The food was fantastic. Great portion size. Chef was spectacular, lots of fun and good laughs. The service was quick & friendly. We noticed significant improvements since our previous visit in January. The restaurant was meticulously clean. Well lit and overall a 5/5 experience. I'd recommend JV to anyone new or old to Calgary read more

March 2026 Had a large party reservation tonight and was the first time in a while; the food was fantastic, our chef was the friendly original taipan chef in the old commercials. The restaurant was meticulously clean the entire experience of the food staff and cleanliness was amazing glad to have returned after the bad press, absolutely loved it! 10out of 10! read more

Food was pretty good we had the chicken and shrimp teriyaki and the NY Steak and Shrimp. The entertainment was pretty good although short lived. The sauces were a hit as well. It certainly wasn't cheap but the experience made it worth while. One of those places we would probably eat at once a year for a celebration. read more

Food was mediocre; high prices for onions and cabbage. The cook/cooking entertainment was good, but rushed and really short. We were given the third degree interrogation making the reservation for a large table; then could not push us out the door fast enough. Disappointing to sad the least read more

WOW I am totally amazed at the price of this lunch special. So I got a lunch combo and after tax and tip, it was like $13. So I chose Teriyaki Chicken and Teriyaki Beef for lunch. It came with salad and rice and tea. There are vegetables as well. I loved it. How this work is that the chef will come and cook for everyone at his table. What I liked the most is the sauce. The sauce was just amazingly delicious (I think it was the steak sauce). It goes well with rice. The place was not too hot. interestingly, if its your birthday, they will make you wear a uniform and sing to you. Cool. Overall, good price and good portion for the lunch special read more

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Our family enjoyed seeing the chef's somewhat elaborate presentation but it very formulaic. The food is excellent, the service awesome, but the bill does seem a little high for what you get aside from the theatrics. read more

I don't know why I came here considering last year was overkill for me. My work is close by and they LOVE doing welcome lunches here. I hadn't been here before until I came here with my co-workers. They love it because, if requested, can make the servers dress you up into traditional Japanese costumes and make you dance as they sing a song in celebration of your event. It's pure entertainment for those that don't get chosen to dress up and dance. Anyway, the service is terrible. They treat you like sheep. And they definitely don't encourage you to stay around and converse with your party because they have another reservation and want to kick you out right away. So why did I come back this time on my own? I was craving the salty sea same ginger steak sauce thing they put over your rice! It's probably very terrible for you but the taste is so unique to Japanese village that I was craving it. This time I went to the dining side (not the teppanyaki tables) for a quick lunch. Note: they deep fry their teppanyaki chicken teriyaki! I know it doesn't make sense considering teppanyaki means fry-on-griddle or something right? Anyway, to sum it up. Sauces are good (I think they are all house made) and the rest was bad. Terrible customer service or lack there of. So I guess if you have a craving it's good otherwise I'm sure you can get teppanyaki at a better place that will treat you like a person - not sheep. read more

Japanese Village - Lunch menu - Japanese Near Me - Calgary, Alberta

Grease soaked small portions that left me with much to be desired. Nearly spent 100 on the two of us. Ordered 2 mains with extra shrimp and extra mushrooms. I kept thinking, "surely he's going to put more food of my plate". What an outrage. Grossly overpriced garbage. You get more food in half an order from Edo. Even if this place is for the "experience", they have no right charging what they do for the quality and portion of food produced. Worst of the worst places I've been in Calgary!!!!! read more

Excellent, and warm atmosphere. A very fun place to bring family or a group. Huge flames and the food has big flavour! The miso and steak dressings were excellent as was all the vegetables and teriyaki meat. Overall a wonderful evening! read more

