Roku, West Hollywood, CA 1/24/2016

Roku
9201 Sunset Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 278-2060

Chef: David

Score: 34/100

we're living in a new world, hibachinistas.

gone are the days when hibachi meals were assumed to be for special occasions. where benihana -- whether they'd admit it or not -- saw themselves on as festive of footing as, say, medieval times. when shock came over the host's face when you responded to his special-event inquiry with a shrug: "just...tuesday night dinner."

i'm not sure when it happened. i'm not even sure how it happened. but i've seen the results of the turned tied firsthand.

no longer do diners see the +/-$40 price tag and think, "it's worth it for a special occasion." instead they seem to think, "that's about right for a nice and ample meal like this. that's a tuesday dinner price."

and once people accept benihana as just a meal -- once the birthday party stigma disappears -- what happens next?

well, the next step's just mindblowing.

it started, as such things do, with a visionary. world renowned chef nobu matsuhisa asked: in a universe where teppan meals are deemed appropriate for a run of the mill night out, is the world ready for an upper class hibachi experience at an upper class price? and could he provide it without compromising his michelin star reputation?

he had to find an audience accepting enough to not judge him harshly on concept alone -- a location where diners are willing and eager to spend money for unique dining experiences, but aren't put off by theatrics.

and you know where that is: vegas, baby.

so nobu installed some teppan tables. and sure enough, diners ate them up.

and once after almost a half-decade had passed and the concept of three-digit price tag hibachi was proved feasible, the country's other neon lit street took notice.

and decided to imitate.

so were born roku's teppan tables on sunset boulevard.

roku has been open for a few months, just across from soho house and a few blocks down from the old tower records building. it used to be one of a few sushi roku outposts, but closed a little bit ago to install teppan tables in a back room and rebrand themselves with a more general moniker.

the teppan room has somewhere around eight tables -- i didn't bother counting. upon entering, we were immediately struck by how different the vibe here is than teppan-dedicated restaurants. there's no mistaking: you're on sunset blvd. and the price tag and meal itself only reinforced this as the night went on.

so we strapped in for our first "premium" hibachi experience. and in grand hollywood tradition, what we saw wasn't necessarily what we got.

let's start with the menu.

interesting choices, sure, but as any experienced hibachi goer knows: on the grill, shellfish all tastes like shellfish, reds all taste like reds, and chicken tastes like chicken.

$120 for 5oz of a-5 wagyu? come on.

after a bit of waiting and a request to order, our waitress came over with a mandated sort of speech about what we were to expect, and a dessert-cart like presentation of the mains options:

and finally, after that, the soup.

soup - 4/10
a traditional onion soup in appearance turned out to be something completely different: a mushroom consume. it came out of the kitchen blisteringly hot, and without warning of it being something unexpected. it had all the same sediment of your traditional onion -- even the onion itself -- but the umami of the traditional chicken broth was replaced with an under-salted mushroom flavor. 

not my favorite -- and i love mushroom.

salad - 6/10
a solid miso ginger dressing on top of a bed of shredded kale. a few edible flowers were thrown in for color, but really a very bland bed of greens. one interesting twist: dehydrated mushroom "croutons" -- two per salad -- that really did have a toasted crouton-like crunch. still: a cherry tomato would have been nice.

sauces - 5/10
three: ginger, hot mustard, and chimichurri -- something i've never seen at a hibachi restaurant. and all poured delicately or spooned -- no ladles.

the ginger was notably sweet, and not in a good way. the mustard was great. and the chimichurri was good, but didn't really have an appropriate place in the meal. a creative but unnecessary addition.

fried rice - 4/10
the meal came with a choice of steamed, chicken fried, or veggie fried rice -- at no additional charge.

we all obviously opted for chicken fried. and it was fine. it was your typical teppan fried rice, with the addition of asparagus. but like the chimichurri, the asparagus is better in theory than in practice, adding nothing at all to the flavor or texture of the dish.

but the kicker: no forks unless specially requested.

now, let's not kid ourselves: teppanyaki is not a japanese meal. it was invented in america, and is primarily cooked and served in america. so to deny us forks...who are you fooling?

vegetables - 3/10
this would have been higher (only a 4, though) had i not observed something that i'll get to at the end here.

brussels sprouts, carrot, broccoli, and cauliflower, all seasoned very well with salt and a lot of pepper. it was perhaps a tad over salted, but really quite good. and unlike the above-mentioned additions, the brussels sprouts were a nice change of pace.

but notice something missing?

that's right: no onion.

but how do they volcano? i wondered that, too.

and the answer: for us, they didn't.

but for the table next to us with two kids? a double decker hourglass volcano!

so, wait -- did they get onion with their veggies?

no. 

they threw away the onion after the volcano.

let me repeat that: they discarded the volcano onion, and still served the meal onionless.

disgusting.

appetizer shrimp - 4/10
no toss, and nothing special. a bit over salted. and with that too-sweet ginger, no good way to cut the salt. 

