Kobe of Japan Restaurant is a Japanese Restaurant, Sushi, and Sake bar in Lake Zurich, Illinois. The restaurant is located on the intersection of Route 12 and Highway 22. They are in the corner of the strip mall on the southwest corner of the intersection.
There are two Kobe restaurants, just a couple of doors away from each other.
The original Kobe Restaurant is a Japanese style hibachi steakhouse. The food is prepared at the table, on a sizzling hot cooking surface. Kobe East is the Sushi Bar and Saki Lounge. Customers can still get the hibachi style food, in a quieter and more intimate atmosphere. The Sushi Bar has a counter for individual customers to sit at and order sushi or cooked entrees. There are tables arranged in somewhat of an L shape, for an intimate atmosphere.
Kobe Restaurant has several cooking tables, set in two rows. The hostess seats parties at the table facing toward the chef. People that arrive in small parties will likely end up sharing a table with another party, so there are six to eight people to a table. People who are new to this style of dining are sometimes surprised by this.
We were dining in the Hibachi restaurant. We arrived as a party of two and were seated at the end of the table. The restaurant was not busy, but the philosophy is to fill the table for the chef’s show. We ordered a green tea and a Saki to begin with. before our beverages arrived. A family of four arrived, which appeared to be parents with their two children. It turned out that one of the children was celebrating a birthday. the family was not expecting to share a table, and were a bit put out about it, making them somewhat unfriendly acting toward us.
Not to worry, we weren’t planning on imposing ourselves on them anyway.
The server brought our hot beverages. The tea was served in a large white cup. The sake was served in a small vase, with warm sake inside. There were two very small cups without handles to sip the sake (rice wine) in.
The menu offers Hibachi dinner entrees including shrimp, scallops, chicken, salmon, steak, calamari and lobster. There were appetizers available on the menu.
We each ordered a combination dinner, which included miso soup, salad, entrees and tea Mys combination dinner included teriyaki salmon and filet mignon. My companion chose a combination with shrimp and steak.
After the entire table had ordered the meal, the server brought miso soup to each of us. The miso soup, which we ate with a deep spoon, was delicious,
While we were eating our soup, the chef arrived with a stainless steel cart. On the cart were all the supplies and seasonings needed to prepare our meal. the meats and fish that had been ordered were in individual dishes. Cut up vegetables were in other dishes.
The chef greeted us and confirmed each of our orders. He placed two sauces, one of which was ginger, in a small dish with two compartments, inf front of each guest.
The chef puts on a show for the guests, entertaining and chatting while preparing the food. He cleaned the grill and squirted oil on it. The oil sizzled on the hot grill.
While the chef was cooking, a small salad was brought to us. The salad consisted of lettuce with a ginger dressing. The ginger flavored dressing was wonderful.
The chef make a “volcano” with a onion, with flames coming out of a hole on the top. He tossed the vegetables on the grill and cooked them. While the vegetables were cooking he asked who wanted their rice fried. Fried rice adds $2 to the cost of the meal, along with a lot of flavor. the rice was cooked on the grill next to the vegetables. There were chopped vegetables in the rice. Teriyaki sauce was liberally squirted onto the rice.
When the vegetables and rice were finished the chef put the rice in bowls and set them in front of us. He used a spatula to put the vegetables on our plates.
While we dug into the vegetables and rice, the chef commence with preparation of our main entrees. It is quite an art for the chef to time the cooking of the entrees so that they are all ready at the same time, keeping track of the cooking time of the chicken, meat and seafood. Throughout the time that he prepared, chopped and cooked our food, he kept up a friendly line of chatter.
The sizzling hot food was placed on each of our plates. After serving us, the chef thanked us and left the table.
My filet and salmon were both finished off with teriyaki sauce. We both thought our meals were delicious.
After the meals, the server offered ice cream as dessert. I chose the green tea ice cream, while my companion had sherbet.
Kobe offers an enjoyable dining experience with excellent , freshly prepared food, which guests can watch being cooked.
Dinner entrees range from $10.95 to $18.95. Combination dinners range from $2l.95 to $38.95.
The chef thanked us
Kobe of Japan Restaurant
783 West Main Street
Lake Zurich, IL 60046
847-550-0888
Kobe East
769 West Main Street
Lake Zurich, IL 60046
847-550-6888
