Nagoya Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi

Recently Dave & I took a romantic roadtrip thanks to the Lake Erie Shores & Islands. As part of the trip, they provided a meal at Nagoya Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi.

It’s one of the premier restaurants in the area. While on our romantic fall getaway, we mentioned to various people from the area that our dinner plans for Saturday night included Nagoya, their eyes lit up and they all said, “Ooh, you’ll love it!”

They were right.

Nagoya is a wonderful restaurant decorated with the eloquence of a very fancy night out. We were a little concerned at first because we didn’t bring dress clothes with us, but I went to the restaurant in a nice sweater and jeans and Tired Dad Dave had a button down shirt and jeans and we fit right in.

The staff at the steakhouse went above and beyond, which made for a wonderful evening. Our waitress was kind and prompt and offered wonderful recommendations. Our hibachi chef was hilarious and talented. And the busboy was very nice and conversed with us as he cleaned the table. The manager was also incredibly warm, gracious, and attentive.

Tired Dad Dave and I love sushi but haven’t had it in ages, so we were very excited to read through the menu and see a superb selection with many varieties.

After much discussion, we decided to give the Jersey Roll a try:

The Jersey Roll was made with soft shell crab and crab mix. It was topped with eel and avocado. I have to admit, I was a little nervous about the eel but the entire roll was delicious and I would definitely order it again.

All of the hibachi dinners came with soup, salad, hibachi shrimp appetizers, fresh vegatables, and rice. Tired Dad Dave and I both ordered Hibachi Filet Mignon & Scallops. We don’t normally order the same thing, in fact we make it a practice not to so we can try multiple meals, but it sounded so good and came highly recommended so we both had to try it.

We were both thrilled with our selection. Everything was cooked so well, we could cut it with a fork. Both the filet and the scallops were tender and juicy, while the vegetables and rice filled out the delicious dinner nicely.

At the end of the meal, Tired Dad Dave and I agreed that we were both happy we ordered the same thing because the food was so good we would have been reluctant to share!

We were so full after the filet and scallops that we couldn’t even think about dessert. However, when we saw the Mochi Ice Cream we knew we could make a little room. After all it’s bite-sized and how could we not try something that looks as good as this?

Mochi Ice Cream is pounded sticky rice on the outside with an ice cream filling. We tried the strawberry and it was outstanding! In fact, I enjoyed the Mochi Ice Cream so much I’ve found myself thinking about it every day since we’ve been back and I’m not usually a big fan of ice cream. Especially when it’s 35 degrees outside!

While I’ve spent a majority of this post talking about the food, it is only half of the dining experience at Nagoya. Having our food prepared by our hibachi chef was as fun and entertaining as our food was delicious. Our chef showed off his knife skills, caught an egg in his pocket and bounced another on a spatula without breaking it and then cracked it in mid-air on the side of the spatula. He also tossed a number of things in his hat and made an onion volcano:

Not only was our chef talented on the hibachi grill itself, but he was very funny too and had us all laughing throughout the dinner preparation. One of the highlights of our meal came when the chef expected all of the diners to catch pieces of chicken in our mouths. I found it hilarious that we were at a very nice restaurant with the chef cooking before us and then suddenly he’s tossing food at us! Chicken was bouncing off of people’s faces, one landed on the bridge of my nose, numerous pieces ended up on the floor, while a few did actually land in our mouths. The whole thing had Tired Dad Dave and I laughing so hard we had tears in our eyes.

We had an amazing time at Nagoya Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi and if you’re ever in the area, we suggest you stop in for an amazing meal. The food is magnificent and the entertainment is memorable. It will be an evening, you won’t forget.

What about you? Have you ever been to a Hibachi Steakhouse?