First off, I have to say that I am totally comparing this place to one of my favorite teppanyaki spots...Benihana, so I know this review will sound unevenly matched, but hear me out...so this spot is located in an older strip shopping center in Tracy, totally hole in the wall. You step in, and the decor is beautiful, nothing you would have expected. On the right side, standard sushi bar and on the left side teppanyaki paradise. 8 people to a table, nice and open area. Wait staff is very attentive and nice. Chef was kinda friendly and prepared the food.
Now here comes the reason for the 2 star...Going to Benihana, the chefs are always on point, I have never seen a Benihana chef drop his tools. This chef on the opening click, dropped his tools several times, OK fine, he looked tired and granted he was the only one cooking. Usually Benihana chefs do tricks with the food, (ie. shooting the food onto his hat or flinging a shrimp to a customer.) BUT where he failed big time was the onion volcano...at Benihana, the onion is cut, stacked and filled with oil, lit, then slide over so it creates a vortex of steam and flames...this chef basically set it on fire, then shot it with oil then cut it in half...no steam, no volcano vortex...basically it was WEAK. Restaurants like this especially teppanyaki style, people pay for the show AND the food. He prepared the food, and it was good and portion size was on point, especially for the price....(2 for $25). Needless to say, if the food wasn't good, then we definitely would NOT come back.
Now for the sushi...i don't consider myself a sushi snob. When ordering sushi with a meal, usually, the sushi comes out first. This was not the case, it came out near the end of our meal when we were all kind of full. BAD. Another thing is, when I eat sushi, i expect the sushi to have some form and stability when picking it up with your chopsticks. We ordered 3 rolls...none of which had ANY form, like the sushi was not wrapped tightly. Presentation was nice, but each piece fell apart when you went to grab it. HUGE NO NO. Even the budget sushi spots, the sushi holds together when you grab it. Probably will not order sushi next time we go here, unless that issue is fixed.
Consistency...going back real quick regarding doing tricks for your customers....the table next to us, we watched as he flung several shrimp at the customers, and had a more engaging experience with them. We were the next table, and we got a boring lackluster show. Then the next 2 tables, same thing, they got the full show with full engagement...why didn't he stay consistent when it was our turn?
So after all this...in their defense, it was an hour before closing, it was a weekday and they seemed short staffed, the chef appeared tired...we will probably go to this place on a weekend, maybe earlier in the day and see how it goes, if they do better, i may revise my 2 star. Stay tuned folks! read more