Kobe-style steaks

Hi,
I'm looking for a few Christmas gifts, including one for a friend on the east coast. Has anyone had a great experience with buying Kobe-style beef online? I was looking at two sites: Lone Mountain Wagyu and Chicago Steak Company. I would appreciate any feedback!

http://www.lonemountainwagyu.com/collec ... eye-steaks
http://www.mychicagosteak.com/Wagyu-Bee ... fo/WAG153/

I have ordered from a number of sources both real Japanese and both USA and Australian style Kobe.
This guy is the best and it is real Japanese Kobe A5.
http://www.1-800-kobebeef.com/ribeyesteak1.html
First shipment got delayed by snowstorm/DHL and he immediately sent me a replacement order.
Order the A5 16oz Kobe.
Should be cut into cubes and seared on each side to maximize flavor. If you cook it well done or even medium, you will cook the fat out of it and lose the essence of Kobe Beef.
Saute the trim fat to render while cooking your vegetables in the render.
For good local Kobe style, Mitsuwa is now selling nice rib eye at about $80/# or on sale when you can get it at about $70/#. Excellent quality. Call to see what they have in stock.
I have no experience with your referenced on-line sources.
But it is my experience that most of these sources just take advantage of the market and where they get thier product or the quaity is always suspect until you get some actual user experience.
Lobels is another source I have used and excellent as always.
They used to have Australian but now only USA.
You can actually see the difference between A5 Kobe and Lobel's.
Real A5 Kobe is almost white due to the extreme marbeling while Lobels' doesn't even look like high USDA Prime.
http://www.lobels.com/store/item/wagyu- ... -steak.htm
I have ordered USA Kobe whole tenderloin and briskets from Arrowhead but you have to purchase whole pieces. The briskets were by far the best I have ever had and the tenderloin was exquisite.
http://www.gamemeat.com/site/index.php? ... &Itemid=41
-Richard

budrichard wrote:I have ordered from a number of sources both real Japanese and both USA and Australian style Kobe.
This guy is the best and it is real Japanese Kobe A5.
http://www.1-800-kobebeef.com/ribeyesteak1.html

. . .

But it is my experience that most of these sources just take advantage of the market and where they get thier product or the quaity is always suspect until you get some actual user experience.

I don't necessarily doubt that they're selling A5, but Kobe beef is beef (specifically from the Tajima breed of wagyu) from Kobe and they're advertising beef as Kobe that obviously is not (it's not even clear that the Japanese beef is from the Hyogo Prefecture) . . . talk about taking advantage of the market! They may sell great quality beef - I have not tried it to judge - but I have a problem with someone interchanging the words Wagyu and Kobe as if there's no difference. Assuming the same cut/same grade, authentic Kobe beef commands a higher price.

What is true is that the highest quality Wagyu beef should be graded A5, and when I'm paying these kinds of prices, I want the seller to be using accurate terminology and giving me enough information so that I can determine if I'm spending hundreds of dollars on what I'm intending to purchase.

If you're concerned about getting the highest quality Wagyu beef, you may want to contact one or more of the local restaurants that serve Japanese A5 wagyu. A couple that come to mind are Momotaro and 42 Grams. I haven't had better than at 42 Grams - you may want to find out who supplies them with their beef.

I ordered from 1-800-kobebeef a few years ago.
It appears that the verbiage has changed on the website.
At the time I ordered I was told actual Kobe which I queried by phone.
So either I was given false information or they are not selling 'Kobe' anymore!
But in any event, it was the best I have had up to that time and the best I have had since then.
The Japanese Waygu at Mitsuwa is very good and the price point is lower than 1--800.
The Australina Waygu I purchased from Lobel's ws very good but again not as good as 1-800.
Arrowhead tenderloin and briskets were outstanding but again not Kobe.
But I have purchased from Mitsuwa a few times in the past year.
It does appear that 1-800 is not selling ''Kobe' beef anymore!
In that case I don't know of a single on-line source for 'Kobe' beef but for "Kobe Style" you can''t beat 1-800-kobebeef which is what the OP wanted.

A link to a good article on Wagyu beef.
http://gearpatrol.com/2015/07/23/wagyu-beef-explained/
It appears that Debragga also does not sell Kobe beef, but if it's from a Japanese Prefecture and Graded A5, than it's fine by me.
The only comment I have is that A5 should be cubed and briefly seared on all six sides to maximize the flavor rather than cooked whole medium rare as the article implies.
For a steak cooked whole rare, a good dry aged USDA Prime strip as served like Burke's can't be beat!
Just pick your aged and $$ preference!-Richard