Eight Plates Is Not Going to Be Enough at Hachi

 Hachi Japanese Izakaya

3033 Bristol Street D

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

I'm certainly no expert on Japanese food. When I was growing up, we mostly stuck to American dishes, white-washed Mexican food, and spaghetti mixed with hamburger and a jar of Ragu. Not exactly elevated cuisine, and it's part of the reason I love restaurants to this day. My only exposure to Japanese fare was an occasional visit to Benihana for a birthday dinner. I know that doesn't really count. 

Enter my aunt Hiroko. She met my uncle in 1988, and they have been together ever since. She came from Japan and introduced us to the food she loved from her homeland. Nothing too outlandish (I think she might have sensed we weren't adventurous eaters), she'd make us homemade California rolls and Asian-inspired sauces for our annual fondue feast on Christmas Eve.  

Nowadays, we have dinner almost monthly with my aunt and uncle. Hiroko coordinates where we will be eating, which is rare, because with everyone else, I'm the go-to guy for picking a restaurant. It's a relief not to have the pressure of choosing a place that everyone else will like. To be honest, I always enjoy seeing what she'll come up with. This time it was for her birthday, and we all headed to Hachi Izakaya. 

Hachi is located at the corner of Bristol and Paularino Avenue in Costa Mesa, and is housed in the same shopping plaza as The Halal Guys, Capital Noodle Bar, Wanderlust Creamery, and other highly rated Asian restaurants. With so many highly rated restaurants in this plaza, parking is notoriously difficult to find. However, since we were meeting at 6 pm on a Sunday, I easily found one of the twenty or so free parking stalls and was ready for my first visit to an izakaya. 

For those of you who are unaware, like myself, an izakaya is described as a Japanese bar or tavern that serves small plates meant for sharing in a relaxed and casual atmosphere. Like a gastropub or tapas bar. I counted 71 items on their menu, all of which are small plates meant for sharing. Choices include sushi, izakaya dishes, sashimi, yakitori, tempura, and hot pot. Prices range from $5 to $94 for the pork shabu shabu hot pot, which serves 3 to 4 people. 

There were six of us this evening, and since my aunt has been here before, we let her take the lead on what we should order. She ordered the first round of items and then asked for input on what else we'd like to try. The food came out relatively quickly in what felt like waves. Here's what came out for us. 

Let's start out slowly with the Mentaiko Potato Salad ($10). This was unlike any potato salad my mom had ever made. The mashed potato is mixed with spicy cod roe, cucumber, onions, pickles, and smoked beef. It was good, but a little more understated than I had expected, particularly with the spicy cod roe and other listed ingredients. A fair side item, though. 

For a restaurant not typically known for its sushi, Hachi served some solid sushi. We tried the Negi-Toro Roll ($11 for 4 pieces) and the Crab Rolls ($12 for 4 pieces). I found the sushi here to be fresh and well-crafted. My aunt is a harsh critic when it comes to sushi, and she had no complaints with either of these well-made sushi rolls. 

I never really associate fried cooking with Japanese food, but Jidori Chicken Karaage ($12.00) was available, so we had to give it a try. This fried chicken was not as greasy as I expected, and perhaps that's why it lacked the big punch of flavor I was expecting. Not horrible, and it was lighter than other versions, but still had a good crunch to it.  

The winner of the silver medal for me this evening was the Crispy Mayo Shrimp ($14.50). This was the second-best thing I had, as it was tempura on the outside, and the shrimp inside was fresh and went well with the sweet chili mayo that was drizzled on top. I would have liked the mayo on the side, because the drizzle did not cover the whole shrimp. It's still a must-try when you're eating at Hachi. 

The Beef Tongue ($26.50) gets the most love from online reviews, and for good reason; it was the best bite of the night. This tasted more like a delicious steak, rather than tongue, maybe because it was thick-cut. Great tenderness and umami flavor were present throughout. It's definitely worth getting, and a definite frontrunner for the best bite of beef  I've had this year. 

I haven't eaten at many izakayas, but if there's one rule I've learned online about them, it's that you should try as much of the food served on skewers as possible. We tried our best by getting the Jidori Chicken Meatball Skewer ($11 for 2 pieces), Jidori Thigh Skewer ($11 for 2 pieces), and the Chicken Tender Skewer ($11 for 2 pieces). 

All were good, but the standouts were the chicken thigh and the chicken meatball. The chicken thigh was tender and flavorful, with a good amount of smokiness. It was also incredibly juicy. A must try when eating at Hachi. The chicken meatball was glazed with a sweet sauce of some sort, which complemented the savoriness of the ground chicken underneath. The other chicken skewer was fine, but the dab of whatever the green sauce was on it did not elevate this to anything other than passable. 

