Seattle, the birthplace of the hipster, is known for its teriyaki.

FOR NEW TRANSPLANTS, THE SIMPLE DISH DOESN'T FIT THE NARRATIVE OF THE SHINY, NEW CITY (THRILLIST).

It's a bit ironic that something as simple and Americanized as teriyaki was so prominent in a city now known for its super hip, urban eats. And, the hipster attitude in Seattle has crowded out lowbrow places such as teriyaki joints - but nonetheless, it's still part of Seattle's fabric.

Sweet and sticky with sauce, all Seattle-style teriyaki stems from the basic formula Toshihiro Kasahara developed when he opened his first shop, Toshi’s Teriyaki, in 1976. The meat, traditionally chicken thighs slippery and brown from marinade, gets slapped on a hot grill. The high heat caramelizes the sugars, crisping the meat and leaving it with a crunch of barely burnt soy on the outside. Sliced into bite-size pieces, it’s served fanned out across a molded mound of white-as-snow rice, the sauce seeping down between the grains. The salad, like the meat, is sweet and crunchy, the iceberg lettuce and slivers of carrot and cabbage reminiscent of coleslaw, with only the rice vinaigrette separating it from old-school American picnic fare.

Nonetheless, I did a quick search to find a decent remaining teriyaki shop - they're like fast food in Seattle - and Kyoto Teriyaki was the closest. I ordered my chicken teriyaki, plus an egg roll. It comes with white rice and slaw salad. There was a giant bottle of teriyaki at the table that I slathered on, and I thought it was great! It's not a complex meal, but the chicken was moist, slightly crisp on the outside, and the teriyaki was sweet. If teriyaki joints were as plentiful here as they are in Seattle, I'd be in trouble.

Grade: A

So, a new Asian fusion restaurant has opened in Morgantown bringing a mix of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Thai dishes with it.

Green Tea Asian Fusion has opened on Burroughs Street (in the former Nonna's Bakery location across from The Wine Bar) and is under the same ownership as Asian Bistro in Northpointe Plaza. So, the two are very similar. Green Tea is like a mini Asian Bistro for this side of town.

There are just a handful of booths, a couple tables and some bar seating. The lights glow and cycle through bright colors, and the bar is lit up as well. It's simple, if not a bit sparse. A small case full of toys for purchase is available at the entrance (a nice way to keep kids entertained during dinner?).

The menu has standard items from Thai, Japanese, Korean, Chinese and sushi. It's hard to know what to order in a place like this, because it's just a mish-mash of cuisines. Not that I think that's bad - I think it creates its own cuisine in its own right. Some people poo-poo Americanized Chinese food, because it's not ~authentic~ but that is so dismissive to the cuisine in its own right. No, it's not native to its country of origin; instead, it has crafted dishes specifically tailored to American palates - and some places are doing it really damn well. That's respectable in its own right. Plus, it's always nice to have places like this for when you want sushi, but your friend wants Chinese.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So, Lisa and I took a long look over the menu and decided to just go all out and try a few different dishes. But first, we both ordered bubble teas. The mango was the original/most popular, so we went for that. These were deceptively giant. Light, fruity - I'm on board.


And, I already knew I wanted cheese dumplings, because they are my lifeblood. These did not disappoint. Very creamy, perfectly crispy outside (I think I like these folded over versions better than the folded up because they get more crisp). A sweet chili sauce for dipping - very tasty.

Lisa got the shumai - also delicious. I used to buy these at the Asian grocery store frozen, nuke them and pop them like popcorn. They're pretty cheap - like these - but so good nonetheless. Love these little things.

We got an order of General Tso's, because as you know, it's my benchmark for Chinese restaurants. Any decent Chinese restaurant should be able to make a good version of the most popular dish. So, it's a good way to start. And, I think this is a pretty solid rendition of it. The quality of the meat was good - not stringy or too dark. The sauce was sweet, just a touch of heat. It's what I was expecting, if not a little bit better quality. I was satisfied.