Wow, after reading the other 1 pt comments on this feed, I do totally agree, we were crammed on a space, and the chef even trying to talk to our boys in a language I even told him they don't speak anymore, yet he still does, he gave me the small portions and cooked the other table's order first before us even if we ordered first , when I complained to the Manager she explained nonchalantly that it's because they cook based on what the meat is, duh, we ordered beef too, maybe she meant because we ordered a not so expensive one? And I noticed one of the guest on that table seem to be friendly with the chef from the start, thus, the unfair and discriminatory treatment. So, we're never going back and we never did. This has been about 2-3 years ago but on how they've made me feel that day, I can relate with the other viewers.. bad service, unprofessional and not worth going to again.. read more

We were a party of 8 adults and they crammed us in to a table with 2 other people. The table was not made for 10 adults. I was basically sitting behind the chef. I was always the last served and received what was left, our chef didn't portion very well and I got shorted on veggies, sprouts and starter shrimp . Will not be back. read more

A very frustrating experiance. We made a reservation for 12 people at 6:00 for my niece's birthday. There were 6 adults and 6 kids. They told us that they would only seat a full table and that we needed to wait for another reservation of 6 to show before they would seat us. At 6:30 we asked if we could be seated at the table and have a drink while we were waiting for the 6 strangers to show up. They refused. The restaurant was less than half full so our request should have been easy to comply to and they were making us wait for other people who were late for their reservation. The 'manager' was one of the most condescending people I have ever met, I can see why this place has been going steadily downhill. The ceilings are dirty and tattered, and the whole place looks grimy and made me question if this place has recently passed a food inspection. It is a sad shadow of the place it used to be. Much better Japanese food in the area, give this place a miss. We decided to leave as we were hungry and they still were refusing to seat us by 6:45, we went to the place downstairs, Briggs I think, and after confirming they were not associated with JV, we ate there and it was wonderful. We asked for the managers name and he refused to give it to us, he also refused to give us the owners name. read more

A couple gfs have their birthdays around the same time so they decided to celebrate at Japanese Village. They called in ahead of time as it was for a larger party (20 ppl) and they were easily able to get a reservation. Dinner was for 6:45pm so parking is free on the streets. There is also covered parking right across the street for a small fee. One thing to note is that they don't seat anyone until your whole party arrives - which is understandable. Our whole party fit perfectly around two grills where all the action happened. We were handed menus and they took our drink orders while we browsed the small menu. There's a handful of typical Japanese starters (tempura, karrage,oysters, edamame), and then complete dinners which include steak options, seafood (salmon, shrimp) and chicken and combinations. Most of us got steak and shrimp. For those of you who aren't familiar with how Japanese Village works, you order and they put on a little show and cook it right in front of your eyes. All the complete dinners come with soup (similar to egg drop) and a side salad to start, then they bring out some sauces depending what you order, in our case we got steak sauce and shrimp sauce, and a side or rice. **Confession time, this is my first time visiting Japanese Village** everyone was telling me that I HAD to mix the steak sauce with the rice...so I did and it was super tasty. They then put on their show, playing with the utensils while the grill heats up, throwing them in the air, behind them and what not, they show us a Japanese volcano where they pile sliced onions on top of each and light it on fire - I get excited about little things so I was pretty amazed, lots of oohs and ahhhs were coming from my direction. They put the protein on the grill first because we all had different preferences and then cooked up some vegetables which were tasty. Apparently, they use to have a lot of mushrooms in the vegetables but there wasn't much..still good though! They handed our food straight from the grill so it was piping hot which is awesome, vegetables were well seasoned, steak was cooked to my liking and the shrimp and 'yumyum' sauce was a little salty but all super tasty. Overall, lots of food to chow on and it all ends with a scoop of either vanilla, green tea or orange sorbet to hit the sweet spot. Our chefs made jokes, sang songs and was really great entertainment! We all seem to enjoy our experience and the food was good. Japanese Village is a great place for couples that want something different, kid/adult birthday parties or even getting a whole group of friends together for an entertaining dinner experience but it's not a place you would visit frequently because I would imagine it would get repetitive. I'd say prices are reasonable, only because you get a show and the food served right to your plate. You can tell they work fast because it's a busy place so turnaround time seems fast but not GTFO fast, we were able to enjoy the show and food. read more

