I’ve been obsessed with teppanyaki lately, but only to this one specific restaurant. I haven’t done a restaurant (Anna’s palate) review lately so yes, Teppanyaki Me, Please!
According to good old Wikipedia, Teppanyaki is post–World War II style of Japanese cuisine that uses an iron griddle to cook food. The word teppanyaki is derived from teppan, which is the metal plate on which it is cooked, and yaki, which means grilled, broiled or pan-fried. In Japan, teppanyaki refers to dishes cooked using a teppan.
I mean, I’ve had teppanyaki cuisines before, however none like this place and it just so happens to be close to home. “Who knew?!” I know, I don’t get out much.
Upon arrival, we are greeted and are setting is ready to go. The waiter seats us. We sit at a U-shape table with chair going around almost like bar seating. The teppan (grill) is located in the center. Today at our table, it’s just my husband and I (secretly liking this). Not much of a conversation starter with strangers if you know what I mean. I am here for the food and show.
Our server comes out with our drinks, takes are our order,
“Yes, Teppanyaki me, please!”
Let The Show Begin
Chef pops out and goes behind the grill. He turns it on and you can see the plate starting to turn blue from the heat. A little drizzle of oil and he slowly wipes it off. He introduces himself and the show begins, first with a fire show!
Impressive!
The waiter brings our salad to start off, followed by our soup. The soup is a clear egg drop soup with small strips of seaweed. The salad, I don’t know what dressing is in there but the vinegar and perhaps saltiness of the soy sauce combination is amazing. I couldn’t stop eating it. While we eat this, the chef prepares an appetizer of shrimp on the teppan. I must say, I’m not a fan of seafood and have really been trying to like seafood again. This was my first time in 20 some years that I’ve had shrimp, and it was actually good! I only had one though and I offer the other to my husband since he already scarfed down his two.
Next, another sweep of oil and a quick swipe of the spatula, he lays out your protein of choice. The teppan is so hot, it doesn’t take long for everything to cook, he tops on a special sauce and covers it with a metal cover for extreme heat and steam. If you want your meal spicey, he will take Thai green chilies, pours them onto the teppan for you to eye out how much you’d like, chops them up roughly and places them into the mix.
Right before the protein is finished, the waiter brings out our endless bowl of rice to accompany our meal. Chef plates our protein and up next is the vegetables. I assume the vegetables are made last because it doesn’t take long for the veggies to cook and if he made the veggies first, they’d be cold by the time the protein was cooked. Either way, it didn’t take long.
In the meantime, while he covered the other veggies (broccoli and mushrooms), Chef continues on with the show and made my husband and I a volcano with the onions.
I must say, the char on the onions from the direct fire was perfect and gave it the onions that grill flavor you want. The veggies were perfectly cooked, not overdone but with the right amount of crunch to is still.
Final Thoughts
AMAZING! Seriously, the chef was engaging the entire time, he had mad spatula skills. The descriptions above didn’t include all the skills he had throughout the show. Seriously, flips, toss, and even behind the back catches! You can’t just make great food working the teppan, you have to know how to entertain and he certainly (always) deliver!
Our waiter was so attentive, she even packed us another portion of rice to take home with our leftovers since we didn’t have any left after our two bowls. Can’t wait until next time! (reservations already made for next week) My pictures do not do this place and food justice, super yum on my palate review!
Tips
1. Make reservations, even if you’re the only customer doing teppanyaki.
2. Waiter and Chef get tipped together so whatever you tip is split in half, tip well.
3. Come hungry, there’s a lot of food
Wasabi
3703 Schofield Ave, Schofield, WI 54476
Phone: (715) 359-2888
wasabiweston.com
-Anna MV
