OTANI Japanese Steak & Seafood

I’ve been twice. About four months apart between my two visits. 1^st visit (in October) was 5 stars. But I went at night, for the hibachi show for my daughters birthday dinner. They were great, extremely attentive. Glasses always full. Above and beyond great service and food was amazing as well. My second visit was for their lunch special. The place wasn’t busy much to my surprise. The wait staff seated us right away; brought drinks quickly. But they never returned to ask to refill our drinks or ask if we needed anything else. The food on their lunch special buffet was pretty decent if you like sushi (it’s ten bucks). But it’s no where near at all what you receive at night. It’s night and day difference. For this, over all, I give three stars. Come at night it’s a five star place. Come during day and it’s just mediocre.

I stopped here for the sushi lunch buffet and although this restaurant only had 3 stars, I wanted to be optimistic and give them a try.
I was greeted warmly and welcomed to the restaurant in a pleasant way, but the food was less than appealing. I ended up eating one small plate, paying the bill, and stopping again on my way back to work. The sushi selection was minimal, not very fresh (left under plastic wrap covers), and was made up of very small pieces of fish coated with gobs of rice. Ok, so it was a 9.95 lunch buffet, what can I expect right? I guess I learned my lesson. Low reviews for poor quality. Maybe they’re hibachi dinners are better, but I won’t be returning to find out.
Pleasant service is the only reason they get 2 stars.

Will not be visiting here again. Service is extremely poor and

We were seated and they made us Wait a long time about 45 min for the habachi. The scallops and shrimp not tasty although grilled. The scallops were not cooked enough. The fire grilling show was interesting in some parts and in others the cook was sloppy. Sause was on my clothes, he put flames too close to us and slopped vegs snd noodles onto my plate. My onions were still raw although grilled. Kids will love the show. It is overpriced even with Groupon. A Groupon will put restrictions on what one can order at habachi.

Pros: Great food, fun environment, good service.
Cons: Pricey, overcrowded
Landed a groupon deal so i took my daughter here. I called and made a reservation at 5:30. Upon arrival my reservation was nowhere to be found. We were given a seat within 5 minutes so it wasnt a big deal.
Food was great, chef knew all the usual tricks, and the service was quick. The atmosphere was friendly.
As the night went on it started to get very crowded. Crowded to the point we have to shoulder our way through a crowd to exit the building. It was a small wonder the last few minutes of the meal felt rushed. But i dont blame them.
Meal for a family of three was around $ 90.
Overall a good place.

I love this place! Fun and inviting atmosphere with great food. Our waiter Dash killed it! He was so much fun and gave us all a great experience.

We couldn’t figure out what to east for dinner. Since there was a Unilocal «coupon» we decided on otani. It’s just like any hibachi place. I’m actually not a fan of hibachi but I thought the kids and husband would like it and not having to cook makes me not picky. The staff here is very friendly. Our 1 year old made friends with the hostess and chef. The chef even gladly took the half eaten lettuce leaf my son graciously offered. He interacted with our 7 year old and most definately was not like a robot. It’s nice when restaurants are happy you brought your kids. Both kids had a blast as the chef went the extra mile to make them happy. They were so mesmerized by the man that they ate more than they normally would. The 7 year old even ate his whole salad.

I cannot remember the last time that I walked out of a restaurant as upset as I did during my visit here. If I could give this place negative 5 stars I would. I’ve been avoiding this review only because I don’t like to bash an establishment but this place is borderline deserving of it.
A groupon brought me here. I decided to give it a try since it was close to work and a friend met up with me. They informed us that we both couldn’t use our groupon’s even though we were paying separately because we were a «group», which we understood and respected. No biggie.
The waitress went on taking our orders. She showed me their triple combination on the menu which she stated included their Chicken, Rib Eye Steak and Shrimp (Great! Just what I wanted). I was surprised that we weren’t offered an appetizer, like other Steakhouses, but still, let it slide.
A few minutes go by and the waitress brings out the broth soup, which had 1 small piece of mushroom and some noodles towards the bottom which was unusual for me. Other places usually just have the mushrooms and green onion, again, No Biggie! The salad that came out was completely tasteless. The dressing was watered down and didn’t taste like anything i’ve had before. While I was eating the soup/​salad I was observing their stove top and it was VERY dirty. I understand that they cook on it all day but i thought they had to conduct a deep cleaning of it after every meal? Anyways… moving on…
When the chef came out, and started adding the vegetables to the stove, i noticed that they only had yellow squash and carrots, which I thought again was odd. Usually at other Japanese Steak houses they have a larger selection of Veggies! Then I noticed that he added noodles to the grill, which made me think, «okay, perhaps this is a substitute for the lack of veggies» and the fact that we didn’t get an appetizer?
The Chef was sooooo «meh, hate this place, don’t want to be here» the entire time that it made me feel very awkward. But in his defense, it was late and after work so he may have just been a little tired?
Super long story short, the check came out. They charged me an extra $ 6 for 2 unidentified items. I asked the manager what those were for and he pointed out that 1. I requested fried rice, (WHAT? Noooo… I got the same rice that every one else got) 2. I requested for the Rib Eye steak, «Oh, what steak usually comes with it?» his response «i don’t know, regular steak»… and, lets just say that he pushed me away, didn’t care about what I had to say and told me that «if you want to be unhappy then that’s your own problem, that’s not my problem»…EVERYTHING spiraled down from there. To the point that his waitress was on my side and she was telling him that he cannot charge me extra for those items. She kept repeating, «she’s right, she’s right» the whole time.
Again, I have NEVER been to a Japanese restaurant so dirty and have NEVER been to any restaurant where i’ve had to deal with a rude manager such as him. I thought it was the managers job to fix things and help an unhappy customer understand the situation instead of being rude to them.
I would have rather paid an additional $ 30 and dealt with a respectable manager than be treated like shit and thrown out of this restaurant. The money is NEVER an issue but attitude means EVERYTHING and this manager needs to re-​evaluate his attitude towards his customers.

