Kobe

Upon arriving we were promptly seated and had beverages in hand within 5 minutes the bartender rob was very friendly as was our server Olivia. The owners should consider giving her a raise. Not only was she fast, attentive, and professional, but very awesome as well. I have been treated here on other occasions very great. My last server here was a very talented soul named Nicole. She should have a raise as well. The sushi and craft cocktails were by far some of the best I’ve tasted. I hope Kobe is here for years to come. It’s a great spot. Bring your friends, family and anyone else that needs the mind of their tastebuds blown and souls comforted. Thanks Kobe!

I have only eaten here a few times but I will definitely start visiting more. We started with a dozen oysters (beautiful and delicious) and the duck spring rolls. I will happily drive the 30 minutes one way for an order of the duck spring rolls. They were amazing, rich flavor, perfectly cooked, and the dipping sauce was just enough, they really didn’t need anything extra. The seafood salad we mixed with the spicy garlic poke and it was absolute perfection. Oh and FYI, the prices on their website are not accurate, they are off a few dollars and several items. For nigiri we had escolar and hamachi (devine), Sunshine roll and Loulou roll, Dynamite roll, Surf and Turf Roll (that is a must), and being an avid meat eater I have to say that everyone must try the Zen roll. It was beautiful and the favorite amongst a table of meat eaters: «butternut squash tempura, cucumber, avocado, red bell pepper, wrapped with soy paper topped with mushroom salad, garlic chips, balsamic reduction sauce.» Good God. This and the duck spring rolls I would probably kill for.
It is not cheap, but it is definitely worth the money. A group of 5 (4 visiting from out of the area, but from an area rich in fresh seafood) and they all said it was probably the best sushi they have had. Will definitely return.

Hands down great sushi, they have a great variety. The sushi is very fresh and the service was wonderful! The best roll is the sunshine roll, it’s sweet, savory with the hint of lemon, simply wonderful.

The severs are awesome but tbe short rib s were salty and the St Germain garden was terrible but had no taste. :(

Excellent sushi! I was skeptical at first because the menu was small and didn’t have my favorite roll but I was thrilled with the tempura and nigiri that I ordered. It tasted like heaven melting in my mouth.
Top notch service and fabulous martinis. Highly recommend coming here (but be sure to make a reservation).

First I thought this could be a great restaurant for dinner. After ordering from their somewhat overpriced menu, we began to wait, and we waited for over one and a half hours for our food. After this wait the food was less than mediocre, even with some wilting pieces of salad. One the waiter brought the check they had the audacity to demand a tip, which they had set into the check. I never want to go here again, and I hope you will consider this review before you go here.

Kobe beef sliders, Korean bbq short ribs, hamachi carpaccio, the nigiri, the saké list, the bar (Japanese whiskey!!), the ambiance, the service– top notch. Sitting out by the creek or inside is equally enjoyable. Gets packed on the weekends and during Shakespeare Fest, so make reservations!

Decided to eat at Kobe for dinner while in Ashland, 1) because we were hoping for a seat next to the creek and 2) because it seemed to have pretty good reviews. The wait staff seemed a little slow to seat us, get our drink order in and serving us (we were sat before another party next to us, yet they seemed to be waited on before us and in a timely fashion). The sushi was good, but my boyfriend pointed out that it didn’t seem as «fresh» as we’re used too. We ordered the tuna poke, and although it was pretty standard, I did not like that the tuna was cut into much smaller pieces, especially if you are eating it on its own (that’s just a personal preference, I suppose) Overall experience was so-​so.

Every time this place goes above and beyond. Coming from Southern California we weren’t sure to even try sushi here but it’s amazing!!! Great staff and we LOVE the bartender. Nice work Kobe!

Over priced, $ 14 micro rolls. Better order more than you normally would if you want to get full.

Our favorite restaurant. They serve delicious unique martinis, fantastic sushi and have top notch service. We always have a nice conversation with the chef and bartender.

They don’t have much choice for the kitchen meal only appetizer, the rolls is good taste is as good as big restaurant in downtown Seattle, they open late so is very helpful for people past by the I-​5 late night looking for food beside the fast food. The server very nice, I felt bad because the restaurant almost close in 15 minutes but they really nice and try to serve as good as they can

Amazing food & great service!
Narra Roll & Salmon Tempura Roll were excellent. Very unique & delicate flavors.