(our waitress told us twice of a "fun fact" she knows: the appetizer shrimp is good in the mustard! for the record: this is neither a fact, nor an opinion i agree with.)

main course (prawns) - 4/10
anyone who's ever had a birthday at benihana has learned to avoid the lobster. you think: "oh, it's a celebration! i'll get the fanciest thing on the menu!" only to discover that all shellfish just has a hibachi-plus-shellfish flavor when cooked on the grill, and if anything, the thickness means it's less evenly cooked than the shrimp, but still tastes the same -- and at a much higher price point.

the prawns are the same: less evenly cooked shrimp. tender and as well cooked as can be, but still: smaller is better for hibachi-cooked shellfish.

not too large of a portion, either.

dessert noodles - 0/10
ABSENT. inexcusable.

show - 2/10
i don't tell people i'm the guy from hibachi review. i know my reputation proceeds me, and i don't want the meal to be influenced by them trying to impress me.

but this time, one of my dining companions let them know who i was.

and still: this is the show we got? three adults, clearly engaged, got a failed lemon-on-fork toss, a poor egg cracking, and...well...nothing else.

the table beside us (with the two kids) got a show-only volcano, a few laser pointers, a fake-squirt-ketchup, fire sticks (which were dangerously dropped twice), and dance moves that bordered on racially insensitive.

i'm not sure which is better.

potpourri - 2/10
my first water refill took a while, but subsequent water pours were quick. 

we had a nice sake flight, but not nice enough for the price. 

desserts were on point, though.

still: i don't like being talked down to. i don't like having to wait to order so i can be told about the meal i'm about to have as though i don't review this type of meal professionally. i don't like being told which sauce to use, or that some of your chefs trained in japan, or that forks have to be requested. i don't like watching onions go to waste.

and i don't like paying over $220 for a dinner for two that is inferior to a normal hibachi meal, but smothered in pretense.

nobu's premium teppan experience comes in at around double the price of roku. but supposedly it offers something different: a multi-course meal with its own nobu twists. teppan in spirit, but nobu in practice.

the roku experience is dressed up benihana: an adultified version of a theme park. but adultified in a way that takes away from the fun -- and flavors -- without adding to anything other than the price tag.

there's a reason downtown disney closed. why try to make something adult when the "kid" version is clearly already the best possible iteration, no matter the age of the audience?

Mora, Upland, CA 11/28/2015

Mora Restaurant, GOD Bless You
820 W Foothill Blvd
Upland, CA 91786
(909) 608-1668

Chef: Hokie

Score: 68/100

there's a well researched group of pynchon fans (pynchonians? pynchonites? pynchers?) who speculate that the crying of lot 49's san narciso is actually claremont, california; that claremont/montclair is the reflection the name describes, and the town's "own freeway" is i-60, the pomona freeway, which shares a name with claremont's pomona college.

a separate but no doubt overlapping group of pynchonistas claim thomas himself lives in the inland empire; that san narciso's claremont connection is not simply an homage to the hometown of friends mimi and joan baez's parents, but a nod to his own station, where he walks the streets sans paper bag, anonymously taking in the sun drenched beauty reflected back at him.

if this is true, it's by no means a stretch to think some of that reflected sun first kissed the windows of mora restaurant in upland before landing upon pynchon's (presumably) supple cheeks.

located in a large, stand alone building with mirrored windows reminiscent of a strip club, mora is known by some as simply a weekend lunch alternative to near-by miyabi, who only offers lunch options on the weekdays. but if that's all you see in mora, you're selling yourself -- and mora -- short.

between the microsoft word word-art propped ACTION DINNERS!, the giant non-load bearing central fish tank, and the constant reminder that you are blessed by GOD, mora is an experience unlike any hibachi i've had before.

so get out your muted post horns and declare to the word: I'LL TAKE THE SHRIMP ACTION DINNER AND THE FRIED RICE, PLEASE!

salad - 9/10
finally, somewhere that understands not everyone wants a mayo dressing -- but some no doubt do. mora offers both a tangy ginger and a sweet miso. we opted for the tangy ginger after asking which is mayo-less (the implication being that the miso is not, but that's not confirmed), and we couldn't have been happier. a truly delightful meal starter, with crisp lettuce and cabbage, and perhaps even some shaved ginger or bento flakes. the lack of tomato prevents me from giving this a 10/10, but it's darn close.

