Well there are different grades of wagyu beef (american grown kobe). So one you tasted here might have been "cheaper" and lower grade of (relatively speaking) wagyu which is much more common in USA compared to Japan.
From my understanding top of line wagyus grown in USA with high marbling (supposedly there is a tool that can measure internal marbling of cow before they get killed.) get transported back to Kobe, Japan where they are grown for short time and get killed and earn the "Kobe beef" title. Once they get that official Kobe beef title, they can be sold at much higher price than USA. I think it get sold for something like $100-300 per pound from what I have read... So in a way we get the left over lower grade wagyu but at much lower price (well relatively compared to Japanese Kobe).
Top of the line wagyu that gets sold here in USA might be close to the top of the line Kobe beef sold here in USA. http://yama-beef.com lists 3 types of wagyu based on the degree of marbling. Private stock fillet mignon is about $60 per pound while their platinum grade fillet is "only" $44 per pound. Hopefully one of these days, I will get a chance to taste top of the line wagyu fillet mignon. For now, I will settle of wagyu ground beef and roast~
Interesting finding after cooking kobe ground beef for 2 days. There is alot of oil that comes about BUT it does not turn white and solidify after grilling pan cools down. I guess the study of wagyu that said the wagyu has much healthier fat composition where good/bad fat ratio is more like 1:1 instead of 1:2 of most other beef is not just a sales gimick~
From my understanding top of line wagyus grown in USA with high marbling (supposedly there is a tool that can measure internal marbling of cow before they get killed.) get transported back to Kobe, Japan where they are grown for short time and get killed and earn the "Kobe beef" title. Once they get that official Kobe beef title, they can be sold at much higher price than USA. I think it get sold for something like $100-300 per pound from what I have read... So in a way we get the left over lower grade wagyu but at much lower price (well relatively compared to Japanese Kobe).
Top of the line wagyu that gets sold here in USA might be close to the top of the line Kobe beef sold here in USA. http://yama-beef.com lists 3 types of wagyu based on the degree of marbling. Private stock fillet mignon is about $60 per pound while their platinum grade fillet is "only" $44 per pound. Hopefully one of these days, I will get a chance to taste top of the line wagyu fillet mignon. For now, I will settle of wagyu ground beef and roast~
Interesting finding after cooking kobe ground beef for 2 days. There is alot of oil that comes about BUT it does not turn white and solidify after grilling pan cools down. I guess the study of wagyu that said the wagyu has much healthier fat composition where good/bad fat ratio is more like 1:1 instead of 1:2 of most other beef is not just a sales gimick~