I highly recommend
ChefKnivesToGo.com. Their prices are very good, the service is unbeatable and no one has the selection they do. I'm a chef and a knife nut, and those guys get waaaay too much of my money!
Occasionally I get a little of it back; I occasionally do some sharpening for them. Beyond that I'm not affiliated with them, just a long time satisfied customer.
First off, do you know how to sharpen? Whatever you get will need sharpening eventually. I'm a big fan of Japanese knives; actually, all of my knives are Japanese. For $200-$300 I'd steer clear of block sets. Most of them are packed full of "filler" pieces that you rarely need. The most important blade is the chef's knife (or gyuto if you're buying J-knives). Beyond that, get a paring knife and a serrated bread knife and you're all set. Those three knives will handle 98% of your work.
For "nOObs" to the Japanese knife scene, I often recommend
the Tojiro DP line. They're VG-10 steel, same as Shun uses, with good fit and finish and a killer factory edge, all not a lot of money (as things go
). Their bread knife is made for CKtG and is exclusive to them. It's an amazing knife, better even than my old Shun Elite bread knife. You can easily get the gyuto, bread knife and paring knife for under $200 shipped.
The
Richmond Addict 2 is another superb knife. It's absolutely beautiful with great fit and finish. It's patterned on the Japanese style Wa-gyuto but it's made from him in the US by Lamson-Goodnow. The CPM-154 steel will take a superb edge (I've sharpened a few of them) and edge retention is terrific. I used mine in a pro kitchen every work day for five weeks before I felt it needed to be touched up. That's probably like a year of work for a home cook.
No matter what you get I highly recommend a ceramic hone. I use
this Idahone and strongly endorse it. There's no reason to spend several times the money on a branded one with a knife maker's name on it; they're generally not as good as the Idahone.
Mark of CKtG has quite a few good videos, too. I think he's got one on using a steel.
