Tokyo Teppan

I used to visit this restaurant at least twice a month, but the last two times I went I had really bad experiences — I will not be back! I loved that it is family owned and you do not have to wait.
Last time I was there: I ordered some wonton soup (good) and a Philadelphia roll, it looked beautiful but upon the first bite it tasted oddly metalic and like the salmon was not good. I flagged down the waitress who instead of apologizing gave me a lesson that smoked salmon tastes different than raw (duh, really?). I have had this same roll there over 20 times (and often she had been my waitress), so this was a little frustrating. I asked to have a cucumber and avocado roll instad (since I was then scared of the fish) and she brought it fairly quickly. When she presented me with the check the roll that was bad was included (as well as the new roll). I asked about it and she said I ordered it and it was definitely good. I will not be back :(
The next to last time I ate there: I had a bento box (mixed reviews) and shared some edamame (tasty). The bento box came with a miso soup that was pretty bland and dull, a salad with dressing I feel was strange but ok, a veggie roll which was ok, and a chicken stir fry which was nothing special but ok. My portion of the bill with a soda was $ 20 — this didn’t seem appropriate for the quantity and quality of food I received. I left feeling like I might go back but wasn’t looking forward to it.

Pretty poor. I used to go here frequently. Unfortunately the service is terrible and the food not that great either.
There have been times I’ve waited at the cash register for almost 10 minutes before the one waitress came to take my pay. I’m not talking during a busy time either.
There have been more than a few times that the food didn’t taste fresh, which for sushi is entirely unacceptable.
With the arrival of Yanagi and Namami nearby, there’s absolutely no reason to go to this third rate place. I haven’t in quite some time.

I would rate this place 0 star if there was such. I have been craving for Japanese food lately and I have been going to Yanagi a lot. So, today, my friend and I decided to go somewhere else but still Japanese. We found this place in Unilocal with an overall 4 star rating (as of 6÷19÷2012 12noon). Yanagi, on the other hand has a rating of 3.5 stars so I thought, hmmm, maybe Tokyo Teppan is a little bit better. But OH MY GOD, when we got there, the place is nowhere near better than Yanagi.
The place:
I see other reviewers saying «Amazing», «It’s great». I don’t see how they can say such praises. When we got there, no one was at the reception area. We waited a few minutes, no one came. So we welcomed ourselves in until finally, an old Chinese woman saw us and greeted us with «ni hao». That’s another thing. I know there are a lot of Asian restaurants here in the US that are not even owned by Asians. It’s not a problem but I just want to point out that although the restaurant is called Tokyo Teppan, the Staff, the decors, the food is Chinese with Japanese name :) Even the beer is Tsing Tao, a Chinese beer :)
The Chinese woman who seated us was our server, our cashier, our receptionist and she also cleans the tables and floor. If I had not seen the chef making the sushi, I would have assumed that she was the chef too.
After we were seated, immediately, I noticed that the ceiling was very dirty. I started to wonder what their kitchen looked like.
Anyway, we waited for another 10 minutes after we were seated down before we were given at least water. We waited again and we were almost at the point of walking out when the server came to ask for our orders. This is the kind of place that should be in restaurant impossible.
The food:
I ordered Salmon teriyaki bento box and in fairness, the teriyaki was good. However, the crunchy roll that came with it was terrible. The rice was horrible. If you are Asian (as my friend and I are), you can never make a mistake in cooking rice. But in this case, the rice was mushy and it didn’t look freshly cooked. To me, it seemed like it was the left over rice from last night, it dried up in the refrigerator so they added more water and heated it up in the microwave.
The rice used was not the sushi rice, not even jasmine rice. It was just an ordinary, low quality rice.
Tempura was terrible. Too thick. Like there was too much flour.
At the time of this writing, Tokyo Teppan has 4 stars but comparing Tokyo Teppan and Nanami (also a 4-​star Japanese restaurant according to Unilocal) is like comparing Motel 6 to Hilton Hotel.

