 |
|
|
|
(May 7, 2004)
Phoenix Pai is not a woman to be taken lightly. She is the creator of
many successful restaurants like Dragon Gate, Peony, and China Café.
So with all the credits in the world of Chinese cuisine, why then would
she open a Japanese-styled Teppanyaki restaurant and sushi bar in Round
Rock?
Well, because Round Rock needed one. And because like any entrepreneur,
Phoenix can delegate. So she hired the best cooks and servers, built
a very commodious restaurant, and the rest as they say, is history.
Tokyo Steakhouse is not a chain. It is unique, one
of a kind. Kind of like Phoenix actually. Teppanyaki is a technique
that uses a thick steel plate to grill meats, vegetables, seafood, chicken,
eggs, rice…pretty much anything you can think of. The technique
was popularized in America by Benihana founder Rocky Aoki. But it has
spread like wildfire over the US.
But let's start with the appetizers. On the last
visit we started with the Bento Box. This is a sampling of the sushi
and sashimi delights that Tokyo offers up. The box contained an ethereal
Kobe been sashimi, flash seared and in a delicious marinade. There was
also a delightful sweet shrimp and the peerless Uni or sea urchin in
an avocado. The box also contained fresh and tender morsels of maguro
sashimi that was in itself, a show stopper. I am not a huge fan of octopus,
but many are, and it is there in the Bento box as well. We also tried
the traditional tekka maki or tuna roll and it was infused with an infectious
flavor. Equally compelling was the salmon roll which had salmon skin,
Japanese sprouts, cucumber, burdock and bonito flakes. And we tried
nigiri sushi which included the hamachi or yellowtail, the sake or salmon,
and the lightly seared piece of tuna. All were fresh and exceptionally
tasty. And my wife's palate, timid lass that she is when it comes to
sushi, was pleased by the California and Philadelphia rolls which contain
all cooked fish like crabmeat and salmon along with avocado and cucumber.
Tokyo has one of the few Sushi masters in Texas and this guy knows his
trade.
Then it was time to head over to the Teppan grilling
station. Our cook for the evening was Air, who began by putting on a
show as he cracked and fried a couple of eggs, the binding for the fried
rice. He actually managed to break and hold one egg on the edge of his
spatula, pleasing the crowd. Then came a furious round of slicing and
dicing vegetables, building and enabling an onion volcano which shot
its fiery eruption almost a couple of feet in the air. We started with
an onion soup that was perfectly flavored. I really liked it. And then
he grilled scallops and shrimp, a sirloin steak, and two pieces of flounder.
All of which became, along with the earlier efforts, our dinner. We
liked it all very much although we found the flounder to a bit on the
dry side. At 450 degree grill heat, shellfish, chicken and beef seem
to grill better than fleshy fish. But Air was the man, in control of
the grill like a performance artist who owns his piece of the sidewalk.
Ask for him.
Tokyo Steakhouse is in the La Frontera Mall in Round
Rock on 1325, off Exit 250. It's big and boisterous and loud and a lot
of fun. This is not the place for intimate, candle-lit moments, So head
on out to Round Rock and say hello to Phoenix and the gang for good
sushi and teppanyaki and a whole lot more.
|