Have been here once. It’s a pleasant along the creek and has nice outdoor seating. We went on a Thursday night and it was a little busy, but not super busy. We had to wait about 45 minutes for our 2 sushi rolls and Poke salad. There was a large group of 10 to 12 people ahead of us. The waitress never mentioned to us that the kitchen was behind or slow or anything. She finally stopped by after 30 or 40 minutes to tell us it would be out soon. We finally got our food as I was eating my roll I realized it was not what I ordered. I let the waitress know and she apologized and let me keep the roll I had started. Another 20 minutes later the roll I ordered came. It was delicious, but expensive. My friend ordered the black dragon roll which was amazing. The waitress did not take the roll I ordered off our bill that took an hour to get. The poke salad was good, but very small and not much seaweed or cucumbers and was $ 12.00. So over all it was okay. It’s a bit spendy, needs to improve speed of getting food out and communication with diners.

Good food, good service. Love their sake selection and attention to detail as far as presentation and sake pairings. Very relaxing ambience; I have to make sure I try to leave so they can try and turn tables, lol. Their front of house staff is very knowledgeable about the food and liquor. As far as Randall F’s review goes, I am challenging his opinion per his request. I’ll preface this with the fact that I’ve been going to Kobe since it opened about 8 years ago, and I’ve been there to see some if the changes that inevitably happen in this business. randall F is a disgruntled ex-​employee who used to get drunk and slander Kobe RIGHT NEXT DOOR at Creekside Pizza. He is a truly dubious character who thinks very highly of himself and made a good majority of his coworkers visibly uncomfortable. I can almost absolutely guarantee that the only person who valued his time there was him.

Kobe used to be THE premier sushi restaurant in Ashland, and my favorite bar none. 5 stars. Then we went there last night for a friend’s birthday, as we have many times before, and had a negative experience for the first time. It was a full house and they may have been understaffed, because our waitress had not only two tables inside but it seemed like all the outside seating as well. It took 15 minutes for her to greet us, and we ordered appetizers immediately, hoping to make her job easier (plus we were hungry). We ordered sushi when the appetizers came, and from then on she didn’t check on us. Other waitresses brought our food and sake, cleared our table, refilled our waters, etc. Nobody asked how we were doing. We flagged down another server to order desserts after waiting for another 10 minutes with an empty table. We did so, and only then did our waitress stop by to ensure someone else was getting our desserts.
I understand a server can have a bad night, especially when it’s busy, and it wouldn’t have changed my rating except that the sushi wasn’t actually that good. The rolls have changed. They were uninspired. Half of them have jalapeño in them now. We received them and they all seemed like clones with minor variations. They don’t have black sesame anymore like they used to, and the presentation was boring.
I will try it again someday, and if I’m impressed, I will improve my rating. Until then, I am wistful for the better years at Kobe.