soup - 7/10
a very good onion soup, served at the perfect temperature. the bowls were flimsy and lacked gravitas, but otherwise there was nothing wrong with the presentation. the sediment however was noticeably under portioned, and when it comes to onion soups, that's the main attraction. but, there was something noteworthy and unique about this soup. was it made with a beef stock instead of the standard chicken? the umami was undeniably present, and unexpectedly delicious. given the notable lack of onion, i'm shocked i landed on such a high grade. but even upon reflection, it's no doubt deserved.

sauces - 6/10
a solid ginger, albeit a bit delicate for my taste. beautiful color, though, and a very strong finish. the yum-yum looked a bit more mayo'y than most, and the chef insisted on directing us towards particular sauces, going as far as to drop a bit of meat or two into the one he thought appropriate. i'm big enough to hold my own hand, thank you very much.

fried rice - 5/10
almost perfect consistency, and a great temperature. but the lack of chicken hurt this, as did the over-reliance on oil over garlic butter. could have used a bit more japanese coca-cola (soy sauce), too.

vegetables - 10/10
onions, sprouts, carrots, mushrooms, and zucchini all cooked to perfection. and hokie-san confirmed with each of us first that there was nothing on there none of us didn't like. i personally don't like carrots, but after earning my trust with the rest of this meal, i doth not protest. and was happy i didn't.

appetizer shrimp - 7/10
no toss, and almost 50% of the table's total allotment was dropped into recommended sauce without permission. i'm a fan of shrimp n' ginger, but the assumption...

main course (shrimp) - 7/10
very tasty shrimp, but a smaller portion than i expected -- especially given that we ordered and paid for the dinner portion despite it being lunch. one in our party got the fillet, which i usually advise against, but at only $3 more than the ny strip, i held my tongue. and i'm glad i did: as tender and perfectly cooked a bite of hibachi steak as i've ever tried. that one bite saves this from a much lower, shrimp-only score.

dessert noodles - 0/10
ABSENT. inexcusable.

show - 10/10
an almost-empty restaurant for a post holiday weekend saturday lunch, one can't expect a chef to care too much. but hokie-san brought the enthusiasm one prays for, and then some. constant "ooh la la"ing, extra fire posing for photos, strong table banter, and a complete willingness to lean into his name and do the hokie-pokie put this towards the top of our show rankings. but the hand-lit volcano, solid use of bike horn and fake squirt bottle, and a grand exit push this over the finish line. well done, hokie. you should be proud of your craft, and based on your enthusiasm, i have no doubt you are.

potpourri - 7/10
the large restaurant filled with religious artifacts and giant mid-dining room cylindrical fish tank set the scene for a grand meal -- just the right amount of inherent build up one wants before a hibachi lunch. the wait staff was attentive both with the bill and refills, and we never felt ignored. the one knock is the bathroom: back to back exposed urinals do not make for a private peeing experience, and the new jersey sky diving poster seemingly provided by the state's travel czar gave me hand washing anxiety.

word from hokie is that miyabi -- where both he and our reviews got their starts -- is under new ownership and due for a re-review. if this is true, we can't in good conscience recommend the la verne staple without trying it again. but no matter: mora is just a few miles down foothill, and proved to be a solid if not excellent fill in choice. throw in the fact that it's open for weekend lunch, and we may soon need to declare a new emperor of the inland empire hibachi scene.

Yamato, Encino, CA 8/3/2013

hello hibachinistas. it's been a while.

i feel i owe you an explanation.

i haven't been writing. but i have been hibachiing.

i've traveled far and wide, and seen a sample of the diverse hibachi this country has to offer. i had a fantastic and inexpensive lunch at east-coast gem Bambu in Danbury, CT; a hibachi meal served on a "boat" at Sushi Cruse in Claremont, CA; and even went through training with master Taro-san at Benihana in Beverly Hills, 90211 -- all experiences certainly worth writing about.

but i've been delinquent.

at the time, these and other experiences just felt too personal and beautiful to post about. broadcasting these stories stories to the entire world for my benefit is like taking advantage of god for profit.

doves really do cry, you know.

but you're not the entire world. you're the hibachi faithful. and as beautiful a soul a meal can have, even the best have nothing on your souls -- the souls of my loyal readership. the souls of the true hibachinistas. souls forged in a volcano made of specially selected onions.

i apologize i lost sight of that. i apologize i left you all out there, naked, clueless, and cold. i apologize i lost faith.

hopefully your love of hibachi was enough to see you through.

in the coming months, posts will pick up again. we'll have our normal restaurant write-ups from me of course (no pun intended), but some special stuff, too, including guest posts, training school reviews, and maybe even the occasional video.

so sit back, tilt those heads, and get ready for the shrimp toss. because the fun's just beginning.

we now return to your regularly scheduled programming.

