alright, lemme put it out there, we never see Kobe beef in Canada despite what you’ve heard. However, we do get access to the breed of cattle used for it; wagyu. Some farmers in other parts of the world have gone to great lengths to create a product from a wagyu cow that is very similar to traditional Kobe, with varying degrees of success.
on a recent trip to Vancouver I was soloing it up at Hawksworth (fantastic resto btw), and needed some grub. Was going to get their burger, which I’ve yet to try, and is meant to be amazing, but was tempted by another menu item – a mound of wagyu.
Bordeaux , bourbon, and wagyu: lunch of champions
Went for it – was solid. The flavor of the wagyu cow is distinctly different from the other breeds we often get in North American restaurants. Has really subtle richness to it. In any case, was a pretty awesome lunch, and would recommend either / or wagyu beef and Hawksworth restaurant if you’ve got a few extra bucks burning a hole in your pocket.
Oh and speaking of Wagyu, there are a couple of ways to buy it for home use in Canada. There’s a couple of farms in Alberta that are raising the breed and selling products online, plus one in central BC (Vanderhoof to be precise) that I found. I’m sure there are plenty others out there though. Would be pretty dope to create a homemade wagyu burger 😉
http://www.kobeclassicbeef.com/
http://www.brantlakewagyu.ca/
http://www.bestbcbeef.com/kobe-beef.html