Still in the parking lot while I am writing this review. I have been to Otani a few times before. Never been impressed but no complaints too. So we thought why not grab a quick bite after a happy hour. Well weren’t we wrong. We got seated ourselves and no server came to us for 30 min. Then a server came and took our order. No one came back, no food for 45 min. Then another server comes and asks if our order has been taken. We told her, ya 45 min ago. So another sever brings sushi 10 min later and the first sever gets soup and salad. So we have soup, salad and sushi all together in our table an hour later. The sushi literally was stale and smelled. We ate one piece each and and asked for the check. $ 40 later we are still hungry and heading to McDonald’s.
Otani we are never coming back. Disappointing to say the least.

This was my first time here and went for lunch. We didn’t know the coupon was only for dinner. We decided to do the lunch buffet, which was $ 10 for sushi, fried rice, lo mein, some tempura. Honestly the food was not that good, but you can’t expect much for $ 10. For the sushi, their rolls didn’t have enough fish in it. I felt like I was mostly eating rice. The vegetable tempura was warm on the outside but when biting into it. it was cold. The miso soup was also too bland.
This buffet was definitely more quantity over quality so I guess that’s not bad for $ 10.

I come here nearly every week — usually for sushi.
When I worked across the street at Quest

Update to my previous, 3-​star review; the one written after ordering sushi off the menu at lunch. This time, I decided to try the lunch buffet (a steal at $ 9.95 for all-​you-​can-​eat, if you ask me!).
They have both hot and cold offerings, including but not limited to gyoza, hibachi chicken, fried rice, noodles, mushrooms, tempura vegetables, and soup. They also offer 6 – 8 different sushi rolls; a small but respectable assortment of the standard cali and spicy tuna rolls, but also offer eel rolls (uncommon for a buffet IMHO) as well as a few of their fried rolls.
The sushi chef can hardly keep up with demand, so you run the risk of cruising by with nothing left of one or more of the rolls, but he certainly makes an effort to try. Plus, the place is small enough that you can scope the buffet from afar and watch for them to put out fresh.
They must’ve gotten the message about the rave-​style music, because it was turned down enough for conversation this time, too. I would definitely come back here for the lunch buffet, but I might plan to come early to make sure the sushi bar is stocked for my empty tummy!

I had such a great time in here. Good food, great chef and best sushi around Chantilly. It’s my favorite restaurant now.
Take it special ROLL!!! Fantastic!!!

Good food & good chef, but god awful service.
I am not hard to please when it comes to service, but they succeeded in royally pissing me off to the point where I had to hold in all the things I wanted scream at them.
Such a shame! I remember when this place use to be amazing years ago!

Love the place, very nice service and love the presentation … Very friendly workers
Amazing food cooked just right. Loved the steak
Would go again :)

I have been here twice. The last time I went I was almost poisoned. I asked for «sea urchin» (UNI). This is something that you cannot always find because its hard to keep it fresh. So, in fact, I was served some by the «sushi chef» and the edge were BROWN AND CRISPY? Are you kidding me? I sent it back and then he gave me some fresh UNI. It was the right color, light brown, not dark and black. I was pissed he tried to slide that by me. I know allot of people would have eaten that but I go to Japan every year, so I know what is acceptable. And that is fresh.
I also ordered SABA (Mackerel). It was frozen at one point I can tell. It was also very salty for some reason. Really bad. Was not fresh at all. The Miso soup was not hot and tasted like instant soup. The small salad tasted like it has the MacDonald Big Mac secret sauce on it.
I wont go back. This place needs to be more careful.
Thanks.

