Thursday, February 01, 2007

MMM SUSHI




A couple of weeks ago, Shameonyou21, and her boyfriend (whom we'll call) Randoval took me out for my birthday dinner. Actually it was more Randoval taking the two of us out. He left town the day she and I went up to Black Angus, so Randoval said he would take me out when he got back into town. After much deliberation, and veto's from everyone involved we finally decided on Tepnayaki Japanese Steakhouse in Lehi.

This Japanese steakhouse is not simply a restaurant, it's also culinary entertainment! Guests sit at communal tables surrounding Japanese-style teppan grills while skilled chefs prepare meats and veggies in a flurry of flashing knives and spatulas. The house specialty--and most dramatic option--is a simple stir-fry with fried rice or noodles on the side, although sushi also is available at almost all of the locations. The Provo location being the only one that does not have a sushi bar.

It is quite the performance when the chef lights the grill on fire to start the meal, and also a flaming volcano onion. Some don't like the end of the meal because regardless if you ordered shrimp or not, he always saves a few to toss at you to catch in your mouth. Maybe these people don't have good hand-eye coordination, or whatever, but I sure like it. They will throw chicken at you instead of shrimp if it is the shrimp part you object to, and not the actual throwing part!

When I go there with Shameonyou21, we almost always just get sushi. It's quick, easy, and there is never a wait for a table. You just walk in and sit right down. We end up gorging ourselves, and loving every minute of it.

Among our favorite choices are: the Rainbow, Mars, Green Tiger, Crunch, and the California rolls. The beef kushi appetizer is really good too!!!

PROS: Walk right in and sit down at the actual sushi bar, or in the sushi bar area. They are reasonably quick in making the rolls, and the prices are very reasonable as well.

CONS: When eating in the tepanyaki area at the tables with the chefs, you will have to most likely have a bit of a wait. At least 30 min. every time I have gone. At all locations your party will not be seated until your entire party has arrived. I don't blame them for this, but it is kind of a pain when half of your party makes a habit of being late like my brothers do! If you don't have at least 8 people, you will have to share the table with other people you don't know. Depending on how good (or uncoordinated) your chef is, you could have shrimp down your shirt, up your nose, or on your shirt. Also, it has been known to happen, that the food has flown into water glasses from the table adjacent to yours! WATCH OUT!!!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I knew you had updated your blog when I checked my email and saw that I had miraculously signed up for a tepenyaki newsletter when I had never visited their website. I'm not sure how I feel about that yet. I'll get back to you.

As for this fine establishment, you know how I feel about it already. I highly recommend the Geisha Special on the actual tepenyaki table. The steak, chicken, and shrimp are GREAT. Get the noodles, they are worth the extra money.

And if you're not an overly picky four year old in an adult's body, get the Mars Roll. Its Delightful!

QueenMeadow said...

I'm glad you enjoy the sushi, I for one, will be waiting the 30 minutes for something cooked ;)

Kristeee said...

I love Teppenyaki! I've never had sushi there (I love the grill stuff so much it would seem a shame to just eat sushi), but I love the show and the food - and the flying shrimp. There was one time where my mom and I were sitting at the table with a married couple for lunch and the man thought he was all macho and could catch everything. Ha! I showed him! I caught all of mine and got a bonus shrimp. The chef made fun of the other guy because he only caught one.

FOODIE said...

Shameonyou21: I couldn't help myself by signing you up for the Tepanyaki newsletter. Maybe they'll send us coupons for a free Mars Roll, or 10% off the Geisha Special! (Or maybe that will happen when hell freezes over too, who knows)!

Queen Meadow: If you order the mars roll, the shrimp on the inside is cooked. As a matter of fact, it is deep fried!!! MMM DEEP FRIED SHRIMP!

FOODIE said...

Kristee: If you sit at the tables, you can order sushi there too!!! Shameonyou21 and I would split the Geisha Special and order a couple of rolls as appetizers. The only problem is that we can never decide on which two we want. We always want more!