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I often find, as I have joined Yelp, that I find it necessary to write a review simply to provide a counter-point for people who just don't 'get it'. And, if there is one restaurant around you have to 'get', it's Japanese Village. I have eaten there (lunches and dinners) no less than 30 times over the years. I could not differentiate between one visit or another. I, like all returning customers, can tell you all the jokes the chefs say (..."Chicken from KFC"...). To say they don't change things is to miss the point, or again, to not 'get it'. Food: never had one bad thing there ever. The steak maybe isn't the bestest cut in the west, but with their sauce, who cares? The shrimp sauce probably has the highest calorie ratio of anything on the planet, but who cares? Everything tastes great. Reservations/Seating: These guys take their reservations seriously. They are the only restaurant that runs on a schedule, and they expect you to abide by it. If your reservations are for 7, be there before 7. You are told this five freaking times when you book, so don't get your knickers in a twist when you are either rushed or refused when you show up ten minutes late. Following that, there is another sitting in an hour. This is NOT a sit around and drink coffee and discuss restaurant. When you are done dessert, you are expected to leave. There are hundreds of other restaurants where you can hang out afterwards, but this isn't one of them. Notes: while they don't proscribe it, I would suggest leaving the under-8s at home. The restaurant isn't (physically) setup for it, you don't get your money's worth, and you don't enjoy yourself. With the staff, it's obvious there can be some language barriers. And, importantly, this is one loud place. Speak clearly and loudly, and all will be fine. You mumble a drink or food order, that can lead to a problem. Get there on time, put the steak sauce on everything, go 'oooohhhh' with the volcano, have a laugh, and you will have a great memory. read more

We made a reservation for 16 including 4 children. After getting seated the staff tried to compact our group with each seat edge touching to fit more guests in. The manager explained that because we had children we would have to put them on our lap or swat them behind us to make room for other customers that were going to purchase more plates. He told us that because our children were sharing meals they had to be seated away from our group. Our reservation was made weeks in advance for two birthday parties, mine included. The staff was rude and Unaccommodating. The manager called us cheap round eyes because we weren't purchasing individual meals for each of our children. My only regret is not video taping this horrible interaction on my phone. We are friends with one of the head chefs and have followed him for many years. We were treated almost this poorly our last visit in March for another birthday. We've had enough. The staff, the managers are rude and dare I say it, racist. We will never return to any Japanese Village Restaurant ever again. read more

Japanese village - Ah, SO! Want to watch someone throw knives around and make big, fiery explosions while you eat your food? Of course you do. But if you're still living at home, it's sort of an unreasonable demand to ask your mom to fling utensils around and burn down your kitchen. Plus she's probably really bad at it, even if you're Japanese. So instead of troubling dear old ma, where do you go? Japanese Village. Now, I want to rate this so much higher. After all, it's a pretty different experience from your everyday meal. As for the food - it's cooked right in front of your face, and it's delicious. I had the teriyaki chicken and shrimp. I wish I would have ordered the teriyaki steak - it seems like your portion winds up being bigger. But, you're given white rice, veggies, salad and sherbet with every meal, so it's tough to complain. I do wish you could "Sumo size it" though. Everything tasted a bit salty. But other than that the quality of the food is excellent and the show is entertaining. It's not authentic Japanese food in the slightest, but it'll warm your belly all the same. But there are a few tiny bees in my bonnet. (As an aside, why do we still use that saying? It's been ages since anyone but hutterites and amish ladies wore bonnets. Unless hipsters are bringing them back into fashion... are they? If so, that's hilarious and I can't wait to see the instagrams. Instabonnets. Whatever.) So let me say this: I still recommend you go here. I'd still say this makes for an interesting date night, birthday party or company function. But in case the owners are reading this - or in case you just want to hear some 24 year old white bread kid complain a bit, here's how I think the experience could be improved: 1. Japanese Efficiency. Yes, we see it in Toyota - but that doesn't mean we want to see it when we eat. Par the course here is that you MUST be on time with EXACTLY the number of people in your party as you reserved for. No ifs, ands or buts. If someone gets sick, prepare to have some very pissed off Japanese ladies wagging their fingers at you. And you don't get seated until everyone is there. Now, I understand why they do this. But they can sometimes come across a bit rude and it makes booking your function here a bit of a risk; if someone drops out last moment, you're screwed. They also like to get you in and out of here as fast as possible, which again, I understand. It's a very popular place and it costs them a lot of money if you sit and linger. So when you come here, expect to get pushed out of the proverbial Japanese womb like a Prius. Book your "sit and chat" time elsewhere. 2. Come on, creativity! The chefs give more or less the same presentation over and over and over again, so you can't blame them for perhaps being a bit tired of it. Our chef was great and had a wonderful personality on him, but it all felt a bit scripted. I'd love to see them mix it up a bit; these are some excellent chefs, so they ought to divert from the standard show every so often. But still do the fiery explosion thing please. That's always fun. Always. So okay, two smallish beefs; but because you come here for the experience and not so much the food, it'd be nice if they could work on fine-tuning that experience a little more. At the end of the day this is still a great place to go, so long as you know what you're getting. read more

