After a recommendation from a friend, I went to the restaurant with my wife. Beforehand I checked them out - ?authentic Japanese? sounded pretty good to me, and I had great expectations. Unfortunately, everything was quite the opposite. Although their premises are quite nice and there were Japanese cooks and waiters all around us, none of those assigned to us were Japanese. We waited for approx. 20 minutes, although we were the only one at the table (which was quite a surprise - before it we first called Benihana, but they were completely booked for the night, with at least one hour waiting for those to choose to walk in).\r
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Beside the appetizer (Japanese dumplings) and the salad, which were both quite nice, everything else was below average, and even disappointing. Shrimp, lobster and scallops all tasted very much the same, since the cook poured so much soy sauce over them (in combination with a whole lemon that he squeezed over only my portion of scallops) that nothing else could be tasted. Everything was cooked on oil (no butter for lobster), and I couldn?t even taste any garlic (and definitely not smell it). The latter is not a good thing, since I think that garlic really adds a lot to the food (all of us have watched ?Emeril Live!? right?!). And the rice was dry and not salty enough. The only good thing (beside the salad and appetizer that I mentioned above) is that the size of the shrimps and scallops is impressive, although I wonder if they would have cooked (and tasted) better if they would be a bit smaller. It is obvious that their fish is fresh, but that is all. To add a final point ? with a price tag of at least 30% more than Benihana (lobster/scallop combination was around $39 in comparison to ?Benihana?s? lobster/scallop/shrimp combination of around $30), I will probably think very carefully whether I want to come back to this restaurant again. Or maybe I will, but not for food ? rather for its beautiful Japanese garden outside.
Pros: Japanese ambience
Cons: Bad cook
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