Kevin C.
Yelp
A small group of four of us came here for an early birthday celebration (not mine). Two weeks prior, I had made a reservation for 4 for hibachi at noon.
At that time of day on a Saturday, there are lots of available parking spaces, since there are multiple free parking lots. The birthday guy was already waiting for us, and the other three of us were a few minutes late because we were doing some last minute birthday gift shopping. We were seated immediately in the hibachi area after walking through the main dining area. We were given menus, and our server came by to take our orders after 5 minutes. I ordered the filet mignon steak, medium rare, with fried rice, and an unsweetened ice tea. Our server brought our drinks, and a family of 4 were seated at our hibachi table soon afterward. Within 5 minutes, the family's orders were taken, their drinks were delivered, and everyone each received a small bowl of salad and a small bowl of miso soup. The lettuce in the salad was soggy, as if it had been prepared way beforehand then put into the refrigerator for a bit. The miso soup was salty, just had tiny bits of translucent chopped white onions in it, with no scallions or tofu.
The hibachi chef arrived with all of the uncooked food, and spoke with each customer to confirm their hibachi orders find out how they wanted their food cooked, then got down to work firing up his grill. He started with the fried rice, which I think everyone ordered. He then cooked the veggies, then the shrimp and scallops that some of the customers at our grill ordered, then finished with the meats. We were all given a lot of fried rice. That was the only big portion, since the individual amounts of all the proteins and the veggies were on the small side. I wasn't too please with my filet mignon. I had requested that it be cooked medium rare, but the chef cooked it to well done. It was not tough, but it also wasn't tender or pink inside with a hint of red as I had expected.
Overall, I was disappointed in the service. After our salad and soup bowls were taken away, I don't remember our server coming back to see if we needed anything until after everyone was done eating and the family of four left. The chef didn't perform much of a "show." He lit the oil on the grill, creating a big and hot fire momentarily. He also did the smoking "Choo Choo train" with the stacked raw onion rings. After that ... nothing. No corny jokes, no more engaging with any of us other than to serve our food. Odd. Also, although he had other sauces, the chef ladled out just Yum Yum sauce to everyone. I had to ask him for some ginger dipping sauce for two of us.
A couple of things that brought this review to 3 stars is that one person in our group told our server that we were celebrating a birthday. Our server took it from there and, after we were done eating, brought a small fried cake-ish dessert with a candle stuck into it and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. However, when it was pointed out to the server that the candle wasn't lit, he left to go get something to light the candle, and never returned. Moving forward without the birthday candle lit, another employee banged on her drum at the table while all of us sang Happy Birthday. Another thing good about this restaurant was that it was clean, including the floor, which wasn't greasy or slippery. But then, the restaurant had opened only half an hour before our reservation time.
My experience was actually 2.5 stars.