When I have intentions of trying a new restaurant, it's usually quite deliberate. I have heard about it or saw its new opening, and I venture to try it.

That wasn't the case with Charleston's Hibachi Japanese Steakhouse. Nothing about it stuck out to me. Probably because I have seen about 1,000 other restaurants with this exact name, so it has taken on a sort of generic feel. But I passed it quite often considering it's near Target. And one day, while hungry and out and about, my friend and I went here instead of the couple of fast food places nearby.

It was nice inside, from what I saw - minus a few glitches, like an oddly placed sink and trash near the entrance. But the interior was clean And service was okay. We stood around looking puzzled for a minute when no one was at the front reception area.

Instead of hibachi, we just sat in the dining area for sushi. So this may be a different experience than had we been getting the full experience.

I ordered an appetizer - the eggrolls, which came out entirely too greasy and just unappealing all together. It felt like grease just spurted out when you tried to take a bite. Just no.

I got two rolls Salmon Dynamite: deep fried salmon, crab stick, avocado and spicy mayo on top. And a Special California Roll: crab, cucumber and avocado which is topped with baked crab and eel sauce. Not sure why I wanted to get the two most unhealthy rolls that day, but whatever.

The Salmon Dynamite was my favorite. The deep-frying was only on the outside, so the salmon inside is still mostly raw, save for the end pieces. But it's good. I appreciated the crunch on the outside with the spicy mayo sauce.

The Special California Roll was served hot, really. Which was interesting but different. It just simply had too much crab topping on top. It dominated the whole flavor of everything and made whatever was under it soggy.  Just meh.

However, I think it is less pricey than comparable places, and when I went, it wasn't too busy. So, not too bad of an option.

Grade: B

Friend and journalist superstar Ashley B. loves her some hibachi. Specifically, the Fujiyama Japanese Sushi and Steak House is her go-to. I accompanied her one Friday evening.

I ordered a chicken teriyaki hibachi dinner as well as West Virginia roll - which made me entirely happy. I love the West Virginia roll at Volcano in Morgantown, and it's essentially the same thing here - shrimp tempura, cream cheese, avocado, crab. Divine.

The soup and salad were the same as every other restaurant. The soup is a light broth; the salad has that awful ginger dressing that I abhor.

The actual hibachi portion was fun. Instead of shrimp, the chef tossed zucchini to each member at the grill. I - because I'm crazy - sometimes feel anxious about this. But it was good fun, and I was able to catch it so it didn't mess up my makeup like usual.

Anyway.

The chicken teriyaki was tasty. Your usual. The noodles, as usual, were tasty. And the vegetables were all great. I can't complain about my meal - just that it was exactly what I expected because I've had the exact same thing at every hibachi restaurant. It's like McDonald's, you can get the same burger all over the country.

With that said, it was still very good. Just nothing different, nothing surprising. I do love love the sushi roll, though. And I will probably go back for that alone. I haven't found that anywhere else in Charleston.

Grade: B

For one of my first nights in Charleston, a friend took me to Umami - a new sushi restaurant in the East End. Umami is supposed to be the fifth sense of taste - most often the mushroom is used as an example for this flavor.

Umami is located on Washington Street East, next door to the locally famous Main Kwong. The owners of the two businesses are said to be friends.

Parking is around the back of the building, and I haven't seen that get too busy yet. The interior has clean lines and vibrant colors, and the menu has around 100 dishes, many of which being sushi rolls. I like that they denoted the rolls without raw items. They also have a hibachi grill.


I got a spicy California roll and an eagle roll. The spicy California is pretty straight forward, but I did appreciate their spicy mayo sauce. It had a little tang, but not too much. And the eagle roll was pretty tasty - tempura shrimp, avocado and spider sauce. I think the difference between mediocre sushi and sushi that blows you away is the freshness. Umami is fresh. Simple ingredients, but fresh and prepared correctly make all the difference. For under $15, you can't really beat it.

Umami Sushi and Hibachi Grill, 1401 Washington St. E., is open from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and then again from 4 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. On Saturday, it is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. On Sunday, it is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Call 304-343-8989 for more info.

Grade: A

I went to Fujiyama in Fairmont a while back because I just wanted a change from Morgantown sushi joints. It seems as though there's a small chain of Fujiyama Japanese Steakhouses, but this one looks to be unrelated.

Located at 422 Marion Square, the restaurant instilled some trepidation in my veins upon approaching it. The area doesn't seem to have been updated very recently, and the building? Looks like a solid double-wide trailer.

Walking inside, though, is a different story. The decor is sleek and elegant. Not something I was expecting. But it is modern and made me feel more at ease.

I ordered crab rangoons that were out. of. this. world. I really have developed a preference for the super creamy, indulgent ones. Most takeout places have this blocky, chunky mixture inside, but this was the opposite. Something about the crunchy exterior and the smooth center does something to my tastebuds. This just got all sorts of romantic novel-like. Moving on.

I ordered two rolls: a boring Hollywood Roll - cream cheese, avocado, crab roll. I tend to do these "buffer" rolls in case I'm not a fan of the other. Can you go wrong with crab, avocado and cream cheese? Not in my book. It's always a solid choice.

 The other roll I ordered was the Bayridge Roll, and it included salmon, asparagus, crab, and cream cheese, and was topped with masago, eel sauce, spicy mayo and house mayo. It was different, but also tasty - maybe the combination of a thousand sauces making it sweet and tangy had something to do with it.

Grade: B

Of the two hibachi restaurants in Morgantown, I had only gone to Fujiyama until recently. That needed to change before my time in Morgantown expires. Hibachi Japanese Steak House is located along University Avenue, and the exterior has probably seen better days. But don't let it discourage you.

