In Vegas for CES, I was lucky enough to be invited out for a little lunch at Benihana at the Hilton of Las Vegas. I had never heard of anyone going to Benihana for lunch (outside of The Office), but I wasn’t about to turn it down. If you don’t know Benihana, you’ve probably been living under a rock, but as a Japanese steakhouse, they cook in the teppanyaki style, which involves cooking on a huge griddle that also happens to be part of the table. For lunch they were cooking up steak, chicken, shrimp, mushrooms, onions and peppers, plus a salad for a set price of $24.99. This was actually a really good price for both Benihana and Vegas in general, so after ordering a Sapporo, I was ready to eat.

The chef came out and started working his magic. The chicken came first because that was going to take the longest to cook, but soon enough came the shrimp and the veggies. I was a little disappointed to find out midway through that our chef wasn’t going to do any fun cooking tricks with the shrimp or onions. Usually there’s a shrimp flip into the hat or an onion plume, but we were treated to none of that. Apparently they don’t do that for lunch. I was a little disappointed, but if I wanted a show in Vegas, Benihana wasn’t exactly going to give me the best anyway.

The chef dished out the shrimp and then the veggies, which I politely declined. Finally, the best part of the meal came out: the steak. It looked delicious and well-marbled. There was actually a full steak for each person at the table and he cooked them to order. During its short cooking time, I downed my shrimp by dipping it in the couple sauces we had been given. One seemed to be a sesame kind of sauce and the other was a salty ginger sauce. Both added a different touch to the shrimp and tasted pretty good. When I was done, both the chicken and steak were ready for eating.

And both were damn good. The chicken was nice and juicy, and although it didn’t have a ton of its own flavor, it tasted really good in the sesame sauce. The steak, though, was definitely the highlight of the meal. It was juicy and tender and had been cooked just the right amount. It even tasted great in the ginger sauce. On its own, the steak probably would have made the meal worthwhile, but coupled with the chicken and shrimp, this meal was definitely a great deal.

I’d definitely head back to Benihana for a meal like this at a price like that. I was a little disappointed that the chef didn’t have any fun with the food, but the food made up for it.

Kobe Beef is a world renowned form of meat that seems to have taken upon mythical status. It is exotic, yet signs for Kobe beef can be found everywhere. Technically speaking, most of the “Kobe Beef” outside of Japan isn’t really Kobe beef at all. The correct term for this is Kobe-style beef, which employs similar concepts but isn’t quite the same. Many restaurants just say Kobe beef because no one really knows the difference and to tell customers the difference would scare off potential buyers. True Kobe beef is only made in the Hyogo prefecture in Japan, which the city of Kobe is the capital of.

The best way to get real Kobe beef is to go straight to the source, Kobe, Japan. I was lucky enough to find myself in Kobe one day, so I didn’t have to add a thousand dollar plane ticket onto what would already be the most expensive steak of my life.

By the time I made it to Kobe, I had already been in Japan for a few days and had sustained myself with convenience store food in anticipation of the price of the Kobe beef I would get at the end of my journey.

The place I went to had a pretty good set meal and cooked in the teppanyaki style, which is similar to Benihana, but without the entertainment. These were Kobe beef people with only steak on their minds. The strong scent of cooking beef filled my nostrils as I ordered my steak. The process of raising the Wagyu cattle which Kobe beef comes from creates beautifully marbled steaks, which give the beef their perfect taste and texture. My beef was so perfectly marbled when it first came out, it made my stomach growl with excitement. The chef salted it and gently placed it on the grill.

After a few minutes of cooking, I put the first succulent piece in my mouth and

began needlessly chewing as it just melted in my mouth. I’ve never had meat so tender and juicy and delicious. I tried my best to eat slowly, but I just couldn’t wait to get each subsequent piece onto my tastebuds. When the last bite made its way into my mouth, my stomach gave me a little nudge, as if to thank me. Even after I finished I couldn’t bring myself to eat or drink anything but water until the taste finally disappeared into my memory.

The true Kobe beef experience is one that every unvegan and meat lover should undertake at least once in their life. In fact, I think even vegetarians and vegans would appreciate a steak such as this. The price ($40-50) is quickly forgotten as soon as you take your first bite.

For the uninitiated, this is an experience not to be wasted on a hamburger, which destroys the beautiful marbling. Even if you’re not eating official Kobe beef, it can only be enjoyed to the fullest in steak form. And if you’re lucky enough to get your Kobe beef in Japan, you’ll be spoiled for life in realizing that all other burgers and steaks are like tofu in comparison.

For more about what makes Kobe beef real, check out this site.