I haven't been to this place in over 10 years, and its still exactly the same and I don't know whether its a good or bad thing but I feel just, meh about the whole experience. I agree with the following: Atrocious front end staff, rude and seemed upset that we didn't tell her that half our party of 8 were kids (BTW my kids are savage beasts and I always order them the adult meals). We were still charged the mandatory 18% gratuity even though we were two families sitting together and made the reservation together, still charged us the 18% when we paid in two bills. Tacky. Some "chefs" were more talented in the juggling and slicing and dicing portion of the meal. And the same lame jokes are those I heard ten years ago. Dismal veg, just onions, zucchini, old mushrooms and bean sprouts. My kids didn't touch them. Egg drop soup tasted and looked like toilet water, and the salad to start was bagged lettuce mix with their house ginger sauce. Shrimp app to start that comes with the mains is 2 shrimp cut into 4 pieces served on the side of your plate. Mains were moderately overpriced and the steak was pretty tough and I ordered it rare. And having worked in a restaurant I know what pop costs... no re-fills on pop here! I have never been to any restaurant that does not do free re-fills on pop! And they give you such a small glass thats full of ice and the pop gets watered down. And if you are disabled or in a wheelchair, don't bother coming here, I didn't see any access as you have to go up a flight of stairs to get into the restaurant and its very tight in there. I give them a pass, but probably won't go back soon, maybe in 10 years. read more

I have been there once. The food was fine. The sauce everyone talks about is tasty. They charged me $3.50 for their waiters to do a rendition of "Happy Birthday" That is three times more expensive than ITunes. And defeats the spirit of the song entirely. Never.Again. read more

* GO HERE FOR LUNCH AND NOT FOR SUPPER * The price of lunch is half the cost of the evening dishes and is the amount you should be paying to eat here. For $12/person you can get a combination teriyaki chicken and beef entrée with vegetables (and grab a side of mushrooms). With the meal you will also be served rice (you can get multiple bowls and add the steak sauce on top of it) and either a small soup or salad to start. The meal is cooked in front of you on an open grill but because lunch is much faster and less for entertainment, the cooks do not spend as much time yelling and unnecessarily flipping things. They will pack you in tight here to fit as many people as possible with communal seating. If this sounds worth it to you, the food is quite good. The steak sauce alone makes this place awesome and great value at lunch! read more