-------------

Yamato
17200 Ventura Blvd, Ste 221
Encino, CA 91316
(818) 905 9920

Chef: Alex

Score: 82

nestled in one of encino's many strip malls, yamato is easy to miss. it's not so much unassuming as...expected -- neon signs don't stand out when they travel in packs.

it's rare i'm part of a hibachi birthday celebration, but there's a fiftieth time for everything [that you do fifty or more times]. and your oldest brother only turns 31 once.

so 31 years to the day after he was born, we strapped his infant son into the car seat, pumped up the korean baby tunes (did you know "ice cream" has four syllables in korean?), and ventured into the depths of the valley.

of course, we didn't tell the restaurant it was his birthday. nor that it was only his 10-month-old's third time at hibachi.

it's hibachireview.com, not hibachispecialtreatmentreview.com

soup - 8/10
first thing out of the kitchen was a very bland-looking miso soup. miso may seem like a safe bet -- forgoing the traditional-yet-often-over-salted onion in favor of something much simpler -- but in reality, it's nothing of the sort. sure, it's harder to mess up, but a hibachi meal is an epic culinary journey, and the soup is traditionally one of the first two stops. the opening image should reflect what's to come, and miso soup is by no means "epic."

unless it's done like this.

great temperature, perfect flavor, and just enough sediment to keep you interested. yes, it was unassuming, but as it turns out, that only helped it serve its foreshadowing function more fantastically.

still, a hibachi meal isn't quite complete without those fried onions. so 8/10 is the best i can do for a miso.

salad - 10/10
have you ever slow-clapped for a salad before?

it's rare to find a hibachi salad with top-notch lettuce. it's even more rare to find truly fresh plum tomatoes atop. but rarest of all is a hibachi salad where they don't skimp on the ginger dressing.

mayo dressing? piling it on is par for the course. but ginger dressing gets treated like truffle oil, even though its flavor profile is much more subtle.

not at yamato.

a true 10/10. it only got better with each bite.

sauces - 9/10
a yum-yum i didn't try, but looked a little less orange than most (could be the lighting, which wasn't ideal, as you can see from the pictures below).

but the ginger was fantastic. a deep magenta with just the right amount of body to it.

truly robust.

fried rice - 7/10
the show-stealer of the day was a rare, child-friendly fried rice trick i've never seen before. but we'll get to that later.

the rice itself was great. veggies were just what you'd want and really well distributed, temperature was hot enough for the AHHHHH feeling but not hot enough to burn, the texture was spot on, and there was just the right amount of egg. alex collected every kernel from the grill, too -- nothing going to waste.

i could have used one less shake of salt and one more shake of soy sauce. that would have bumped this to an 8/10.

if it had chicken? perfect score.

but it didn't.

vegetables - 10/10
really great veggies, plus a separate and substantial mushroom course.

the kicker though was the carrots. i'm not a carrot eater usually, but to put it lightly, hibachi grill flavor is a good look for them.

appetizer shrimp - 9/10
no toss. otherwise, exactly what appetizer shrimp should be.

main course (shrimp, but tried lobster) - 10/10
the shrimp was unbelievably tender, and a very nice portion, especially for a lunch deal.

i tried the birthday boy's lobster, and unlike normal hibachi-lobster, it had noticeably more personality than the already-fantastic shrimp. to top it off, alex custom whipped up some melted lemon butter at his own suggestion. if you blindfolded me, i would have guessed i was in maine-land, japan.

succulent.

dessert noodles - 0/10
ABSENT. inexcusable.

show - 10/10
alex.

wow.

alex.

the meal started with some impressive egg tricks -- yolk drawing, slides, etc. all normal stuff, but rarely all done together, and never so seamlessly.

it only got better from there.

for the first time in my hibachi reviewing career, i scratched out a note. "shallow rice bowls," i wrote. alex had pushed all the rice into a pile, grabbed a shallow bowl, and started scooping.

but he didn't serve it. instead, he plopped its contents back into the center of the pile.

odd, i thought.

then he did a similar thing with a soy sauce bowl from their sushi bar. he filled both sides, and set them above the pile, close to him.

then came the lemons.

and that's when we saw what was right in front of us: he'd constructed a friendly bear face.

was it for the amusement of my 10 month old nephew? his parents? everyone at the table? or perhaps alex himself?

no matter the reason, it was fantastic. it's been at least a decade since i've been truly surprised by a hibachi trick.

it's now time to reset that counter.

the show only got better from there. his volcano was huge, yet i never felt like he lost control of the flames. he lit it with his fingers -- like bananas foster on a fancy cruise ship -- and brought the fire onto our plates. literally.

and then, like a wizard with complete mastery of his creation, he put it out with a quick flick of his fingers.

a supposedly fun thing i plan on doing again.

if there's one knock, it's that he wasn't fully committed to the fake-squirt gag. but as a trained chef myself, i get that. it's obligatory, and a trick i've never been comfortable with, as it violates the sacred bond of trust between knife-and-fire-wielding-chef and patron.

if anything, the lack of commitment to that "trick" only made me like him more.

potpourri - 9/10
i'm being a little lenient here, as that 0/10 for noodles isn't truly "inexcusable" seeing as we went for lunch.

large water glasses are a plus; inconsistent refilling (even with a not-busy restaurant) is a big minus.

but the entire staff was friendly and accommodating, going out of their way to make sure the toddler was taken care of. and i always appreciate when someone laughs at my jokes, even if it is obligatory.