I give Otani a 3.5 — a 3 for its hibachi, and a 4 for its sushi.
The first time I came here, a few friends and I dined hibachi-​style. I’m not sure if it was that particular chef, or the training program there, but the performance seemed very lackluster and tame. There weren’t flames flying like what I’m used to seeing — perhaps because there were children also at the table with us. It was more of a «cute» show than a funny, exciting, impressive one — the chef made lots of heart shapes for the ladies at the table, etc. As far as the food, I had no complaints, everything was very tasty. It just seemed overpriced considering the show compared to others I’ve seen.
The next time I came to Otani was for takeout when my boyfriend and I were craving sushi. We put in an order online for takeout, and when I went over to pick it up, it seemed like they hadn’t started the order yet. There was some talking in the back and then I was offered a drink. I declined, but waited for about 15 – 20 minutes for the order. However, when we opened the styrofoam boxes at home, we saw it was well worth the wait. Everything was spectacularly delicious, fresh, and looked BEAUTIFUL even though it was takeout. The sushi artists spent time to make everything look nice, and the taste combinations were superb.
I will absolutely return to Otani for their amazing sushi!

Based off some similar reviews I have to say this was a 3.5 in my book! I was greeted immediately as I waited for my friend to arrive; the staff is very friendly and attentive, they get a 5 star! Food was pretty tasty, I noticed the buffet was not refilled while we were there, we arrived around 1 and it ends at 2; I don’t think new food was prepared even before we arrived because it was somewhat slim pickins but delicious. I would’ve liked to see fresh food brought out as we were eating for an hour because when we buffet, we buffet. I am a 2 – 3 plate lady and here I was able to get a plate and a half based off what was still available. Perhaps coming at noon would be best in the future, and believe me I will be back. hibachi buffet for $ 9.95?! Yes, please!

My wife and I love eating at Otani’s. We consider ourselves connoisseurs of Japanese Hibachi Steakhouses and find the sauces provide the biggest differentiation for us. I personally find the ginger and horseradish sauces at Otani’s the best around. Lately though you have to ask for the horseradish as they by default serve you yum yum sauce instead.
Go on a weeknight or early on the weekend because this place is quite popular. We are typically early diners though and rarely have to wait for more than a couple minutes. There is a bar tucked in the corner if you do have time to kill waiting. Going during the week before 6pm can nab you a 15% discount as well.
The menu is typical for hibachi joints. You start with a soup followed by a tossed salad with ginger dressing. The chef then arrives and verifies your orders. You can choose from chicken, steak, filet, shrimp, scallops, calamari, lobster or some combination thereof. I love the filet while my wife always goes for scallops. Fried rice in lieu of steamed white rice is $ 2 extra but well worth it. They will also cook up veggies and noodles with your choice for a completely full plate of food that one probably shouldn’t eat in one sitting. We frequently leave with a box for the next day.
A couple random tidbits. On more than one occasion the chef did not prepare the mushrooms one should receive when ordering steak or filet. Not sure if that was laziness or an oversight but I always call them out on it. They do a nice bit for birthdays with a drum if you would like to draw attention to yourself or someone else on that special day. My wife has sworn off their house wines saying they have lately been tasting flat as if they have been sitting around open for a few days. She has joined me with their excellent selection of bottled Japanese beers.
Overall a great place for dinner and a «show». Apart from the above points, my only other complaint is that it is getting pricy. A combination of two entrees is $ 32 which I feel is a little steep for what you get. I stick with a single entrée and feel like it’s a fair deal.

My daughter loves hibachi so I make it a point to take her out to them on occasion because the price can be expensive. You are paying for the cooking entertainment more than the food but that can be well worth the price at the right location.
The waitress that seated us was very sweet, kind and attentive especially with my daughter. Our drinks were quickly brought out and we were served the standard course of soup and salad.
The broth was very watered down and flavorless. It tasted more like onion water. My suggestion would be to make richer broth or switch to a miso.
The salad had a very mayoish bland dressing and lots of it too. Less dressing or a different one all together would have been better.
The chef we had make our meal seemed tired and not really into entertaining that night. Which was sad because my daughter was really looking forward to more of a show. He did a few standard tricks but it felt rushed and short. The food was just edible but tasteless and greasy. I didn’t eat the fried rice because he had drenched it in too much oil and it had no flavor.
The atmosphere was nice, polite and kind staff and it has potential to be better. I don’t think we’ll becoming back though.
No one wants to spend $ 50 for another disappointment.