum across the water.

  Takahama Quay with a cruise ship docked and embarking diners for a dinner cruise. 

  Iconic red colour Kobe Port Tower and the green colour Kobe Maritime Museum across the water as seen from the Mosaic waterfront mall.

 

Waterfront at the Mosaic Mall.

It started to drizzle shortly after the above photo was taken. So outdoor dining was not feasible. Else that would have been very nice and romantic. We chose to eat at an Italian restaurant called the Frantz, located on the second floor and overlooking the quay.

It was a nice change to have Italian pasta for dinner instead of Japanese cuisine.

At the southern end of Mosaic stand a Ferris wheel and the Anpanman Museum, a museum dedicated to the popular manga and anime series about the bread-headed superhero.

Ultraman! This was the superhero that we grew up with.

After dinner, it was still drizzling, so we explored the Mosaic Mall. 

Fortunately, the drizzle stopped and we made our way to the Meriken Park where the red Kobe Port Tower and the Kobe Maritime Museum were located. Kobe Port Tower is a unique, red-painted steel structure that has become a symbol of the port and the city. Built in 1963, the tower is 108 meters tall. Visitors may take an elevator up to its five top floors where two of the floors house a restaurant and a rotating cafe, while the other three house observation decks that provide 360-degree views of the city from approximately 100 meters above ground.

  Kobe Port Tower.

For us, a view of the beautifully lit tower from below was sufficient. 

Looking across the harbour, the night views of Harborland with its Ferris wheel was stunning. The lights of the Ferris wheel kept changing every few minutes. We spent many minutes on a park bench to watch the display.

Views of Harborland with its Ferris wheel  from Meriken Park.

Collage of photos from Meriken Park and Harborland waterfront.

Where we stayed in Kobe: Sannomiya Terminal Hotel,  conveniently located at the Sannomiya Station, the transportation hub in Kobe.

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A nice and unusual hotel and a rainy day in Umeda, Osaka

27 November 2016

After visiting Kobe and Himeji, we would be staying a couple of nights in Osaka before flying home. There were two main areas in Osaka that we considered – Umeda or Namba. My preference was to stay in the Namba area where most of the places I intended to visit were located. However, I had some British Airways Avios points which were due to expire and one of the hotels that I could use my points on was the Hotel Monterey Osaka, located in the Umeda area. So, I ended up staying in Umeda which was still alright since one of the day would be spent exploring the Umeda area.

From Kobe’s Sannomiya Terminal Hotel, we took a direct JR train to Osaka Station. The Hotel Monterey Osaka was only a 5-minute walk from JR Osaka Train Station (Sakura-bashi Exit). We did not do luggage forwarding for this segment since both hotels were located near the train stations.

Hotel Monterey Osaka was quite unusual for a hotel in Japan. The decor was distinctly European and there was even a chapel within the hotel.

Chapel within the Hotel Monterey Osaka.

I like this hotel for its character and charm.  Even a ride on its elevator was kind of amusing; watching the archaic floor level indicator slides slowly from 1 to level 12 where our room was located.

Old fashion door bell and a flowery clock.

The room was reasonably spacious, with a King-size bed which was not common in most local Japanese hotels. In addition to green tea bags, this hotel provided coffee bags. These bags were actually well-designed drip coffee bags.

My original plan for a day in the Umeda area was quite ambitious. We were planning to go explore the malls around Umeda such as Herbis Plaza, Grand Front Osaka and also the Umeda Sky Building.  However, the day we arrived at Osaka was a day of rain. 

The 40 storeys of the Umeda Sky Building made it one of the tallest buildings in Japan. Its unique design features escalators encased in glass tubing, suspended between its two towers, which lead all the way up to its greatest height: an upper atrium that contains the luminous 'floating sky garden.' at 39th floor. My plan to go to the rooftop observatory which was supposed to offer a delightful view of the city (especially at sunset or nightfall) was dashed since it was rainy and cloudy. 

While there could be many things to do in Osaka on a rainy day, we decided to have a slow day and just go explore the Grand Front Osaka. The Grand Front Osaka is a large commercial complex north of JR Osaka Station. Elevated walkways connect the multiple buildings of Grand Front Osaka to each other and to Osaka Station. Going from Osaka Station, we reached the South Building first and spent some time shopping for warm clothing, in preparation for a trip to Stockholm in the coming winter.

Simple lunch at the South Building.

After lunch, we went to the Northern Building. We found that the Northern Building, with its Knowledge Capital more interesting than the South Building which was a normal mall.

Knowledge Capital features large interactive exhibits that give the place a fun science centre feel. Shops here are called “labs”.  There were the Coca-Cola lab, one for robotic pets, and a Suntory cafe/store/museum. 

The Coca-Cola lab was the quite interesting. Visitors can buy bottles of Coca-Cola  drinks with customised labels on them. There were also special Japan edition of bottled cola featuring scenes of Mount Fuji and Geisha.

Special Japan edition of bottled cola featuring scenes of Mount Fuji.

We ended the day with wagyu beef steak dinner at one of the restaurant near our hotel. Although the beef was nicer than most beef steak, we felt that still cannot compared to beef that was cooked yakiniku style.

The memory of the best wagyu beef yakiniku meal still lingered in my memory. That was in Hida Takayama a year ago. One last thing we must do before leaving Japan was to have Beef Yakiniku. 

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