Not sure why I spent the last 30 minutes reading this thread but here's my 2 cents. OP doesn't like Kobe/Wagyu or similar. I get that. Not every piece of meat tastes the same to everyone. It's very difficult IMHO to persuade someone that likes Costco/Safeway meat to enjoy Wagyu. I also know people that love tuna but cant stand chutoro or otoro. That's their taste.

To the people that can appreciate high end beef, there is a reason why different prices are reflected for USDA, select, choice (the highest level meat from Safeway or Costco will sell), and prime. There is no way everyone will agree that Beluga Caviar is better than Ossetra, or that Ossetra is better than Sevruga or even American Paddlefish. To the people that have experienced a certain type of food often, its very distinguishable. Same can be said with wine or name brand Vodka's, Whiskey, Taquilla, etc...

I'm curious what the OP thinks are great restaurants in SF or where ever they are living now? Can you give a run down of 5-10 restaurants you think are tops in your city and your favorite things to order there? I think it's important to calibrate the taste of the OP vs. everyone else that seems to appreciate true Kobe/Wagyu.

I was watching a show a few years ago and a famous chef was in L.A. He was complaining that they had no good bagels there (chef being from N.Y.). The woman he was with looked at him funny and said that bagels all tasted the same. He immediately asked her where she was originally from. She said Memphis. Before he could finish the sentence that started off "So is the BBQ in Memphis the same..." she looked at him and said, OK i get it.