I have been to Tokyo Teppan now about six times and have not written a review yet so here it is… this place is an undiscovered little jewel. The sushi is creative and fresh and the teppan cooked food is is equally good and fresh — complete with the volcano onion fire. Of course, add in the hot sake and we have a winner!
This is a apparently a family owned restaurant and all of the staff is very friendly and helpful. A a relatively undiscovered place, you will not have to wait in a line to get in which is great if you have kids who don’t sit still. They also have a good kids menu which provides some nice alternatives.
Make sure to stop by this place if you’re in the mood for good Japanese food — you won’t be disappointed.

My two younger sisters wandered into this place not knowing what to expect. The older one and I wanted sushi and the youngest is a very picky eater.
We ordered the teriyaki chicken kids plate for the youngest. She absolutely loved it. I tried a piece of the chicken and it was delicious!
The sushi was fantastic and the prices were very reasonable. We ordered a crunchy roll, rock and roll, and a California roll. The decided the crunchy roll was by far the best!
We will definitely go back the next time I’m needing a sushi-​fix!

What a nice surprise right around the block! The ladies are wonderfully sweet. Had a late hibachi dinner, their combos are inexpensive, filling and delicious. They have so many different options to choose from. There are just plates and sushi too. They also have bento box specials, yum yum yum, looks very appetizing and their flavors are nice, usually some appetizer type of finger food, choice of rice, the meat/​seafood especial and your choice of sushi (some at extra charge, which is $ 1) all this heavenly combo in one simple yet
.zing plate. My usually picky son was very pleased with the meal, not to mention at awe with the grill master! The whole meal was entertaining and scrumptious. Must try steak and mahi mahi combo at the teppan, will come with soup, salad and shrimp before meal. add some sesame chicken bento and you are practically getting a bit of everything meat, they also have pork. This place really made me happy, they offer such great deals and bring happiness to the table at relatively less prices than other teppans.
Will gladly come back!

The two ladies that work all the time are great. they remind me that I dont like the mushrooms because I forget to say no mushrooms. They are all nice and the service is great. Fried rice is awesome

I just love this little place! It’s never crowded and the food is really good. The people that run the restaurant are soooo nice and kid-​friendly. They actually love kids. The older Chinese woman (don’t know her name) took our daughter around with her to the tables and taught her how to fold napkins in that fancy way they do it there.
The place is definitely not fancy. It is comfortable. A nice, local, neighborhood place. The people who run it are actually Chinese and couldn’t be more cute. The man (owner? manager?) comes out and checks on everything to make sure you and your family are happy. He has a very dry sense of humor and will try to joke with you and especially your kids. He loves kids. Sometimes with his accent, it is hard to decifer exactly what he is saying and so you might not realize that he is trying to play around and joke with you. He is a very kind, sweet guy.
The food is very good. Their Hibachi grill is great. The food is cooked very nicely. Not too much oil. The sauces are served on the side, so it is actually pretty healthy. The prices for Hibachi are comparatively inexpensive, but are not a cheap dinner. They run around $ 19 or so, but you will end up with so much food, you can bring half home and then have another meal out of it. The sushi is good and fresh. Their Ma-​ma-​san roll is especially yummy. The other chinese food is typical American-​Chinese food of fried foods in sauces. Our kids love the sesame chicken.
Overall, it’s a great local place to visit. The atmosphere is definitely not upscale or up to date, but the experience is nonetheless very nice and you will be supporting a local business and not a chain restaurant.

Visited the first time for dinner last night with some friends. We opted for the hibachi table, although I couldn’t tell if the lackluster performance was because we weren’t really giving him enough attention or if it was just how he does it.
The atmosphere is old … I mean everything in there felt old. One of my friends even commented that it smelled like a trailer park. On top of this the service was so slow and we were only one of three tables in the place. I don’t understand why it takes them so long to get drinks. Oh and be careful if you ask for refills, they ARE NOT free. We spent $ 13 just on drinks for four people! And not drink drinks, but hot tea, lemonade, and coca cola.
So why oh why give it 3 stars? It’s redeeming quality was the food. Between the four of us we had teriyaki chicken, calamari, hibachi chicken, steak, shrimp, and mahi mahi. Everything was cooked well and seasoned wonderfully. I’m not usually a fish lover, but if we eat here again, I might just order the mahi mahi.
It seems as though take out may be the way to go with this place; both from the other reviewers and from the numerous folks who were popping in just to pick up. Maybe we’ll try that next time and skip the $ 13 for drinks!

