The Rocks Teppanyaki Kobe Jones

Located in a heritage building on top of the Rocks, Kobe Jones has used the space to create a modern twist to the historical building.
The restaurant is split into five different Teppanyaki rooms giving each diner an intimate experience every time they dine.


In the past I've loved teppanyaki but my innate lack of athletic skills have steered me away from fear of missing a whole bowl of rice and have my dinner end up on my lap.
However I've always been allured to watching the chef's skills and how simple flavours are used to create a delicious meal in minutes, right before your eyes.

We were seated by welcoming staff a group of other friendly diners there and to our surprise we were lucky enough to have head chef Yumi Maeyama serve us.

Our dining experience came from a Groupon voucher where we were able to have an otherwise $185 11 course for $88 per person.




We started the meal off with a serve of Sake.
I've never had Sake before so this was an interesting first for me. The rice wine was a very pure and clean with a subtle sweetness to it. A very refreshing and cleansing to start the meal.

Bloody Mary Oyster Shooter & Beef Tataki

To start we had a Bloody Mary Oyster Shooter accompanied with Beef Tataki and steamed Edamame. Steamed Edamame was served at room temperature and is always a nice treat to start.
The Bloody Mary shooter was nice and tangy with a secret fresh oyster swimming around in its tomatoey depths. The addition of chives and coriander really lifted the freshness in the shooter.
The beef tataki was sensational, full of flavour and cooked flawlessly. The thin slices of beef were seared to perfection with a combination of chilli paste and vinegar throughout.

What's underneath?


Seaweed and Hot Mushroom Salad

A mysterious golden dome tantalisingly concealed a mystery dish warming away on the stove, while a simple salad was being whipped up for us with the garnish of some fresh off the stove mushrooms.
What looked like a very modest and bland salad was in fact a surprisingly delicious combination of lightly marinated mushrooms infusing into the fresh greens. I could go on a diet of this salad every day!

The next dish was still a secret to me at first but chef Yumi assured us that it was delicious and was always well received

The Dome unveils...

Flaming No.1 Special

The menu description was: crab salad with avocado wrapped in Hiramasa kingfish and flamed on the teppan with our secret sauce. My fellow diners loved it and practically inhaled their dishes by the time I had put my camera down. The rich sauce was lightly flambéed and bursting with fresh crab. The combination of flavours and textures inside was a sushi lovers dream. A couple of bites in and I started to feel that the intense hollandaise-like sauce a little over powering and heavy.

Alaskan Crab

This serving of Alaskan crab was where you get to be bit more hands on with cracking open the red shell and finding the delicious delicate crab meat hiding inside. The crab was sweet, fresh and cooked to perfection. With a slight drizzle of lemon, you find yourself in heaven.
The staff were kind enough to provide us with bowls to wash our hands afterwards.

Lobster tail, cooked with garlic

The juicy lobster tail was set down and served simply and wonderfully in its original shell. Chef Yumi asked if we would like it cooked with some garlic and we agreed whole-heartedly watching her skills on the teppan.
The lobster was sweet and fresh but the garlic was a bit overpowering - it may have been a poor choice.
Between the two shellfish, the Alaskan crab was a definite winner.

Raspberry Sorbet

We were then given a palate cleanser - a small scoop of raspberry sorbet. It was sweet, punchy and refreshing, perfect to clear the palate.

Mmmm that 5+ Marble

What's teppanyaki without a show

Wagyu beef  - Medium Rare

Chef Yumi brought out wonderful slabs of 5+ Marbled Wagyu beef and cooked it to our own liking.
We each received our steakes sliced to reveal her precision in getting that "medium rare" just right.

The Wagyu was lightly marinated and melted in your mouth. The simple flavours with perfect cooking really let the Wagyu shine. 

Chef Yumi told us about how Wagyu fat is considered a "good fat" in Japan and can potentially can be very healthy for you. I could gladly use that excuse every day.
The small pops of wagyu fat were crunchy and salty on the outside and smooth and melting on the inside. To die for.

Chef Yumi

To finish we had a Crepe Suzette. The punchy citrus flavour rounded up the meal nicely as the 11 courses came to a close. The Crepe Suzette wasn't quite at the same standard as the other courses but didn't spoil our experience overall.

If you're sick of having fried rice and egg flying through the air and just want to have a good quality traditional teppanyaki then I highly recommend for Kobe Jones. It may cost you much more but at least you won't be wearing your meal at the end of the night.

Overall, our intimate experience with the chef and the friendly waitstaff made for a unique and enjoyable teppanyaki dinner.