So, it came with soup and salad, which I passed to Lisa. Not my favorite parts of the meal. I'll occasionally go for the soup if it's chilly out, but otherwise, bring on the main dishes.

So, in additional to the General Tso's, we decided to try out the sushi menu and ordered the "Crunchy Unicorn Roll" because it just sounded so ridiculous. It was shrimp tempura, avocado, cream cheese topped with spicy crabmeat and crunch flakes. They definitely know how to put on a presentation. Take a look at these photos on Yelp. These were tasty; I'm not sure this combination of ingredients could not be tasty. It was maybe a touch dry with those crunchy things. Spicy mayo would take this up to another level. Spicy mayo takes everything up to the next level.

So, I think this is a nice addition. It has a little bit of all my favorites, and it's in a place that was void of this type of cuisine. Everything we had was good. I haven't tried anything yet that is an absolute "must-try," but the menu is large, so there is time to explore. And, I could see them doing a lot of takeout business since they're small. Or, delivery ... and since they're close to me, I might have to try them out sooner than I originally thought ...

Grade: A

It was a beautiful, sunny weekday evening. Blue skies, a little breeze and miles and miles of opportunity. Work was done for the day, but I didn't want to just retreat to my apartment and waste the beautiful weather. I texted Afton, "let's adventure." She responded: "OK!" She was on her way to pick me up before we even knew where we were going. She headed north, and I began searching through Urbanspoon and Yelp for good restaurants north of us. We settled on Mt. Lebanon so we didn't have to go into deep Pittsburgh, and we knew they had some cute little restaurants.



Little Tokyo popped up as a favorite - fresh sushi, the reviews said. The main location is in Mt. Lebanon, though they've opened a bistro in the Southside of Pittsburgh. We parked along the street and made our way in.

First, we received warm cloths. Ooh! That's nice. I wanted to wait until right before my meal to use them. Unfortunately, after not touching them for a few minutes, the waitress snatched them away, assuming we weren't interested. Bummer.



The menu has sushi - sashimi, nigiri, maki, hand rolls, as well as dishes like udon, hibachi and more.

I wanted to keep it fairly simple. If they claim good, fresh sushi, let's do it. I looked through a few different rolls figuring out what would be a good gauge. But then I saw the "First Date Roll," which says "it is so far the best seller in the house." That sounds promising.

The First Date Roll is crispy shrimp tempura with hot spicy tuna on top. It was eight pieces for about $12, so not too bad. I put in an order for my sushi roll and awaited this little plate of heaven.

First of all, it's beautiful. Giant tops of red tuna hid rolls of crunchy shrimp. So, I can see why it's a best-seller. Between the spicy tasty tuna and the crunchy tempura shrimp, the flavors are delicious. Delicious meal, fresh food and a really cute atmosphere. Nice time.






Grade: A

In a Kanawha City space that previously housed a Block buster is new restaurant Su-Tei. Su-Tei is a portmaneau of sushi and Thai - so think of the theme here as Asian fusion. And I've been wanting to try it out since I first wrote about it for the Daily Mail (and the Gazette later did, too).

From talking with the owner, I knew he had some restaurants he managed in New York City, and he was hoping to bring some of that vibe to Charleston. From the outside, you can see some glowing lanterns and long curtains, but it's not until you're inside that you get get that luxurious feel they were going for.

The dark woods and white leather furniture stands out against the gorgeous floors and other modern Asian decorative elements. There's even a garden and waterfall in the center of the restaurant, as well as a bar, sushi bar and private dining area. Carl was a bit less impressed with the ambiance - thinking it was a bit too trendy - but I thought it was lovely. And while there were some people dressed up, I felt fine wearing my jeans.

Okay, you can read all about that in my story. Let's move on here.

The service here was just, well, odd. I think our server was trying to crack jokes or be smooth, but it just wasn't working for him. Sorry.

However, my food was pretty damn good. They had a number of noodle and curry dishes, as well as sushi.

I ordered an Alaska roll - I think - which was salmon, cucumber and avocado. They were decent-sized rolls that were well done. Fresh, full of ingredients and good texture. I was a fan. So much so that I dropped one on the table and even ate it. Gross, I know. Oh well.

