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| - I was excited when I saw this Japanese-style steakhouse open up in my neighborhood because I love Japanese food. Upon entering I was immediately impressed with the lovely interior design and cleanliness. The decor and furnishings are very tasteful and relaxing. I especially liked the way the bar and teppan dining areas are softly lit from below.
After I was seated and the server came to my table I had a moment of concern. My waitress was authentically Japanese and she approached my table smiling and pleasant, but then just stood there without speaking. I finally asked her for hot green tea and water. She nodded without saying anything and went off to get it but then I had the sinking feeling she didn't speak much English and was afraid there might be a communication problem. Turns out I had no need to worry. Though she never said much at all the whole time she was serving me, she got everything right. Plus, they must operate on a team concept because other servers also came by to check on me or clear empty dishes as they passed by, so I never wanted for service or attention.
I was there for a late lunch and the restaurant was fairly empty at that time, so I would like to go back sometime when they are busy to see if they maintain the same level of service.
The green tea was a bit of a let down at first. I know green tea isn't supposed to be served boiling hot like one would serve black tea, but the first cup of it was actually room-temperature cold. The second cup was the proper temp, though, and it was organic tea, so all was good there.
I'm a fan of bento box meals and so I ordered the Chicken Teriyaki box. These are accompanied by a little bowl of miso soup and a small house salad. The hostess had told me that appetizers were half price so I also ordered a starter. My server bought out the soup and salad before the appetizer, so I don't know if she was confused about the order of service or just didn't want me to wait for food. Not a big deal, but next time I will order the app separately and then order the main course after it is served.
The appetizer was Age-dashi Tofu, little squares of homemade tofu lightly fried and served with a interesting sprinkle of seaweed seasonings and tempura dipping sauce. It turned out to be a large portion of six good-sized squares of silken tofu that were delicately crispy on the outside with an interior that was virtually the consistency of melt-in-your-mouth pudding. Wonderful, but they were the temperature of fresh lava on the inside and I burnt my mouth trying to eat them.
I turned instead to the miso soup (not bad, but a wee bit bland, even for miso soup - a sprinkle of chopped green onion would have made it better) and the little salad (also not bad, but I was somewhat disappointed in the dressing which just tasted like commercial 1000 Island.) Meanwhile. the bento box was served so I tucked into that was well. Throughout the meal I kept trying to eat more of the Age-dashi Tofu but it just never seemed to cool off.
The box contents were very satisfying. The chicken portion was tender and served on a small bed of stir-fried veggies in a classic and tasty teriyaki sauce. It also came with a good fried rice, 5 large pieces of California roll, and pot stickers (menu said 3, I only got 2.)
So I had one appetizer half-priced for $2.50, a bento box combo for $9 and unlimited cups of organic green tea for $2 and there was enough food that I was able to bring nearly 1/2 of it home for lunch tomorrow. In the end, the food was good but not great, with good service and a pleasant atmosphere that I will be happy to return to.
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