A couple of friends of ours went on a trip to Japan. The decision was made to have a going away party/dinner at Japanese Village Steak House. I had been to the location in Edmonton as a kid and remember enjoying it thoroughly. I was looking forward to trying it here in Calgary. If you ever plan a group event, do whatever you can to ensure that everyone shows up at the same time. Japanese Village wouldn't seat us until our entire party had arrived, which was a pain. Due to the way it's setup though, it makes sense for them to force us to wait. But seriously, make sure your guests arrive on time. The atmosphere is great, with lots of different Japanese memorabilia kicking around (at least it looks Japanese, but truthfully it could be from anywhere in Asia). The chefs really make the restaurant though. Aside from cooking the meal in front of you, which is fun to watch, they are also very personable and often funny. The food was fantastic. I have nothing bad to say about the food. It was cooked exactly as we wanted it done, which is obviously easier when the chef is standing in front of you. It's also not that expensive, which is nice, but it's still pricey enough that I wouldn't go often. It was the perfect send-off to our travelling friends! read more

The first time I actually went was on New Years Eve. Reading the Reviews on the Website, and hearing feedback from Friends, I was actually quite worried about going here, We made reservations for about 10 people, so a bigger group of people, and I heard last minute that a few of the people we invited dropped out.. That was my first concern simply because on here, I've heard of people having problems with people backing out, and them charging you per person or simply just cancelling your reservation all together. Our plans were to meet up around 845, and when I got there nobody in our party had arrived, we were sat in the Lounge area for a bit until our party arrived. Luckily we had no issues with the fact that we had missing members in our party, or that people hadn't shown up, but again being New Years Eve, I don't think they were really paying all that much attention. As far as the atmosphere went, It was fun, Very busy and the people were very polite. They got to work pretty much right away with taking our Drink and Food orders, and within a matter of minutes we had someone making our food. Everything seemed very fresh, and our Cook was quite funny and enjoyable, Most people in our party ordered the Steak and Shrimp, Everything was cooked to perfection and was hot and fresh. The steak sauce I wasn't completely blown away by, It was tasty, but I found it to be quite creamy and didn't have much bite, It went well with the Rice and Steak, but that was about it. The steaks were cooked excellent, and the Shrimp were nice and juicy as well! The drinks were nothing to write home about - I had two and they were both very sweet, Mine seemed to just be Sprite, Sugar Syrup and a little Booze, Nothing you could even get a buzz off of unless you pay $100 for a bucket load of them. Overall, The food was awesome.. The atmosphere was fun, and our Chef was awesome.. Our table was very crowded however, and uncomfortable for alot of people. I would go back again, and probably order the same thing - $45 for what we received, and the fun we had was awesome. But perhaps I would go on a slower night, or with less people. read more

Disclaimer that I've only ever had the Teppan lunch here. Hope to update with experience of the dinner and bento lunch programs sometime. Otherwise it's a great deal for what you get; tastes good, very filling, and a healthy balance of ingredients. You'll also get offered refills of rice and tea at scheduled times during the meal. Even with such large tables, they are always extremely efficient with the bills and there hasn't been a mix-up yet. It's been a great choice each time for a well-balanced, freshly-cooked meal. read more

Came here with a large group and we were all completely disrespected. It felt like the automatic 18% gratuity they were getting made it so they couldn't care less about us. We were told that if we were late they would give our table away. So we all arrived between 6:25-632pm and our reservation was for 6:30pm. At 6:32pm we were told that they were just about to give our table away. We then all had to wait for 20 minutes on top of that because they weren't ready for us. The billing afterwards was a disaster. They only had calculators and the poor girl working the cashier had to use a pen and paper to deal with the billing. The whole process took 30min+ alone. The only saving grace for this place is that the chefs cooking for the food in front of us was very nice. The food was also pretty tasty. DEFINITELY not recommended for groups. read more