For my main entree, I ordered chicken pad thai. They give you the option to have it regular/medium or spicy. I went with regular, and Carl got his (with duck) spicy.

First, we got the miso and salad. I liked this soup much better than others mostly because there were a bunch of mushrooms. By bunch, I mean like three. But, hey. That works for me. The salad I always skip. But this ginger dressing was less offensive than most.

The pad thai, though. Mine was a bit more sweet and saucier than I've had in the past, but it was quite tasty. And it was a huge, huge portion. There were whole chunks of chicken - skin, too - mixed in. I could've gone without the skin, but it was kind of crispy enough to work. I really liked it, though. I think I wouldn't have minded a little heat to balance the sweetness. Always next time. And Carl's? Well, he didn't need a to-go box, so I think he enjoyed it.

Here they are on Yelp and TripAdvisor.

Grade: A

Just when I thought I was running out of the more popular restaurants in town, I saw this Kaifu Japanese Cuisine restaurant was rated fairly high on Urbanspoon. That led me to ask my friend Jessica her opinion of it. She was quite fond of this little place I hadn't heard of, so I knew I had to try it.

It could probably be in a nicer area of town, but there is a parking lot just behind there, so parking isn't crazy. It's just near the transit mall, so luckily we were there during the day time. It truly is tucked away, so it'd be pretty easy to miss.


When we walked in, there was only one other gentleman eating. That was good, though, because we got the immediate attention of the waitress who took our drink orders. They have special rolls on a board, and an avocado/shrimp one caught my eye. That, and I got a Philadelphia roll, which has typical salmon, cream cheese and cucumber. AND I got gyoza for an appetizer.

Gyoza is just a dumpling filled with a pork mixture and fried. Delicious with a side of sauce made of soy and vinegar.

Both of the rolls were good, too. They were fresh and sturdy. Full of flavor. And better quality than what you get at most West Virginia restaurants.

Jessica got a lunch box full of all kinds of goodies. So, that's an option, too.

Grade: A

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

For the past couple years, I have posted a ton of restaurant reviews. Some good, some bad, many indifferent. When my blog began to pick up some momentum, some restaurants that I've graded low, or maybe not so low, have contacted me in various ways. Some are angry, and some want to know how they can improve my experience.

Restaurant Redemption is a small series I've created that will allow me to give those restaurants who are keeping up with their social media (notably, my blog) and have made an attempt to rectify a poor or mediocre dining experience. For the restaurants that have contacted me, I'm giving it another dining go. For the most part, I will try a different dish and make note of the previous observations about the experience as a whole.

"Hi Candace, I'm the owner of Ichiban in Charleston. When I read your review I was so disappointed with the experience you had! Warm sushi is not the way it should be served! Please accept my apology for your bad experience. I would love for you to give us another try so we could hopefully change your mind? I think you write really nice reviews and I hope some day we could receive an A from you! Please ask for me if you come back. Thank you for your time and passion about great food!" Laura Lea Miller - August 14, 2011


So, it's been a while. But I wanted to try it again. I've gone to Ichiban for lunch, which I feel is a much better option because it always ends up being cheaper for me.

But on this day, I decided to try something I hadn't had before. I went with a firecracker roll for my new one and lobster maki roll. And a glass of wine. Because wine.

The firecracker is smart. It's a simple, but smart roll because all it's doing is adding some chili powder and chili oil to an otherwise crab, crunch and spicy mayo roll. But it adds a different kind of kick. Albeit the kick was a little much for me, so I tapped off some of the topping. Tasty, simple but unique.

The lobster roll was pretty good. It's the same as many other rolls that are just basically indulgent - cream cheese, avocado, lobster and topped with a sweet sauce - eel sauce. Quite tasty.

The problem with getting these more specialty rolls is that it is so much more expensive. I definitely left spending more than I had hoped to, but the quality of the sushi is better than my previous experience.

It's clear this is marketed as a more upscale sushi experience. And that's totally cool. I just wish I had the extra pocket change to dish out on it more often.