HOUSTON – You've probably noticed it on the menu at many local restaurants. Maybe you've even paid extra and ordered the Kobe beef. But is it worth the upcharge? And what are you really getting?
Kobe is like caviar -- just the name implies fine dining. You'll pay a premium for the Glamburger at the Cheesecake Factory, Ruggles Green Kobe Beef Burger and Fuddruckers' Exotic Kobe Burger. All are selling for about 25 percent more than the restaurants' regular ground beef Angus burgers. One thing all of the Kobe burgers have in common? They're not Kobe.
"Fifteen dollars for a Kobe burger. Is that possible?" Kata Robata executive chef Manabu Horiuchi was asked. "That's impossible," he answered.
He said Kobe is named after the Japanese city where the cattle are raised. The specific breed of cattle is called Wagyu. They're known for their fat marbling throughout the beef that makes it more tender.
There are a few ranchers who breed Wagyu cattle in the U.S. Gene Terry of Texas T Kobe is one of them. He feeds his Wagyu beer and beer mash on his ranch in Wallis, near Rosenberg. He raises them as close to the Japanese standards as allowed by U.S. laws, but he can't call them Kobe because they're not.
"We call it American-syle Kobe because it's different," Terry said.
That is what the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires for the voluntary USDA "Certified Kobe" seal. But once the meat leaves the slaughterhouse and makes its way to a restaurant, all bets are off.
"There's no regulation," Terry said. "There's no watchdog."
The USDA doesn't regulate restaurants, so Terry said you have to watch out for yourself.
"You have to ask them, 'Where was it raised at?'" he said. "'Is it Japanese Kobe? Is it American Kobe?'"
Channel 2 sent a producer to the Cheesecake Factory wearing a hidden camera. She asked the waitress about the Kobe burger that is properly described as "American Kobe" beef on the menu. But the server took it a step further when questioned by our producer.
"What kind of meat is that?" our producer asked, pointing to the Kobe burger on the menu.
"Kobe," the waitress replied.
"It's actual Kobe beef?" our producer pressed.
"Yeah," the waitress answered. "They can't name it that."
A representative for the Cheesecake Factory confirmed the beef is not imported from Japan. It's from Snake River Farms in Idaho.
Channel 2 confirmed all of the beef they sell is mixed. They breed the Japanese Wagyu cattle with American Angus and call it American Kobe.
"They're getting a watered down version because of the demand," Terry said.
At Ruggles Green, what you get when you order the all-natural Kobe Beef Burger is actually beef from Wagyu cattle raised by Heartbrand in Flatonia, Texas. It's not mixed with Angus, but the beef is not from Kobe, Japan.
A representative of Heartbrand Beef told Channel 2 that they encourage their clients not to call it Kobe, and to instead refer to it by its proper name: Akaushi Wagyu.
"It's not Kobe," said Channel 2 Consumer reporter Amy Davis to Ruggles Green, co-founder Federico Marques.
"Okay," he said. "We could put American-style Kobe beef, but I don't think it would really matter. If we put Wagyu Kobe beef or American-style Kobe beef, people would still like it. People would still like it."
We wondered -- could burger lovers really taste the difference? In a blind taste test, we served three people Fuddrucker's "American Wagyu Kobe Beef Burger" and the restaurant's regular Angus burger. All three volunteers said the American-Kobe burger tasted better. We checked -- Fuddrucker's American-Kobe comes from Fossil Farms in Boonton, New Jersey, where the Wagyu cattle are mixed with American Angus.
The take-away here -- you're not getting ripped off. American-style Kobe beef is higher quality and worth more money. When you see "American-style" or "Texas-style" Kobe beef, that lets you know the beef is probably only 50 percent Wagyu. Ruggles Green said it's changing its menu to refer to the burger as American-style Kobe beef.
Real Kobe beef is closer to $45-$60 an ounce. And foodies say you don't want to grind up beef that good. Chefs usually barely sear it at restaurants like Tony's.