82/100
a wonderful experience, and a great way to celebrate my brother's 31st. factor in the lunch prices, and you'd be hard pressed to find a better deal in southern california.

a true gem.

The Last Samurai, Park City, UT 1/23/2011

The Last Samurai
6520 Utah 224
Park City, UT 84098
(435) 655-7080 ‎
http://lastsamuraipc.com/

Chef: Steven

Score: 69/100

unless you've been living under a rock the past few years, you have undoubtedly been hearing the buzz around THE LAST SAMURAI. the current "it" restaurant of the hibachi blogosphere supposedly does "things" a bit "untraditionally." i'm sure it's nothing we can't handle. ...or at least, i hope.

this weekend, our team braved the 11+ hour drive from LA to park city to see what all this non-stop, unavoidable hype is about. we had been warned of their untraditional style; we had heard that the "OPEN" sign is impossible to resist--that it cuts the otherwise pristinely white landscape, beckoning as the lone frsicilation in the park city dusklight--yet nothing we had heard could have prepared us for what awaited once we succumbed to the neon siren's song. we had been warned, but so had the residents of hiroshima [sic.].

soup - 2/10
after all the hype, the meal started underwhelmingly, when our (caucasian) waiter brought out what appeared to be seven bowls full of water that a few vegetables happened to fall into. this turned out to be our under-salted, lukewarm soup. it's one thing to be undergarnished and not visually exciting, but a whole other to be lacking in the invisible, too. to top it all off, this presumably-onion soup had precisely zero fried onions. still, at least it wasn't oversalted, as most onion soups tend to be (glass half-full, eh?).

salad - 2/10
no tomatoes, few carrots and cabbage pieces, but very tasty lettuce. the "dressing" is more accurately described as "slightly flavored mayo." overall, a very weak start to the meal.

sauces - 9/10
the ginger sauce was unbelievable: a beautiful, deep magenta that caught the light perfectly, and its bite was even more delicious and sexy than its soothing, sensual, barry white-esque bark. the head was quite robust, but it was even stronger on the central palate, and it had a very crisp finish. the other sauce was a standard yum-yum; while i didn't partake due to its mayo base, reviews from the rest of the team were neutral to positive. the lack of a third "wild card" sauce keeps this at a 9 instead of a 10.

dessert noodles - 3/10
now this is where things start to get weird: dessert noodles before the fried rice?! i know what you're thinking, "well, maybe these aren't 'dessert' noodles, per se." well then why does the menu specifically call them that, wise ass?--the word "dessert" is just a few millimeters away from the $3 price tag! the noodles were tasty, but more of a teriyaki lo mein cooked on a hibachi than they were a traditional, refreshing, post-meal, pre-dessert, palate cleansing hibachi noodle. and why the extra charge? is it just a deterrent? i'm all for untraditional, but only if it enhances the experience, and our first exposure to their "untraditional" ways certainly did not accomplish this. "dessert noodle" serves a specific function in the hibachi meal, and these failed to deliver that. despite their tastiness, their functional failure and their additional price tag prevents me from giving these dessert noodles a high rating.

fried rice - 8/10
fantastic texture, incredible flavor, and not too heavy on the salt. there were a few eggs mixed in for protein, but the lack of chicken and uneven soy sauce distribution keeps this from earning a perfect mark.

main course (shrimp) - 10/10
notice something missing up to this point? that's right: no appetizer shrimp. ...but they'll get there...i promise. just. you. wait.
as a shrimp orderer, the lack of appetizer shrimp ensured i was even more excited for the main, and the wait paid off. perfectly cooked, an ample portion, and well sized individual shrimps--they earned every bit of the 10/10 with this one. all other mains got equally as rave reviews, and unlike with the shrimp you can't blame the other reviews on TLS's manipulation of the standard order of things.

vegetables - 7/10
a nice mix of well cooked zucchini, onions, and mushrooms. could have used a bit more of everything (especially of the mushrooms), but well done overall.