I feel sort of bad leaving a negative review, especially since I only visited this place once while traveling through town. All restaurants can have an «off night», so you should really give a place a couple tries before getting nasty, but the purpose of Unilocal is about people getting a batting average of a restaurant’s overall quality, and this was a pricey disappointment I can’t help share, for not only your possible benefit… but more importantly theirs if they ever read this!
In Kobe’s defense, the servers and ambience are top shelf. It’s a cool little downstairs joint and the place was packed on a Wednesday night. I got some food to go but hung out and had a couple beers while waiting for the food to get finished. The hostess and waitress were both friendly and attentive. They even agreed to make some stuff for me that was not really «on the menu» (even though the things I requested are pretty much standard issue in most sushi joints across America… and I’ve traveled a bit and eat a lot of Japanese cuisine whenever I can).
At the end of the day, I’ll put up with shitty service over bad food, but got the complete opposite at Kobe. When I got back to our hotel with the food, my wife commented on how her salmon skin hand roll was REALLY sub par… and tasted like the fish had been left out in the elements too long.
The beef tataki I had was excellent however, so I figured the tuna tataki would be just as good, and maybe they just messed up on the salmon skin roll since it wasn’t a «usual» menu item for them .
How wrong I was. The tuna tataki was beautifully prepared and presented, but the fish was just plain bad. It smelled like a dock and what should have been bright pink tuna meat had suspicious dark grey areas on it. I tried to eat it anyways but the fishy flavor was too much so I ended up throwing it in the trash. So long, almost $ 10 menu «starter» item, but anyone that’s ever gotten food poisoning from fish knows it ain’t worth risking at any price, and I hope I’m okay tomorrow.
And another item I’d ordered and paid for ended up not even being in the take home bag when I got home (to a hotel), but if the quality of the fish was equal to the other dishes, maybe I dodged a bullet there.
The miso soup was good, and the sunomono salad was too, but as these are both very safe bets that don’t require «freshness’ and are pretty standard from place to place, didn’t really save the experience in my (or my wallet’s) opinion.
Long story short: I think this place has real potential, great staff, good ambience, but they either need to find a new seafood distributor or figure out their stocking /​food inventory better. The only reason places serve bad fish is if they overstocked, scheduled deliveries badly, and have to blow out the «less fresh» stuff before the luckier customers get the good stuff right after the latest delivery. It’s sort of important to figure out if you’re trying to maintain a sushi joint (Fish N’ Chips place where everything’s deep fried, who cares?).
I basically spent around $ 70 bucks for a couple beers and take away for two people and a third of the stuff wasn’t even really edible even if it looked pretty.
Definitely go here to drink, but not to eat anything except for safe appetizers (or thoroughly cooked food) until they find someone that keeps a better eye on the quality of fish they serve.
Sorry, Kobe. Might give you another shot when I drive through Ashland again, but will be proceeding with caution.

Have been to Kobe on many occasions and generally sit at the bar for their happy hour menu, a much better deal than the alternative! Menu is interesting and generally very enjoyable, fun cocktail options, and nice ambience, especially in the summer when you have the option of sitting on the creek.
The last time I went, we ordered one of my favorites, the Korean short ribs — but were sadly *very* disappointed. The dish was over seasoned, and over salted! Barely edible. Would have been fine with ordering another sushi roll to replace it at this point, but unfortunately our server took our dish away and we didn’t see her again. Was frustrated with the change in service. The other waitress, Nikki, and our hostess, were both sweet as could be and eventually got us our check, but feeling a bit abandoned by our initial server, left us with a very uncomfortable feeling. Though we would have happily ordered something else to substitute in for the ribs, we were never given the opportunity!
Paid our bill at Kobe, and still hungry, went up the street to another sushi place! Sad to write it off my list of go-​to places, but will no longer recommend.

Went there for dinner, great experience. Had no reservation, so initially they offered a bar, but then a table opened up, and we got the best seats by the window.
Wide variety of rolls, creative flavor combinations. We had Red Dragon, Lou Lou and Duru — all of them great choices. Yellowtails carpaccio was also excellent.
Definitely try their crème brule — ginger, green tea, and five spice flavors.
Highly recommend. If they are busy, the wait for the food might be somwhat long, but the servers are super courteous and sweet.

A quiet intimate little place a bit off the beaten path… I can see how this place would be jumping on a weekend or when the patio is open in the warmer months.
Service was welcoming and attentive without being pushy. And I always love a place that can keep my water glass full!
The menu had a lot to choose from, even for someone who doesn’t eat fish! We started with cocktails, which were varied and many to choose from. Then ordered a little if this and that.
My husband had an Oyster Shooter, which he enjoyed, and the seared scallops, which he said were excellent but he couldn’t stomach the mushrooms they had plated with them. I tried them and they were extremely acidic. He also had the Kobe Sliders which he said were very Blue Cheesy… and were his favorite out of what he ordered.
I got the duck «potstickers» which were actually fried eggrolls with a nondescript sauce. They were ok. but nothing to write home about. Next, the Korean Shortribs, which were really good. A few of the pieces were a bit tough, but most were tender and they were all tastey. The portion was overgenerous, so I shared, and my husband remarked that he liked them better than anything he’d ordered. But, my favorite of the night was the Crispy Cheese Roll. Sushi rice, cream cheese, jalapeño, and avacado wrapped in rice paper and tempura fried. Combined with the Shortribs… excellent! And more than enough to share!
All in all an enjoyable experience. in a romantic setting.