Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Kobe Club, a shiny, black bachelor pad of a steakhouse in Midtown Manhattan, is for those who like to exhaust their holiday bonus on that famously marbled meat.

A Kobe porterhouse from Australia costs $390.

No, it's not the most expensive cut of cow in our city. That honor belongs to Nello, where Upper East Siders can blow $750 on a 15-ounce Japanese steak. Perhaps the Nello absurdity is a ploy to make the 28-ounce Kobe Club version seem cheap.

I didn't dare risk the scorn that comes from ordering a $400 feast. Instead, I skimped on 4 ounces of American-style Kobe ($30) and 4 ounces of Japanese Kobe ($80).

Yes, I spent $110 on my entrees alone.

Kobe beef belongs in the same stratospheric price class as truffles from Alba and caviar from the Caspian. The genuine article comes only from Japan's Hyogo prefecture, where Wagyu steer are fed beer and receive regular massages.

The result is intense, spiderlike marbling that turns the red meat nearly white. American and Australian versions have a tad less fat, a bit more heft.

Do you want zenlike surroundings in which to contemplate the subtle intricacies of expensive flesh? Then Kobe Club is not the place. That's because Jeffrey Chodorow -- who owns the club along with more than 20 other restaurants across the globe -- is famous for mixing fancy food with nightlife atmosphere.

Beef Flight

Here, you can to listen to Madonna, Oasis, Travis, Moby and Coldplay while sampling a flight of Japanese beef for two -- $295. The fun factor takes your mind off money changing hands.

Kobe Club has the feel of a slick, 1980s strip joint (only the poles are missing). Nearly every furnishing -- tables, walls, banquettes, chairs -- is black. For variety, there are a few brown booths and lots of mirrors, on pillars and on the ceiling.

Samurai swords -- 2,000 of them -- hang over the dining area. Watch them quiver when you try to leave without paying.

It's easy to overdose on marbled meat. The delicacy takes up nearly half the menu and can be ordered 15 different ways. On Wednesday night, the amuse was a Kobe pig in a blanket. Then I tried Kobe beef tartare ($32) with three types of Kobe. After my $110 Kobe combination entree, I was somewhat disappointed that beef was not featured in any of the desserts.

Kobe Pusher

Was I addicted to Kobe? If so, I partly blame my server. She didn't hesitate to push the pricey Japanese variant when I asked for a recommendation. The waiters, who included tall men in muscle T-shirts, pampered me as much as the Japanese pamper their steers.

To ratchet up the Kobe camaraderie, my steaks sported toothpicks bearing Japanese and U.S. flags. I saw a look of national envy from an adjacent couple whose beef arrived with non-Asian flags.

In case you're interested, the American Kobe strip had the texture of a filet with the beefiness of a sirloin. The Japanese strip had the taste of rich rib-eye with the texture of seared foie gras.

After my meal was over, I didn't eat for 15 hours. That solo dinner, which included one $22 glass of Rocket Science (a Bordeaux-style blend from California) and a $12 vegetarian dessert, cost $191.

Kobe Club is at 68 W. 58th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues. Information: +1-212-644-5623.

Dennis Foy

Dennis Foy, a small restaurant in Tribeca run by the namesake chef, is a low-key venue that breaks out of its shell with a few clever twists.

The 60-seat dining room is sedate. Very sedate. Foy's own landscape paintings line the cream walls. Colorful beams and silk chandeliers provide restrained extravagance.

At another table, a man gave his opinion about the Middle East peace process; I could hear him perfectly from 10 feet away. At a Jeffrey Chodorow restaurant, music would have drowned him out.

Where's Jeffrey when you need him?

Like Foy the painter, Foy the chef serves classic fare with a nod and a wink. A torchon of foie gras arrived with ice-wine gelee and powdered duck liver. Fluke was more traditional, pan- roasted and paired with man-eater-size mussels. A coconut-caramel bar was actually a mousse-like concoction of bitter caramel with a ribbon of agar-bound litchi.

My dinner for one, which included a glass of sparkling wine and a sweet Monbazillac, cost $72.

Dennis Foy is at 313 Church St., between Lispenard and Walker streets. Information: +1-212-625-1007.

(Ryan Sutton is a writer for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this story: Ryan Sutton in New York at rsutton1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 12, 2006 00:05 EST