The uniqueness of Japanese Village provides a challenge to review it. I remember my first visit I was in stitches at the jokes told by the chefs, but now find them incredibly stale. I enjoy the portions though as you get an amazing amount of food for the price you pay. The fact that you get soup, rice, a great helping of veggies, a main, shrimp AND dessert is awesome. The steak is always great and like many many people mention... the steak sauce is to DIE for. I don't know what it is, but this is the stuff that will keep you going back again and again. Try putting it on the rice that comes with your meal. Previous reviews express concern with feeling rushed due to turnaround times, but I've never felt rushed while eating at Japanese Village. The staff and managment has always been very nice to me. It's very low lighting in JV, so watch out when you come outside if it's still light out. I do have a concern in terms of tipping. It's not clear if your tipping your chef or if your tipping your server. The servers here don't do near as much work as a server at another restaurant. I'd rather give the chef my tip. People who are familar with the Benihana chain will recognize the teppanyaki style, but it's a certainly bare bones basic version of a Benihana and it has no sushi. I don't know why but other Japanese Villages in Canada do have sushi. I don't eat sushi, but I noticed. Overall, you'll have a not bad time and you'll leave with a full belly. read more

Japanese village has been the restaurant I've been going to for the longest out of my restaurant eating career. I love the food, I mean LOVE it. I'm the type of person I hate waiting for food, so the idea of being served something new (rice, soup, salad) one at a time while watching your meal being cooked appeases the fat person in me. I'm in love with their steak sauce aswell, to the point I'm dipping my chop sticks in and essentially eating the sauce by itself until I have a juicy filet minion to dip in it. Alright now to the downsides, there's a few and the only reason I didn't go with a 3 star is the food has strong appeal to me. No restaurant would ever get away with the shit Japanese village has pulled with me if they didn't have such delicious food damnit! The servers like to ignore special orders outside of the norm of their routines. I'm a saucy girl, I love sauce. I sauce the crap out of everything I eat, prob too much. I'm sure you gathered that by my eating steak sauce without steak. Any who I always ask for extra dressing on the salad, and without fail every single damn time I get one tiny splooge. Nothing works to get their attention, from subtle desperate gestures to full on flagging them down hand fully in the air like a kid wanting the teacher to just pick you for once. Yeah I love my sauce. I end up waiting till they are en route with rice before I can make my second request for more sauce. Next downside, their routines are played out, every chef since the time I first went there when I was 19 (I'm 27 now) still do this same shit. Yeah haha magic mushrooms in your basement. -_- get some new routines! On to number 3, the fuck is with them charging for a damn song and picture now, that shit used to be free ! They don't even tell you they're charging for that now, just a nice little surprise nugget on your bill. On to my last negative, when their staff do something wrong they don't compensate for it. I had some dumb chef mix all the steaks together, I was devastated when he just piled all our steaks into one giant chopped up lump instead of keeping them speerated. Like the dude next to me got more pieces of steak, he's eating MY damn steak. Try and explain to them when you're dissatisfied, I dare you, all of a sudden no one speaks English. Just pay and begrudge them with no tip. Any who, I still go back. Can't be that bad, right ? ;) read more

The most fun dining experience we've ever had. Food was excellent, and the entire staff really knows how to look after their customers. Our chef was very entertaining. He had some great jokes, sang some hilarious songs, and certainly made all groups at our table feel welcome. He joked with everyone in a personal way. That really made everyone's dining experience. I don't believe you could go away hungry from this place. All the meals come with a starter salad, soup, and some appetizers. The main meal was a good size for everyone, and a very reasonable price. And to finish, there was ice cream for desert. There were 3 other groups at our table. Everyone was commenting how good their food was, and we agreed. I highly recommend this place, and we will certainly go back read more

Japanese Village has improved since they moved into this new upstairs location on 10 Avenue and 4 St SW. It took over the old Cannery Row location. One thing I've noticed when you sit around the teppanyaki (cooking table), the vents work so much better now. I used to walk away smelling like the cooked food in the old restaurant but now it's much better. I appreciate eating there more. The best thing about Japanese Village is the STEAK SAUCE!! Yes, this steak sauce is phenomenal. Have you been there at lunchtime? People around the table put their rice bowls in front of the chef to have him put the steak sauce right on top of their rice - thus, the term "Rice Soup"!!! Yes, it's that good! It goes good with anything. I usually have the Teriyaki Beef and Shrimp and it only costs $8.95 at lunchtime. There are different combos you can get. The more expensive steak cuts are also available like filet mignon and New York strip. Not only do you get the beef and shrimp, you get a choice of soup (shabu-shabu soup) or green salad with ginger dressing, lots of stir-fry veggies, a bowl of rice and a cup of green tea to wash all the food down. What a deal! I understand that parking in the evening is validated by the restaurant. Ask the restaurant more about this. read more