First, a qualifier — I’ve only had their take-​out, so this review can only speak for the food.
But seriously, their chinese food is the best I’ve had in Austin. The food is never greasy, consistently exceptional, and on the cheap side. House favorites are the General Tso’s, the Teriyaki Bento Box, and the Lo Mein.

Just returned from our first trip to Tokyo Teppan. Surprisingly delicious and fun! Teppan chef was hilarious — kids loved it. Food was very good… kids had steak, I had teriyaki shrimp and husband had scallops. Also, great value for the money. I think there were 8 – 10 shrimp and small scallops. We will definitely return!

We got takeout so we didn’t stay for the service, and it was during lunch on a Monday so they didn’t have the grills going, but it seemed like a nice enough place to eat, although not super extravagant inside.
I got a hibachi beef bento box (comes with mushrooms, broccoli, and rice with an egg roll, crab puff, miso soup, a house salad, and a side of a tuna roll, all for only $ 8.95! For once my beef tasted like real beef, and it was all seasoned wonderfully.
It was all very well priced, and I’m glad to have found a sushi restaurant that delivers!

I really like this restaurant.
There’s ample parking, ample seating, good food, good prices. The service is spotty (sometimes we get ignored for too long) and I feel the menu can be confusing but I LOVE their food. We’ve also ordered delivery quite frequently and it is SO nice to be able to have sushi delivered on nights when we don’t feel like going out.
I order different items on the menu every time, but nearly every time I ALSO order a Texas roll – it is really delicious. Also, ask their sushi chef how the scallops are and try a spicy scallop roll. I’ve called it a mouthgasm.

Five stars for Sushi delivery! 3.5 — 4 star food.
I have only had food delivered from them so this review does not reflect on service or ambiance of the actual restaurant.
Their lunch Bento Box are a great deal! I have had both the General Tso’s Chicken (7.95) and Kung Pao Shrimp (8.95) that come with miso soup, salad and a choice of numerous rolls or sashimi or sushi (1.00 extra) — the eel avocado roll is how I roll:) LOVE it!
The Avocado stuffed with Scallops is a food-​orgasm!

I like this little family-​owned, local place in Oak Hill. Its not extravegant but they have a decent sushi bar and very capable Teppan chefs. There are only 4 grills I think, so the place is small.
Don’t come here if you expect a Benihana show. The food is good, the wine list enough for a casual meal, and the atmosphere very neighborhood, family restaurant style.

This wasn’t what I expected in writing my 200^th review. I had visions of Beef Carpaccio, white table cloths, our server named Hunter, and maybe seeing a loan officer before we headed for this celebrated dining night. Fate intervened in the form of a blown tire this afternoon. We surveyed the dining choices in the strip mall where we were getting the car fixed and ventured into Tokyo Teppan.
I almost had to drag Jenny in. We had already walked in and out of the Green Mesquite. I couldn’t do it. We walked down towards Tokyo, and entered to find the inside buzzing around the Hibachi show. We took a regular table away from the crowd and checked out the menu.
We made great some choices. The Spicy Tempura Roll and the Tuna Tataki Roll were delicious. The California Roll also deserved good marks. The Beef Asparagus Maki was a complete dish served in three bites; a tad muddled but were not talking fine dining here. The Egg Drop Soup and the steamed dumplings rounded out a surprisingly good meal.
We grabbed a take out menu on the way out the door to see what we could order on the next visit. The complaints were minuscule with me thinking the hot tea was just water. We like the space because you have the option of sitting at the Hibachi or just relaxing at a nearby table. Benihana should really be listening here so you don’t have to sit with total strangers.
AND, we got to watch Wheel of Fortune on the HDTV! Seriously 3.99 stars in Rooster’s book.

