Kobe Japanese Steakhouse

Wow - It's been a long time since I have posted. So its 4pm on a Saturday and I am having a hard time finding a table at a restaurant at Easton at 6pm for eight people. Imagine that. I actually had one restaurant tell me that for eight people I need to plan WEEKS in advance. Obviously these people do not know my group of friends. We cannot plan more than minutes in advance. Anyway, after a handful of restaurants laughing at me, Kobe Japanese Steakhouse on Morse Road, accepted my challenge. Kobe is your typical Japanese Steakhouse-style restaurant. Large tables fashioned in a U-shape around a hibachi. Their chefs do the same hokey tricks, the knife banging around, the onion volcano, the shrimp-tossing etc, etc. They also give you a crap-ton of food. Kobe also offers a wide range of sushi, if you are into that type of thing. A few sushi-snobby people in my group ordered the sushi and were very pleased. This means a lot, because they are rarely pleased. The other thing Kobe has going for it is atmosphere. While they have the same type of seating, the decor is a step above House of Japan or the Japanese Steakhouse. They have an extensive bar and a super chic outdoor seating area. We didn't get a chance to sit out there since the weather Saturday was rainy and cool, but it would be quite a swanky place to hang when the weather warms up. All in all we had a great experience. If you have never been to a Japanese Steakhouse-style restaurant I wouldn't suggest it for a first date and the fire isn't always a hit with young children, but if you have raucous group that you don't mind hearing only part of conversations, Kobe is a good place to go.