New to me, I found my hand reaching for the Gobo Chips ($12) more than I imagined they would. I learned that gobo is made from burdock root, which is sliced thin and lightly fried. I was surprised by the large serving size and the earthy, yet sweet tinge of this. It was finished off with ao-nori, which are sea cabbage flakes. Something different, but I'm glad I tried them. 

The one item that didn't jive with me this evening was the Jidori Egg Omelet ($13.50). It wasn't bad, but it wasn't something I'd order again. It was bland and just sat at our table until almost the very end of our meal. 

More sushi rolls were ordered, the Negi Toro that we had earlier, and the Toro-Taku Roll ($11 for four pieces). The bluefin tuna was good in this, but the fish-to-rice ratio was a little off kilter in favor of the rice. There was too much of it, and it overshadowed the tuna and other parts of the sushi roll. Consider sticking to nigiri sushi if you want the fish to stand out a bit more. 

The Creamy Crab Croquette ($17 for 2 pieces) piqued my interest. They were bigger than I imagined, the size of two ping pong balls. They were filled with crab and a bechamel sauce, which are two of my favorite things separately, and breaded with panko and fried. The bechamel overpowered here, and left me searching for any hint of crab in each bite. They also fell apart structurally after the first bite, and were best eaten with a fork after they collapsed. 

I'm not sure who ordered the Corn Kakiage ($10), but when it came to the table, it reminded me lookwise of the Corn Pop Cereal we had as kids. A sweet and salty snack made with tempura and corn, it's more like a fluffier rice cake with added flavor. Not bad, and it didn't taste like Styrofoam, unlike rice cakes. 

Hachi was a pleasant surprise, and has whetted my appetite to try more izakayas soon. I also feel like I just scratched the surface at Hachi, as we only had 15 of their 71 items, so we have just eighty percent of their menu left to sample on future visits. I look forward to trying their ribeye, baked crab salad, pork belly skewers, and others on future visits. Hachi is only open for dinner daily, and they do have one other location in Torrance. Make reservations if you plan on eating here on Friday or Saturday, as I've heard the wait can exceed an hour or more on these nights. I'm thrilled that my aunt Hiroko brought us here, and I'm even more excited that she has taken us out of our comfort zone to experience a broader range of Asian cuisine.  

Out of five saunas (because hachi translates to eight in Japanese, and my favorite hockey player, Teemu Selanne, wore that number, and he's from Finland, where they have the most saunas in the world), five being best to zero being worst, Hachi Izakaya gets 3.5 saunas. 

For more information about Hachi Izakaya, head to their website by clicking here: https://hachi.takefiveusa.com/

Crazy Good Katsu in Irvine - CLOSED

 J San Ramen

3972 Barranca Parkway

Irvine, CA 92606

As the calendar turned the page to another year, I decided to leave my comfort zone with my restaurant choices. This became clear to me as I was editing this blog recently. I had become predictable with the food I had been ordering. As a result, way too many Caesar salads and burgers have been written about in this blog. I apologize for that, and I hope 2023 will start a more diverse restaurant blog.  

Japanese food is not something that I actively seek out. But, nevertheless, I fall into having it. Most of the time, Katie craves it, and I finally give in once she mentions it for the 500th time. However, at other times, like this evening, my aunt Hiroko chooses a place that she finds very good. That's what led us to J San Ramen in Irvine. 

From what I've gleaned online, J San Ramen is a mini-chain. There are locations in Yorba Linda, Fullerton, Mission Viejo, and two spots in Irvine. This location in the Crossroads Shopping Center opened in late 2020 during the pandemic. For an exact location, they are situated in front of the LA Fitness but closer to Barranca in the grouping of stores that includes Pete's Coffee, Wingstop, and Cava.  

Our party of five arrived here at half past six on a Saturday evening. We were met with an almost empty restaurant. It was like this during our stay, although there was a trickle of takeout orders being picked up. The dining room was modestly decorated, and the lighting was pleasantly bright. We found a table and made our selections with a server. 

I've studied the menus at all the OC locations of J San, which are all slightly different. This Irvine location breaks down its menu into appetizers, ramen, katsu, and noodles. Prices for ramen hover around the $15 mark, while the katsu is the same, but combo meals go for $23 and include U-don, shrimp, and a croquette. From what I've seen, this is the only J-San offering this combo meal, which you will see below. 

Combo meals are the best way to try as many items as possible on an initial visit to a restaurant, so that's what I always steer towards. The Domkatsu Combo Meal ($23.95) includes a pork cutlet katsu, shrimp tempura, potato croquette, and a small bowl of udon. This meal's highlight was the pork cutlet, which featured a crunchy outer coating that contrasted nicely with the tender pork underneath. Well fried and not oily at all. The potato croquette reminded me of the hashbrowns you get at McDonald's, which is not a knock against them. I loved the crunchy outside of the patty and the fluffy potato underneath. The shrimp was nicely done with the same flaky coating as the katsu. The plate was finished with a salad with a tangy yellow dressing over plenty of shredded cabbage. It was okay. I mostly ate it to counteract all the fried food I had just consumed. 

