Monday, November 26, 2007

Review: Nagoya Japanese Steakhouse, Perrysburg

I should preface, Japanese cuisine is an all time favorite of mine, so I hold Japanese Steakhouses, and the like, up to very high standards.

Nagoya is located in the back part of Levis Commons in Perrysburg. It is not, in any way, within walkable distance to the main shopping area. There is also not much parking available in front of the restaurant, only behind the building, so that too, is quite a hike. However, Nagoya did redeem itself with it's wonderful complimentary valet parking. The attendants we very nice, and I hope that they continue this service...at least until the ground thaws!

Walking it, you are met with trendy "asian bistro"-esque decor, lots of minimalism, and of course, no self repescting sushi serving resturant would be complete without a gigantic fish tank. Ironic. The bar area was huge, and there were lots of tables, which was a plus, even with reservations, we waited about 10 minutes for our table.

We had a reservation for 8, and like most Japanese Steakhouses with Habachi (cook in front of you) grills, you either need to go with a large group, or be comfortable with being seated with a group of total strangers (and that is WAY annoying to me, because it's always a birthday or something, and your table is inodated with banging gongs and singing chefs, and then you have to pretend to be excited for a TOTAL stranger, and clap when they blow their candle out of their pineapple...lame).

Menu wise, it is pretty comparable to every other Habachi I opening up in the NWO area. Appetizers ranged from $5-$20. Meal wise, it was anywhere from $18-$30, and that included the standard soup, salad, steamed rice, veggies and 2 piece shrimp appetizer with your meal.

I started with some sushi, Cali roll (standard) and the lobster tsunami (lobster, radish, avocado, asparagus, carrot). DELISH! Sushi wise, it is quite honestly the best I have EVER had. The crab and lobster were so fresh, and had an amazing crisp taste! Plus the low sodium and regular soy sauce were both on the table, and I didn't have to ask, and then wait forever for the low sodium...so that is always convenient.

Working through the courses. The soup was bland, not very appetizing. The savior was the 10 fried onions floating in it, otherwise, it would have no taste, and that really should be a rather strong chicken consume. The salad was okay, the ginger dressing was kinda on the sweet side, which I know some prefer, I like it more bitter and with more bite, but it wasn't bad.

For the meal, I both ordered the steak and shrimp ($27), and it was also very good. They provided the standard ginger based and yum-yum dipping sauces, and I am always a fan of the ginger one, and it was delish...the yum-yum sauce was kinda lacking though. Not my fave, I rather prefer when they provide a more mustardy second sauce. They tossed my steak and my vegetables with some toasted sesame seeds, and that was wonderful! They can do a fried rice for you, that they prepare on the Habachi in front of you, but I opted for steamed rice, and I got a lot of it! Veggie wise, it was broccoli, zucchini, onion, mushroom and carrots tossed in soy sauce and sesame seeds...also all good. I was kinda disappointed in the amount of shrimp we got with our meal. Everyone got two shrimp standard as part of their meal, and I only got six total...so it was expensive for only 6 shrimp. They were yummy though, and the strip steak was superb. The chef was great, did the token knife toss, onion volcano and "toss chicken in everyone's mouth" bit (which I HATE. I blame performance anxiety:).

One of my dining mates got the salmon, and he got two huge pieces, and said it was excellent, and a few people also got the chicken, which they said was good...but how can you mess up chicken, right:)

Overall, I would say it was great. The service was prompt, which was good since we were all drinking. It was loud, but in an action packed good way.

I will add, this is NOT a place for babies or small children. It's busy and crowded, and SO not high chair friendly, so I am glad we didn't have the boys along.

I would rate it 3 out of 5 stars.

Habachi wise, I found Nagoya to be much better than Sakura, both in taste and portion wise, but still hasn't knocked En Japanese out of the top spot for me. Sushi wise, I would say it is the best in the area!

3 comments:

Nick said...

Thanks for the review! I live in Bowling Green and was thinking about checking this place out (I'm a poor college student, but love to eat fancy every now and then). The only question I had was about prices. I looked up a menu but it had nothing about price on it. I take it that the steak/ steak and seafood meals were the most expensive at like $30? I wanted to try the Kobe steak but I can only imagine how much that was (I only have a $50 gift certificate! lol). Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Nick

Brittany said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Brittany said...

Well Nick, I can tell you, you are right on with the beef pricing estimates. It was a lot more expensive than any other steakhouse in the area. Delicious, but pricey none the less. If you are going, and only paying for yourself, and not a date, then the $50 should be fine. But I cannot see you getting out of there for two people under $50. I would say $60-$70 would be a better estimate. If you didn't have a gift certificate, I would definitely be directing you to En Japanese on Monroe Street. The food there is amazing, and you get quite a bit. Also, En Japanese is more wallet friendly, you can get shrimp and steak for under $20 I believe.

Either way, definitely let me know what you think of it, I'd love to hear what you ended up ordering!

-Brittany