I was alone and walked in about 8 PM one night last year. Took a few minutes to be seated, although it didn’t seem THAT busy. Lot’s of activity at the hibachi grill. I would have sat at the sushi bar, but I wasn’t even sure if that was even normal here. Nobody was sitting there and the only sushi chef behind the bar was a young girl bopping her head with the ubiquitous iPod earbuds plugged into her ears while she worked. Now sure I guess you expect me to go all sushi snob-​like and complain about a girl making sushi! And a young one at that. Not going there, but an iPod? Really?
I sit for 10 minutes without a menu or anyone acknowledging me. Finally a young man asks me if I needed a drink. Honestly he seemed like he wanted to do a good job, but I could tell he was only the bus boy. So I asked him for cold sake. He went in the back and emerged 5 minutes later with a small bottle of cold sake. He then he proudly exclaimed to me «I aint ever heard of cold sake before, but I found it for you!» I was quite proud for him as well since it obviously wasn’t his normal duty here. I sat there looking rather dumbstruck for another couple of minutes at my unopened bottle of cold sake. Nobody had opened it or provided the typical small cup or even wooden box to drink. I guess I was supposed to guzzle it like beer?
I looked over at the head-​bopping sushi chef again and just walked out. If I see better reviews of this place maybe I will give it a shot again. It really is convenient to us.

My wife and I have been going to Tokyo Teppan since it opened. They are very consistent in having great quality food. My wife loves their hot & sour soup, and I have a hard time ordering anything but the General Tso’s Chicken, as it is so good.
We don’t have a lot of experience with the more expensive sushi shops further north, but really like everything we have tried here. My wife loves their crunchy roll, and I usually ask for the Texas roll.
Their take-​out food also shares the same quality, and is always ready when I get there.
I used to have some issues understanding the waitress, and she seemed to have a difficult time understanding me as well, but it has improved a lot, and the other waitresses are great.

This is a popular neighborhood restaurant. I thought the sushi was fine, not great, but fine. I have yet to find great sushi in Austin and this was among the best we’ve had so far, actually. The tempura was very well done — very light, not greasy at all and tasty. We also had some seaweed salad — nice to find. The menu is varied with a combination of Japanese, steak and some Chinese dishes in a wide variety of price ranges — yeah, that was weird, but it tries to serve a not-​very-​diverse neighborhood and does so admirably. I thought the prices were fair (although sushi in Austin, in general, I think is about $ 1 per piece more expensive than on the west coast.) Service was good. the proprietor was very warm and friendly — something we don’t always find in restaurants around our way.
We had a really nice evening.

Oh MY GOD! this place is horrendous! I see the other reviewers using words like amazing and great– really puts me at odds with my fellow reviewers. I know I’m a major critic of Japanese ripoffs (hits close to home ok?) but this place is really terrible.
Ambiance is completely lacking, with all the fakey «Asia» shit– clearly not Japanese owned or operated. No good sake’s, no good tea (green or brown, or even mugicha in the summer) and the presentation looks like its from the «beginner’s guide to starting a crappy restaurant: Japanese»
This place is not (even close) to being Japanese food. The Staff, Owners, and source for the ingredients are Chinese. They cant pronounce it, cook it, or serve it correctly. Tempura is oily and soggy. Sushi was absolutely GROSS. Getting fish from HEB isn’t sushi. The Ikura was from a jar, and obviously old and out of date.
When returning the Ikura because it was clearly old (not firm and tasty, with a weird film on the eggs) I saw the owner/​chef dude glare at us and mumble something. Waitress came back and told us that it was fresh. Huh? I know the difference, and so does my 6 year old (Ikura is her favorite). I’d rather eat at a hospital cafeteria than this run down turd of a restaurant.