I am not an expert on udon, but I liked this well enough. It had a pretty mellow flavor, and everything in the bowl complemented each other nicely. 

I did not partake in this Tonkotsu Miso Ramen ($15.95), but my aunt Hiroko did. She grew up in Japan, so I'd consider her a ramen expert. She enjoyed this very much and will try to visit J-San if she gets the chance. This bowl included a creamy pork broth, egg, bean sprouts, seaweed, mushroom, green onion, sliced pork belly, and bamboo shoots. It looked good from across the table. I'd try the spicy version on my next visit. 

It has been a few months since this visit, and I still think about the crunchy katsu here. If you are a fan of katsu, J-San Ramen is the place for you. This trip has got me curious to see if the Mission Viejo location is as good as this Irvine one. I'll be finding out soon. The prices here were fair for the food you get. The service was friendly and efficient, and the food came out quickly. J-San has definitely piqued my interest in Japanese food. 

Out of five cherry blossoms (because they are the national flower of Japan), five being best to zero being worst, J-San Ramen gets 3 cherry blossoms. 

J-San Ramen does not have an accessible website, so click here to check out their Yelp reviews and other info: https://www.yelp.com/biz/j-san-ramen-katsu-irvine

A House Divided, One Part Sushi the Other Part Ramen

Sushi Ramen House

25260 La Paz Road Suite A

Laguna Hills, CA 92653

There was not much good that came out of Katie's last place of employment. She had to deal with an inept division head, her direct supervisor overtly harassed her, and the so-called human resource department sat on their hands while a scathing write-up, which definitely had the tone of being more like a personal attack that had little to do with her job performance, was written and rewritten three times by this bungling management team.

It was time to leave this train wreck of a company behind. The one bright spot that Katie took out of that horrible one and a half year experience was that she made some pretty good friends there. People she has kept in contact with since she left. One of those people was Mazi and his recently wed wife, Marita. We see them frequently with our sporadic walks and dinner afterward. They even introduced us to this restaurant, Sushi Ramen House in Laguna Hills.

Located in the same shopping plaza as Ironwood, Cecilia's, Villa Roma, and Heidelberg Bakery, Sushi Ramen House took over for another Japanese restaurant in early 2019. In those 15 months, they have now garnered a four and a half star rating, with over 200 reviews. Pretty good for a  restaurant that is easy to overlook with their much more visible and highly regarded restaurant neighbors.

We decided to forgo our walk with Mazi and Marita on a rather chilly Thursday evening and instead met for dinner at Sushi Ramen House. This small corner restaurant has about 10 to 15 tables, many of which were filled during our visit. The dining room vibe is what I'd call sleek, with its darkly painted ceilings and walls, and sparse decor. The menu predictably offers plenty in the way of ramen and sushi, but there are also 21 appetizers, salads, and bowls to choose from. Let's check out the food.

Katie and I really just ordered this California Roll ($6.50) because we were hungry and knew it was going to come out faster than our entrees. A little something to tide us over. This was your basic California roll that you've had all over with imitation crab, cucumber, and a smidge of avocado wrapped up around rice and seaweed. Nothing special.

In hindsight, we probably could have done without the average California roll above, because the ramen came out pretty quickly. Katie had this Chicken Ramen ($11.95). This is made up of chicken broth with sliced chicken, half an egg, green onion, and noodles. It also usually comes with fungus and bamboo, but she held off on those. She liked this ramen but was not wowed by it. It was very middle of the road and she's had better. It did end up satisfying her ramen craving on this evening.

Mazi and Marita both got the Tonkotsu Ramen, which is a pork-based broth and joined in the bowl by a half an egg, green onion, noodles, and simmered pork. No bamboo or fungus for them either. I had this the one other time we came here and found it to be pretty solid, although I am by no means an expert when it comes to ramen. I liked the thicker broth and found the pork to be pretty tender. Like Katie, I was not too fond of the egg though. As for Mazi and Marita, this is what they get every time they visit Sushi Ramen House. It's right near their house and they find it's perfect on the rather chilly evenings we have been having lately.

I'm not really into ramen, so I decided to go my own route and try one of their bowls. This Spicy Tuna and Shrimp Rice Bowl ($11.95) was larger than I was expecting. Half was spicy tuna and the other half was tempura-like shrimp which had a sweetness to the sauce on top of it, kind of like honey walnut shrimp, but not as sweet. This bowl was fine, but kind of awkward. On one side you have the cold and softened tuna and the other was the warmed and crunchy shrimp. I'm all for contrast in my meals, but this was a little too much. I'd probably just get all shrimp next time.