This place is fantastic. When it was at it's old location on 4th & 2nd I would go often for lunch. The food is just delicious. The dinner experience is quite unique, and I've never been to anything else like it so my experience/review is strictly based in Calgary. They put on a really great show, the tricks are cute and the Chef's are funny and polite! You get quite the bang for your buck, soup, salad, your meal, and then ice cream or sorbet for dessert. The prices are reasonable considering the amount you get and how, really, delicious it is! I would have given this place 5 starts, however the front desk service can be pretty rude, especially if someone is running a few minutes late or one of your party members had to cancel last minute. The last time I was there, one of our party of 7 was about 5 minutes late and the front desk lady was not happy about it! I've never experienced the full wrath, but I have heard some pretty terrible stories about their front desk staff. So, unfortunately, while I love this place and would recommend anyone and everyone to go there, I can't give it a full 5 star rating! Enjoy your experience people just... make sure to be on time! read more

This was my lunch go to place with my gal pal before she transferred to Edmonton. I'd never been before and she'd frequented it a lot with her coworkers, so one day I joined them. We got seated at the teppanyaki table and watched as our meals were prepared. I got the salmon and shrimp and it was amusing to chat and watch the show. I've been told the ginger steak sauce is the best part of the meal, and they must know it here because they ask you if you want the sauce drizzled on your rice AND if you'd like a side dish of it. Obviously I said yes to both! For just over $10, you're quite full, slightly thirsty (the food's salty!) and you smell like food. If the last two don't really bother you, head over to JV and try it out! I've been told if you make resos, they won't seat you till everyone's arrived - so keep that in mind! read more

Since Calgary really only has one hibachi grill it is quite good. However, going to other hibachis elsewhere, I've realized that Japanese Village isn't too great. The staff is hasty and the chefs aren't as skilled as other hibachi chefs I've seen. The food though is still outstanding, and the Japanese Village sauce is free flowing and delicious. read more

So here goes...I have loved JV since I was like 9 years old. I am now 43! The food, the sauce, the cooking in front of me and eating while still hot, the sauce, I even enjoy the guy who gets to come out and clean the table, oh and the food. But they have shifted in the quality of their service. Possibly because more people are coming or business now and days are more ruled by money not customer care. When I was going in my 20's they were still giving out as much rice as you wanted and no one really ever asked for more sauce on rice, it was just a request by some kids addicted to the sauce. Now I see some of the lack of service that have been mentioned but they have always asked for us to be together in a group and be there at the same time, we have always had to sit with people we don't know and actually talk to them a bit, but not too much because not everyone likes to be talked to! So I think they have dropped on the service side, but a lot of the things that make JV special, unique, grimy and good are still there and I will continue to go back at least until my 9 year old is 43! read more

This is a great place to go for lunch or dinner. I have noticed that you get an actual show from the chef during supper and not during lunch though. The menu is a little limited, but every selection I have had is delicious. I especially enjoy either cuts of steak and a side of the shrimp. They provide a sauce for the food that is absolutely one of a kind. I have bought many similar types at grocery stores but I have never found one quite as good. I have to agree with the other reviewer, the vents actually work now and you do not come out of there smelling like a burnt onion. We walked in without a reservation but the place was very full. In downtown Calgary, this is one of the best deals for lunch. If you want more attentive service and a show, you should take in supper though. Great place. read more

We went here with colleagues for our very last lunch before Christmas Holiday. Great atmosphere and very friendly and quick service. The drinks came fast and the order were taking straight away- perfect for business lunch. the only downside was that this very yummy food was a bit too salty for my taste- probably too much soy sauce. Overall I would love to come back with friends. read more

