Review: Kobe Sizzlers

Reviewed by Ruman
What do you do when you’re heading to Birmingham for the weekend? Take a slight detour to Leicester to eat at a restaurant of course!
A few weeks ago I found myself heading to Birmingham for my cousins engagement with my family and with no particularly appealing options in Birmingham (sorry Brummies!), we detoured to Leicester to try one of the restaurants that were on my wish list for the city. We eventually settled on Kobe Sizzlers as our choice for lunch. We started off with the Crispy Chicken.
First impressions for anyone who has been to P.F Changs before would be the striking similarity between the presentation of this dish and a certain shrimp dish on the P.F Changs menu. Succulent pieces of chicken were deep fried in batter and coated with spicy aioli, served on a bed of iceberg lettuce and garnished with finely chopped chives. This starter was simply divine and I was ready to order another round but my family reminded me I still had my main meal to come!

My dad ordered The Classic burger which was your standard 8oz beef patty served with mustard mayonnaise, Monterey Jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, relish, cucumber, onion and a house sauce. This came in a brioche bun and was served with triple cooked chips. As with any triple cooked chips, these were crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. I can’t comment on the taste on the burger as I didn’t try it but my dad enjoyed it. I noticed it wasn’t cooked medium but it seems he didn’t care too much about that.

My sister ordered the Sirloin Sizzler as her main. I’m always fascinated by what seems to be a Northern (by this I mean anywhere north of London) preference for steaks to be served on a hot iron skillet surrounded by a number of accompaniments. I find this concept rather bemusing as it is obvious the heat causes the steak to continue cooking and the covering of a steak in a sauce turns what should be the star of the show into a support act. Nevertheless, my sister was craving a steak and a steak is what she got.
Kobe Sizzlers use 35 day dry-aged HMC certified cuts and all sizzlers are served with hand-cut triple cooked chips, onions, green beans, carrots and a choice of noodles or rice. I’ve tried something similar to this in Toro’s in Birmingham and it was awful but Kobe Sizzlers version was certainly better. It’s not something I would order at a restaurant as I find the steaks end up being over cooked but if you like this sort of thing, Kobe Sizzlers’ version is decent.

My main course was the Deluxe Gourmet Sliders (I chose this over the Original as it had a pulled rib option). Sliders are perfect for someone like me who never manages to finish a normal burger and wants to try a bit of everything. The first one I tucked into was The Pulled Rib slider. Slow cooked ribs were covered in their home made BBQ sauce and topped with jalapeños, apple relish and a house sauce. This burger was spot on and I would imagine the normal sized equivalent is just as good.

Next up in my set of three sliders was The Crispy Chicken slider. This isn’t available as a normal burger on their menu so it was something special. Covered in melted cheese, this burger was a good slider though my inability to remember what it tasted like makes me think it wasn’t anything too remarkable. Instead of fries, I had ordered a side of mash which was far too salty for my liking.

The remaining slider was The Classic Gourmet. A relish and house sauce dripped down the side of the beef burger as I tucked in to it. This slider was a small piece of delight – cooked more well done than medium but still great in flavour nonetheless.

Overall this was a good meal and the restaurant is perfect for families or groups. Finding parking was a slight pain as the restaurant is on a main road and there was a rugby match on in the nearby stadium which limited parking options. The service was attentive and a man who I assume was either the manager or the owner came by at the end of our meal to ask how everything was. He even held the door open for us as we left the restaurant. I really appreciate small gestures like this when dining out. My only gripe would be Maher Zain playing repeatedly over the speakers. I understand why some restaurants may choose to have this sort of music playing but there are only so many times I can hear Maher Zain singing ‘For the rest of my life…’ while trying to enjoy my meal.
RATINGS
Food: 7.5/10
Service: 9/10
Atmosphere/Decor: 7/10
Value for money: 7/10 (£54.75 total bill including service charge // £18.25pp)
Overall: 7.6/10
Halal Status: All meat served is halal and HMC certified.
Address: 64-66 London Road, Leicester, LE2 0QD
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About Ruman

Ruman eats a brownie a day, but only with coffee. She struggles to eat more than 2/3 of an adult size portion of food, but always has room for dessert. When not exploring restaurants, galleries or cities around the world, Ruman is a Marketing Ninja at Halal Gems, where she also holds the title of Chief Chocolate Officer.
Forever consumed by a mixture of wanderlust and FOMO, her interests include all things social media, travel, charity, photography and food.
You can follow Ruman on Instagram and Twitter.