The Toss (fka appetizer shrimp) - 10/10
in a hibachi climate that is currently paralyzed by fear, where the volcano is becoming rarity, billowing flames have all but disappeared, and benihana has outlawed the shrimp toss because of a pending tweaked-neck related law suit, only a restaurant named after a tom cruise heroic epic has the balls to go against the grain. not only do they still do all three of those daring escapades, but The Toss is treated as a full course in lieu of appetizer shrimp; everyone at the table gets a turn (one overhanded, even). yes, this makes it more difficult to use sauce, and yes, your number of non-main shrimp is cut from two to 1/2, but it's worth it for the table-wide seal bark that is The Toss.

show - 10/10
The Toss as a featured element, an up-side-down volcano, flames galore, and the kicker: they let one of the members of our team take the knives and man the table, which i have NEVER seen before. on top of that, steven chopped in perfect, fast rhythm, had good banter, witty jokes, and strong interaction. with all this, it seems like a sure-fire 10/10, right? not quite. the meal took a somber turn half way through, his energy level dipping with ours instead of encouraging us to keep ours up. after the meal, the conversation took another turn, this time a serious one, with steven telling us about health issues his son had, and filling us in on his hibachi training. this personal touch brought us back up to a perfect show score.

potpourri - 8/10
white waiters, odd hours (yelp claims they're open for lunch, but they open at 3pm. call before then, you'll be forwarded to steven's cell, but he's very happy to talk to you.), and extra charges are the negatives; friendly waiters, a good fish tank, location-location-location are the positives. the good outweighs the bad in this one.

there was some debate among our staff if a dinner/show this untraditional should even qualify for review with our site, and while we didn't come to a sure fire conclusion on that question, we determined that the hype around it alone is enough to demand we cover it. with our meal in the bag, we can't help but agree that it was worth the trip, no matter how alien their idea of hibachi is compared to most.

Mori Teppan Grill, Glendale, CA 01/15/2010

Mori Teppan Grill
120 W Stocker St
Glendale, CA 91202
(818) 548-4227

Chef: Unnamed

Score: 58/100

don't let the logo fool you: mori isn't an italian pasta patriarch (although he did invent hibachi pasta); he's a hibachi legend. one of the original chefs at benihana, and the man featured in their first american advertising campaign, mori is no teppan n00b. he personally took care of us from the moment we entered, seating us at a bar table, cleaning it for us, and offering us drinks while we waited for our fourth (one member of our party got a free shot of single malt scotch). rarely do you get that kind of modest treatment from a genuine legend.

salad - 6/10
definitely no points for creativity: this "salad" is more accurately called "lettuce with dressing." still, despite the unassuming bland color, the dressing was quite flavorful, and one of the better gingers i've had in a while. but would a tomato or two have killed you?

soup - 2/10
nothing more than a chicken-less chicken noodle, and absolutely nothing asian about it, americanized or otherwise.

sauces - 8/10
no yum-yum/mayo sauce (personal bias, sure, but still worthy of points); a tasty mustard sauce, and a very strong, very deep ginger sauce. great combo.

fried rice - 7/10
amazing consistency, amazing texture, not too much flavor, and only an egg or two for protein.

vegetables - 4/10
zucchini and onions only, and they weren't even cooked that well...

appetizer shrimp - 7/10
not too large, and no toss, but very tasty.

main course (shrimp) - 7/10
the shrimp were tasty and plentiful, albeit small. i didn't try the chicken or vegetarian, which is what others at the table got, but reports weren't great ("chicken is chicken" is never a good review, especially when i know from experience that it's not a particularly true statement for hibachi; the veggie says there was a weird, bread-like, non-tofu protein added [and this is a guy who knows his veggie proteins, so it's odd he couldn't name it. ...doesn't bode well.]).

dessert noodles - 9/10
very solid, although they could have used a touch more sauce.

show - 1/10
i'm not sure if he just didn't care about a table of only four, if he didn't care because he thought we didn't care, or if it was just too late in the night, but there was barely any effort put forth here. the volcano was the only thing i'd even consider a "show," and that was obviously just choreographed and forced. why even bother? is it just to distinguish yourself from the 'han? i saw the same chef put on a show for another table. i'm insulted on a level that has nothing to do with my hibachi fandom.

potpourri - 7/10
mori's personal service was much appreciated, as were their 'han-like wall of celebrities featuring zachery ty bryan, and their phallic budweiser american flag inflatable rocket hanging from the ceiling. the waitstaff was nice, and split our checks without much protest, and the hostess was particularly kind and understanding. we did feel as though we overstayed our welcome, though, which is never something you want the second-to-last people to feel at your restaurant, especially at 10pm on a friday. and the water refill was good, but not great.

in a los angeles that is seemingly devoid of good hibachi joints, mori is a good alternative to the 'han, despite the chain's obvious influences. despite being fairly good, i just didn't feel there was much of an effort put forth. still, a nice place to go if you're looking for something in the valley, and a worthwhile trip just to be able to shake the hand of the legend mori himself.