Walking inside, you can see some age on the walls. I know the restaurant has been around since I've been here - so 6 years at least. But it's cool and that they have little eclectic momentos and decorations that they've gathered over time. We actually opted not to do the hibachi show and instead just took a table. We were seated right in front of the sushi bar, which was great to see the fresh fish and chef making rolls right in front of us.


The menus were kind of overwhelming, to be honest. While they were interesting - it was slightly difficult to navigate, and I felt like I had to look at three separate places for the kinds of sushi. Or maybe I'm stupid. I decided on the chicken teriyaki dinner and an order of pizza rolls. Pizza rolls? They're a specialty sushi with crab, shrimp, avocado, spicy mayo, crunchies and smelt roe.

They first brought out the salad and miso soup. While the soup was on the more bland side, the salad was better than I've had before. I typically don't enjoy the ginger dressing, but this was smooth and more like Thousand Island dressing.


Next was my sushi. It was very tasty. Fresh ingredients, good flavors, firm texture. Definitely good. It was even in a cute little flower arrangement. Side note: I noticed the sushi chef was not Japanese. And, he's also the head sushi chef. So that was interesting. You don't see that every day. But he seemed really good and really sweet, too.

After sushi, my plate of noodles came out. That's not typically how it's served - usually all three portions of the combo meal are served together. So it was weird to just have the noodles, but soon after the chicken and the veggies came out, too.

The noodles were tasty, as were the veggies. The chicken was pretty average. I was really looking forward to the "yum yum" sauce, but in fact, no sauce was in sight. We asked about the sauce a little later, and our server apologized and brought it out. Might I add our server was actually great - super helpful, super kind.

But the sauce we got, I wasn't super impressed with. It wasn't the creamy "yum yum"; it was more tangy - more of a bite to it. So, it was okay, just not ideal.

Overall, I liked the service, the sushi, and the noodles. The chicken itself wasn't super flavorful, and the sauces didn't help a whole lot. But it's still a fun environment. And if you're into getting pieces of seafood chucked at your face, you might want to hit up the kitchen. If you're one of those guys who is gifted with that, I'm envious.


Grade: B

A friend wanted to get out of town and try sushi in Washington, PA. Or as I call it, "Little Washington." We headed up to Fusion Steakhouse, which is a Japanese hibachi that has a few locations locally.

As soon as we walked in, I realized how incredibly loud and packed it was. This place was super busy. We didn't opt for the hibachi - just a seat in the restaurant - so we got to move to the front of the line. As we walked through the hibachi area, you could hear people cheering for the chefs and loud music playing. It was almost a mix between a nightclub and restaurant.

It took a while for the server to get to us because they were so busy, I assume. But once she did, she made it clear she was in a hurry by plopping our menus down quickly and rushing for our drinks. 

I got the Sunset Roll, which is crispy shrimp tempura and avocado on the inside, topped with crab and smokey cream sauce. I also got a spicy California roll. Both of them were actually quite tasty. The Sunset Roll is similar to my favorite at Volcano - the WV roll. The sushi was fresh, a good temperature, and tightly rolled. The flavors melded together seamlessly, and I ate every last roll.

For dessert, I ordered a Reese's pie. While not made in-house, it was decadent, chocolatey, peanut buttery and hit every "mm" zone. I'd totally go back to this place if you want out of the typical Morgantown rut occasionally. 

Grade: A

FINALLY - I've been able to try this place out. Chris and I have been dating for almost two years, and we've only been here once. He wasn't thrilled with our first experience, before I started blogging, so we never went back - until recently, when I finally convinced him to give it another shot.

Located near Walmart, Kimono Japanese Seafood, I think, is probably one of, if not the, nicest restaurants in Princeton. It's a Japanese hibachi house, and it is always busy. It's not huge, by any means, but that has no bearing on the food.

When we walked in, we decided to not do the hibachi part and go for the dining room. It was fun, though, because the chefs were right beside us anyway. There wasn't a huge division between the dining areas like the other hibachi restaurants I've been to. So I got to check out the chefs' skills, too.


We took a few minutes looking over the menu, and I noticed the manager walking by us, lingering. I'm not sure why, but on more than a handful of times, he was hovering over us. Maybe we looked like hooligans, I don't know. But it was kind of bizarre.

After a few minutes, we were reading to order. And order, we did: a kimono roll, a salmon roll and two orders of the hibachi teriyaki chicken. First, some spring rolls were brought out with a huge bowl of yum-yum sauce. Spring rolls were light, crispy on outside. Pretty tasty. Next, we had a small salad with ginger dressing and some miso soup. I wasn't a fan of either of these. I never like the ginger dressing, and this miso soup was only lukewarm and was simply the broth. I like when there's a little mushroom or tofu in there.

The sushi came out next. Chris' salmon and cream cheese rolls were good. Basic, but fresh, and tasty. My roll consisted of a crab stick, avocado, crunches, tobiko on top with "special sauce." This, too, wasn't bad. The sauce was spicier than I was expecting, but it was tasty. Basic roll with a kick, and I was happy.

Soon after, we saw a little sliding panel to the kitchen open, set two plates of food on the tray and close. It was a cute little touch, and an easy way for the waiters to grab the food from the kitchen. Our plates of teriyaki chicken, with sides of rice and vegetables were delicious. The veggies nearly melted in my mouth, and my heaping helping of rice helped soak up some of the teriyaki. The chicken was a little on the slimy side, but that could've just been how they applied the sauce. With large portions, the price is a little more justifiable. I think our total came to $50. If it wasn't for the leering manager and salad/soup/texture issues, it'd be an A.

Grade: B