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I have found the food and quantities to be consistently satisfying. The chef routines are always the same, but you can deal with it if you keep your visit to once or twice per year. I do enjoy going with others who've never seen this style of dining, as it's fun to watch their expressions as they take in the experience. A few minor beefs I have in relation to going with a larger group on a weekend are that you feel more limited with time (they don't mess around with maintaining customer turnover) and you can't visit very well because it tends to be loud. I'm also not a fan of their reservation system and do consider this outing to be slightly pricey. I have also noted that you freeze your butt off in the ladies restroom in the winter months. I do end up at JV an average of once per year, so clearly it continues to be worth the trip. read more

Fun place to eat. No surprises, not too different from how it is done in Japan. Great place to take a group and watch the chef cook up your meal. Because this is beef-town, I usually order beef. Thumbs up for JVSH read more

I LOVE IT! Honestly my absolute fave guilty pleasure. If you are looking for a cheap delish fast lunch too their lunch during the week is around $10 and just as good only a little smaller than their dinner portion. There is nothing left on the plate when Im there. If it wasnt so rude id lick my plate. For Real. read more

My friend and I LOVE this place. The price for lunch is really good, dinner gets a little pricey but you do get more food at dinner. You get to watch your food being cooked which is fun. It is quite noisy in the place because your sitting in big groups of people around all the grills, but its still fun to go with a bunch of friends. The food is great! Their steak sauce must contain something to make you addicted to it...i could put it on anything! YUM! You can even buy a small bottle to take home, but it must be used within 48 hours because they dont put preservatives in it. The cooks are really nice and sometimes they do some funny things to get you into being part of the experience. If you go for somebodies birthday they sing for you and get you to put on a pretend japanese hair piece (plastic) and take your picture :) read more

Went there with my son and he loved it. i liked it too. The typical japanese restaurant where the cook in front of you, so it was entertaining. Even though i am not a fan of sitting at a table with a bunch of strangers but my son picked it so i went along. Thankfully the guys sitting next to us were super nice and our cook was a really nice Japanese girl that made the evening. She was really friendly and sweet, worked her butt off and put off a show for everyone at the table. The steak sauce is amazing just as everyone claimed it was in their reviews. Alberta beef is great, chicken was well cooked, vegetables very fresh and shrimp was tasty. I will not give it 5 stars because i have been to this type of restaurants before and everything taste kind of the same. But i got to say it was really tasty. And my son loved it so much!!. It was just way too much food, so go hungry. You will be stuffed!. The place was packed for a week night, of course it was right after Christmas, but i swear there were at least 10 Birthdays in there that night!. So i guess it is a popular place to have a celebration. The funny thing is the staff comes to the birthday table and make the bday person wear a geisha hairpiece or a warrior mask, the sing happy birthday and just make the people feel comfortable and have a few laughs. I'd go back. read more

I've been to Japanese Village twice, once and it amazing, and a second time and it wasn't nearly as good. Overall, it is quite overpriced but they get away with it because of the entertainment factor. On my first visit, the chef was so funny and entertaining, leading to the second visit, which was underwhelming and boring. Not boring because I had seen it before, underwhelming because the chef didn't have nearly as much charisma as the first. The food was good but not spectacular, the drinks small (order beer!), the customer service was low. So far this place has been hit or miss. read more

Japanese Village is a great place for a larger get-together. Except you won't be having much of a conversation at your table because you're sat around the teppan in a row. Japanese Village is the only teppanyaki in Calgary that isn't from the food court. The chefs here are also performers and if they offer you some "Japanese BBQ sauce" for the rice, do accept and accept in plentiful. That sauce is bombtastic. Do come for birthdays, just not your own. Unless you enjoy the humilation of being taunted in front of all of your friends. Alternatively you can also sit in the non-teppanyaki section and just order some food from the same menu and be served quickly. read more