Takara, State Street, Madison, WI, 03/30/2008

Takara
315 State St
Madison, WI 53703
(608) 268-0188

Chef: Unnamed

Score: 70/100

today we venture out of the safe sun of southern california into the cold...late march...of madison, wisconsin. it snowed. it actually snowed.
anyways...
nestled in between the yuppie utopic shops of madison's state street, the occasional gem pops up (like chautara's nepali food, which you can find directly across the way from takara, or four star video). takara fits into this category. primarily a sushi restaurant, the location houses four hibachi tables that are infrequently put into action. i had two meals there during my trip--a sushi lunch and a hibachi dinner--and i only saw the grills used for two total parties, one of which was us. this is no mark against the quality though, and if anything it made the meal much more intimate and much less novel. for anyone visiting badger country, takara is a must eat.

salad - 8/10
a fantastically crisp, fresh mix of lettuce goes with an unassuming but delicious ginger dressing. non-mayo based, not watered down, and more than enough for the bowl.

soup - 7/10
i will say that this is probably the best broth i have ever had, but the two total onion bits is inexcusable.

sauces - 7/10
they get some bonus points here for personal preference, but they still wind up with only a 7/10. it is rare to find a two-sauce restaurant that gives ginger and sesame mustard--the s.m. is usually the third in a trio including yum-yum, but takara breaks the mold and replaces the overused and disgusting yum-yum with the usually bonus reserved s.m. the ginger, however--the linchpin to a good hibachi--,was not up to par. watery and somewhat flavorless, despite visually appearing normal--the antithesis of their salad dressing.

fried rice - 6/10
fantastic consistency, but not nearly enough sauce--the classic hibachi fried rice dilemma.

vegetables - 8/10
strong ratios here, which extra bamboo to make up for the lack of dessert noodle, and quite well sauced and plentiful. did the expected fantastically, but did not go above and beyond.

appetizer shrimp - 9/10
large, fresh, plump portions, but no toss. had there been, we'd be looking at a 10.

main course (shrimp, but tried salmon) - 10/10
more shrimp, bigger shrimp, and fresher shrimp than your average place, and perfectly made. the salmon was the best hibachi fish i have ever tried. my hibach partner did not finish her meal, so i brought home the leftover salmon and fried rice and cooked them up in her wok--the best leftover hibachi i've ever had (leftover hibachi is a rare occurrence that usually only happens when i go with other people...).

dessert noodles - 0/10
ABSENT. inexcusable.

show - 8/10
the (quite young) chef started off with slow, deliberate knife/spatula twirls that were hands down the best i'd ever seen. he moved on to a fireshow that included warnings as not to disrupt the weak of heart, and a routine that featured a whistling train-volcano among other new tricks. he did not treat us like amateurs, and he played off of our reactions well. certainly one of the better shows i've ever seen, especially considering it was only for the two of us. had he not looked so bored, this would be a 10.

potpourri - 7/10
once again i had to give a few extra points here, seeing as the 0/10 for lack of dessert noodles was probably a bit harsh. the sushi here is fresh and delicious, but the wait staff could use a bit of work.

quite a showing, especially considering the lack of dessert noodles. there could have been more (we ordered two sushi rolls in addition to the meal...), and there can be improvements, but the main course alone makes this worth the trip if you're in madison.

Kado, The Grove, Los Angeles, CA, 02/09/2008

Kado
6333 W. 3rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 933 0055

Chef: Unnamed

Score: 68/100

despite frequent reported billy crystal sightings and a los angeles location that can't be beat (for foot traffic--the grove makes me itch...), this high end hibachitorium is almost always seemingly empty. still, if you're looking for somewhere high end that offers loads of non-hibachi options, or if you're simply looking for a benihana alternative in los angeles proper, kado is most likely the place for you.

salad - 10/10
high end greens and a more flavorful dressing than anywhere i have ever encountered earn this salad a perfect score. it could benefit from being bigger, but the bowl shape does make it deceptively larger than you would assume when you first get it. incredible cherry tomatoes add a beautiful red to this otherwise dark collection of fresh greens. magnificent.

soup - 4/10
an excellent miso, but still a miso. for a place that prides itself in being fancy, this low-end alternative to the onion-sedimented hibachi standard is a disappointment. with a small portion, to boot.

sauces - 6/10
incredible ginger sauce and a surprisingly tolerable yum-yum for a yum-yum hater like myself, but the partitioned single dish makes pouring hard.

fried rice - 3/10
dry and virtually flavorless, but a generous portion saves this from a 1 or a 2.

