Kashiwa Hibachi Express is a food truck in South Charleston focusing on hibachi favorites like chicken, steak or shrimp, veggies and rice or noodles.



I went the route of shrimp & scallops over noodles. Plus the veggies - because zucchini is one of my favs. The food was all good, but my main detraction is that everything becomes one soft texture. If there was a bit more of a sear, I think it would give the variance needed.



Grade: B

Yamato Japanese Steakhouse in Logan is pretty standard in terms of small-town hibachi restaurants. They have a teppanyaki grill, an assortment of specialty sushi rolls and a host of other generally Asian dishes to please the whole crowd.



They have "Louisiana Seafood Platters" and poke bowls and ramen and bento boxes. I ordered the crab rangoons - a bit too sweet and a bit too cool.



The steak hibachi meal was ol' reliable, though it didn't have the much-needed teriyaki and yum-yum sauce. We also tried the Volcano Roll - Shrimp tempura, cream cheese topped w. spicy crab meat and tempura flake, spicy mayo, eel sauce. This wasn't bad, but the sauces were too much and took over the flavor.



Grade: B

Rakku is a pan-Asian restaurant that offere everything from sushi and hibachi to Orange Chicken and ramen - the latter of which is relatively uncommon to find in West Virginia.



I wasn't in the mood for ramen on this particular day so I went for a few other things. Starting with, of course, crab rangoons. Imitation crab, cream cheese all wrapped up and fried. These are such a guilty pleasure; I will get these everywhere. I did like the shape of these because there's that big pocket of cheese and I can discard the too-crunchy ends.



I also ordered two rolls: The West Virginia Roll and a shrimp tempura roll. The former is "Deep fried, crabmeat, avocado, cream cheese, Chef's sauce." This is usually my go-to combo (again, guilty pleasure) but the fried portion has been taking over my palate and the overwhelming flavor is oil.



The shrimp tempura roll is a more reliable go-to and doesn't make everything taste oily. A bit crunchy, a bit creamy. That's the balance I enjoy.



Grade: B

I don't ever remember spending any time at the Highlands area of Wheeling growing up, but as an adult, I have visited a few times to check it out.



Mostly, as you could've guessed, to check out new restaurants. 



There are a number of chains, but there are also a handful of locally owned places - including a DiCarlo's, Mexican restaurant and a hibachi restaurant.



My parents and I went to Fusion Steakhouse, a hibachi restaurant that features a teppanyaki, which is a Japanese style of cooking on a griddle right in front of you. It's like a meal with a show. 



This location is connected to ones in Morgantown, Parkersburg, Washington PA, and Grove City, Ohio.



But we went a more low-key route and just dined in the main dining room. We started with some vegetable tempura, which I really liked the squash or pumpkin they had in there! 



We also tried their "Chicken Zingers," which were deep-fried bite-sized pieces of white meat chicken covered in their tari sweet & sour sauce. These were a classic sweet and sour dish that was a satisfying bite. 



My mom went with some hibachi steak, which she enjoyed and had leftovers for days.



And dad went with a General Tso's Chicken, which is always a classic. Crisp, tender, spicy, tangy sauce.

 
And I went with some cream cheese wontons and a sushi roll: a california roll topped with shrimp tempura and eel and spicy mayo sauce. So tasty. 



I like the comforting reliability of this hibachi chain, and they have enough of a variety to appease a number of appetites. On this day, everything was tasty and fresh, and I left happy and full.

Grade: A

My good friend Tom and I were in the mood for some sushi, so we checked out Sakura in Cross Lanes for something different.



Sakura has a little bit of everything - hibachi, sushi, udon, etc.



They have about 30 specialty rolls, but I decided to go with the namesake Sakura: tempura shrimp, spicy tuna, cream cheese, avocado deep fried and topped with crunchies, eel sauce, mayo and spicy mayo.







Crab rangoons are a must everywhere I go. These were creamy!



Gyoza, on Tom's request.



Sakura Roll is totally deep-fried.



West Virginia Roll - tempura shrimp, avocado, cream cheese, topped with tempura crab meat, spicy mayo and eel sauce.

What's your favorite item on the menu?

Hibachi Japanese Steakhouse is located on Corridor G, and it seemed like a good option for a Valentine's Day with two of my fav gals: Kayla and Leah.


Hibachi is pretty standard across the board - you know you can get a number of proteins, with a side of vegetables and rice or noodles. Some also offer a sushi menu.


We didn't sit at the grill - teppanyaki - but got a table near the sushi bar instead.


Edamame




House salad with ginger dressing.







Soup





Tornado Roll - avocado, cream cheese, crab on a crispy bed of potato strings



Teriyaki Chicken hibachi with noodles

(Aaaand I just realized I've actually been to this place before. So, consider this an update!)

If I had to pick some of my favorite foods in the world, they'd probably be sushi, caramel, ice cream, s'mores, Chinese food, macaroni and cheese, lasagna ... and more sushi. RL and I are always on the hunt for some good sushi, so while in Vienna, we stopped at Tokyo, which boasts thai, sushi and hibachi.

We were there, literally, as soon as it opened, so it was empty. We were quickly served miso soup, which is always eh to me. Looking over the menu, I skipped straight to the specialty rolls section to see what kind of trouble we could get ourselves into.

Side note: I completely missed out on the special rolls written on the white board - lobster, godzilla both sounded good. But I didn't see them until it was too late.

We ended up ordering a Tokyo Roll (fried shimp tempura, spicy tuna, avocado, spicy mayo and eel sauce) and a Yum-Yum Roll (fried crabstick, cream cheese, cucumber, avocado, topped with crabstick, crunchy, spicy mayo and eel sauce). We also got a side of hibachi noodles because yum.

Noodles were fine; they only gave us the "yum yum" sauce and not the other. But that's OK. I should've opted for some veggies in there so there was a textural difference. Still good.

The sushi, which I didn't realize, was all fried. I was thinking there were just fried pieces inside. But, that's my bad. The Tokyo roll is quite large, making it a bit difficult to eat, but flavors are good. But I liked the Yum-Yum Roll better. The fried part wasn't overwhelming since there were a lot of other ingredients happening. The spicy mayo and eel sauce can make anything better, I think. Add some cream cheese and crab or shrimp - and you have a delicious combo. It may not even be considered sushi anymore, but it's pretty tasty.

Grade: B