I've Never Been to a Japanese Steakhouse

I love food and I have been to many different types of restaurants, but I have never been to a Japanese steakhouse. I've wanted to try it since high school. Several of my friends attended one before going to prom. But seeing as how they drove an hour and a half to get there, it was not on the top of my to do list.



There is one in the town I currently live in, but I never gave it a try. The high school students I teach said it was really great, but that is also what they say about the Olive Garden. While I do agree you can't go wrong with the Olive Garden, it's not also not haute cuisine. My students also told me its expensive (which they also say about Olive Garden) and if I am going to spend a good deal of money I want it to be worthwhile. So again, not on the top of my to do list.



Another thing that made me a bit leery is the one in town is in a strip mall. Now I have been to some pretty good restaurants strip malls (Mama Ricotta's in Charlotte, Mellow Mushroom in Columbus, and this great seafood place in FL) but this is a strip mall in, well, how do I put this politely, the ghetto. There is a Subway, and a cosmetology supply place next door.



This Saturday our friends Mark and Anna were going to go out to dinner without their 2 girls for the first time in quite a while. They suggested the local Japanese steakhouse Shogun, because it is somewhere they definitely wouldn't take the girls. Mike and I said, "Great, we've never been." We got dressed up for a night out of just us grown ups.



I won't go into a lot of detail, but my apprehensions were warranted. The service was not great. The food was so so. There were definitely kids at the restaurant so we shouldn't have worried about that aspect. And we sat at the station with the least entertaining of the chefs at the place. He did his thing and that was that. It looked very much like what I have seen in movies. I didn't have an awful time, but certainly not a great time. Thank goodness Mark and Anna brought us a coupon to use!




Will I go back to Shogun? No way. I got sick when we got home. Will I try another Japanese steakhouse? Maybe. Will I keep trying different things? Absolutely.