vegetables - 9/10
perfectly sauced, a high mushroom ratio, and generally fresh and high quality.

appetizer shrimp - 9/10
more than normal portions and a long and fun shrimp toss earn high marks here.

main course (shrimp, but tried chicken, salmon) - 9/10
succulent, larger than usual (shrimp themselves and quantity), and moist, the main courses here are hard to top. with kobe beef and lobster as options as well as a large array of not-normal not-expensive options, you may have you work cut out for you at ordering time. if it weren't for them annoyingly calling their shrimp "black tiger shrimp," i'd probably have made the jump to a 10.

dessert noodles - 0/10
ABSENT. inexcusable.

show - 9/10
a present but weak volcano did not bode well, but the chef made up for it with extra effort. it is obvious that they put a lot of value in their show at kado, as they see themselves as a special excursion (the chef could not believe we were here when it was not someone's birthday). there were two heart-shaped valentines themed dishes, which seemed a bit premature and excessive, but the beating heart rice soon made me forget this. overall, a good job.

potpourri - 9/10
i did give a few extra points here, seeing as the 0/10 for lack of dessert noodles was probably a bit harsh. the wait staff is friendly (and the hostesses are quite attractive) and quick to refill water. there are plenty of non-hibachi options, and its proximity to so much else doesn't hurt, even if it is the grove. i am always a bit put off when you have to ask specifically for a fork, because it is a bit more embarrassing than simply taking one when offered--you feel like you're asking the guy at the 7/11 for a hustler--but still, it does make you feel like you're somewhere a bit more authentic. we had no wait, even on a saturday night, which is both good and bad, and the ambiance is quite nice.

overall, if you're not a hibachi regular and you're looking for something special this may be your place. certainly not an experience worth writing home about, but not a waste of time either.

Miyabi La Verne, La Verne, CA, 02/07/2008

Miaybi La Verne
2345 Foothill Blvd.
La Verne, CA 91750
(909) 392 6808
www.MiyabiRestaurant.com

Chef: Paul of La Verne, CA

Score: 79/100

as usual, miaybi did not disappoint. for a thursday night, this local hotspot was crowded as ever. the wait staff is friendly and caring, and their food is always spot on, despite the portions being a bit small. still, the price can't be beat, and for overall value in the inland empire we are yet to find a better location.

salad - 8/10
the miyabi salad is excellent: great dressing to greens ratio (non-mayo based dressing, to boot), fresh tomatoes in every bowl, and high quality ice berg lettuce. you can't ask for too much more without going above and beyond.

soup - 8/10
again, a very strong showing here. quite flavorful with just the right amount of fried onion at the bottom. hard to beat.

sauces - 9/10
there are three to choose from, which is more than the standard two, and their ginger is one of the best i have ever had. still--they try to push the yum-yum on you sometimes, and this frustrates me. while i'm not doing this evaluation on past trips, one time (of the upwards of 20 i've been here) a chef put a shrimp of mine in the yum-yum sauce in an attempt to convert me. i was insulted to say the least.

fried rice - 9/10
a generous portion, perfectly sauced and textured, with egg to boot. a smidgen too much salt prevented the 10/10.

vegetables - 7/10
again, all you could expect. good onion-to-total ratio, a good amount of mushrooms and zucchini, and a light sauce.

appetizer shrimp - 6/10
two whole shrimp per person, and cooked to perfection. the lack of the shrimp toss bumped this category down a notch, though.

main course (shrimp, but tried fillet, chicken, and steak) - 8/10
a large portion done well. not much more to say here.

dessert noodles - 9/10
again, almost perfect. mixed perfectly with the bamboo and flash cooked in oil, these noodles are as good as you will find anywhere. it just needed the extra something for the 10/10.

show - 8/10
i think the chef could tell we weren't there for the show, but he nonetheless gave it his all. he (and i observed the chefs around us doing this as well) was a bit overzealous with the use of fire, but you do need something to draw the crowd i guess on a thursday night. the hourglass (up-side-down volcano on volcano) is always a huge plus, but the lack of jokes is what threw me off (what ever happened to "rice rice baby"?).

potpourri - 7/10
we had a slight problem with working out the bill which delayed us, but the water service as always is phenomenal at miyabi, as is the optional and offered but not forced fork selection (we are--after all--americans). we did not have to wait for a table, but the place was quite crowded for a thursday. if it had been more so, they always have the second room to accommodate for crowded nights. the prices are lower than most, but so is the portion size. the non-hibachi menu is prolific, and their sushi is fresh and tasty.

when it is all said and done, miyabi is one of the best values AND one of the best meals you will have at any hibachitorium in the southern california area. if you already live out east, it's hard to justify going anywhere else.