Katie made a very late decision to order one more thing, the Spicy Tuna with Crispy Rice ($6.50) off of the appetizer portion of the menu. It was probably the best thing I had all evening. I really liked the contrasts of the crispy rice, the smooth sliced avocado, and the soft spicy tuna perched on top. I could have eaten a couple more of these in no time flat.

Rereading what I have written above, it sounds a bit harsher than I intended it to. Sushi Ramen House is fine, but it's not going to blow you away. It's like the restaurant that you go to if you want some ramen or sushi, but don't want to veer too far from home. Not really destination dining, but it will do in a pinch. The few times we have been here the service has been very good and the kitchen gets the food out in a very timely manner. I'm glad Katie's old place of employment is a thing of the past, but I'm also happy that it gave us the opportunity to spend some time with our new friends Mazi and Marita.

Out of five dollars, (because Lagna Hills is where Aloe Blacc the musician grew up, and his first hit was, "I Need a Dollar,") five being best to zero being worst, Sushi Ramen House gets 2.5 dollars.

Sushi Ramen House does not have a website, but you can find info about them on their Yelp page here: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sushi-ramen-house-laguna-hills

Hoping Our Trip to Minami Isn't Going to Go South

Soba Izakaya Minami

24391 Avenida De La Carlota Sutie A

Laguna Hills, CA 92653

I'll definitely admit that I was way out of my comfort zone. Before visiting Minami, I really did not know what the difference was between udon and soba. If it wasn't for the pictures on their four-page menu I'd be as lost as the Miami Dolphins on a football field (for you non-sports people the Dolphins are having one of the worst seasons in NFL history).

Needless to say, I'm not very well versed in Japanese cuisine. Yes, I occasionally get roped into having sushi or have to go to a teppanyaki place for someone's birthday, but other than those instances I stick with the foods that I know. It's not that I'm not an adventurous eater or anything, but my love for burgers, sandwiches, Mexican, Italian, and too many others to list here are always on my mind.

This visit to Minami was brought about by my fantastic aunt Hiroko. She and my uncle moved to the OC a few years back and they have been raving about this place since it opened just about a year ago. Our schedules finally lined up so we could meet up on a recent Saturday evening for dinner. Also joining us was my cousin Chris, who suddenly had a void in his schedule, due to the Angels not making the playoffs for their 5th consecutive year. Don't worry big guy, they will turn it around soon.

Minami is adjacent to the stagnant, partially torn down Laguna Hills Mall. They are in the same shopping plaza as El Torito, Woody's Diner, Trader Joes, and brunch favorite Break of Dawn. I tried to find out some info about Minami, but from what I can gather, they are not a chain, and this is their only location. They do not have a website, but you can find minimal info about them on their  Instagram account. The most information I've been able to get about them is a review from one of the best in the business, Edwin Goei in the OC Weekly. His review can be found here.

The inside of the restaurant is straight and to the point. Light-colored wooden tables and pretty uncomfortable chairs dot the space, which is pretty spartan, with little to no decorations adorning the walls. There are four separate laminated menu pages, one that highlights their soba offerings, another has rice bowls and mini bowls,  Udon is offered on the third, and the last page showcases their izakaya dishes, which I'd describe as Japanese appetizers. Let's see what we ended up ordering off of these pages, and see if the food here will make me a fan of Japanese cuisine.

My aunt wanted to start out our evening at Minami with these Spicy Cucumbers ($4.95). I'm not a big fan of cucumbers usually, but I was pretty hungry so I decided to give them a try. They were pickled and had a good crunch to them. I must have gotten all the spice on my piece because it was spicy enough to make me drink some water right away after consuming it. I actually liked these cucumbers and would get them again.

As I mentioned earlier, I had a pretty tough time deciding what to have at Minami. I finally decided I'd try their Soba with Pork Cutlet and Egg Bowl ($14.95). You can have your soba noodles either cold or hot, and you can choose the amount of the noodles that you want, 100, 200, or 300 grams of noodles for the same price. I got my soba noodles hot and opted for the 200-gram size. This was plenty for me. I did not know it at the time, but soba noodles are made from buckwheat, which is healthier than the udon option. Their menu lists all the health benefits of soba. I found the soba to be all right but expected a bit more flavor from the broth. I grew tired of the soba rather quickly and instead focused on the pork cutlet and egg. I liked this part of the meal much better. The cutlet had a nice and crunchy breading to it and the egg added a good amount of richness. The bowl was rounded out with some rice underneath, which made this a very filling meal.

Even though my uncle has been married to my aunt for over 30 years and they have taken numerous trips back to Japan, he is pretty conservative when it comes to Japanese food. On this visit, he opted for the Chicken Cutlet ($12.95) with no rice, but salad underneath. No complaints from the big guy with this. From across the table, this looked pretty tasty, and it's nice to know that they are accommodating with modifications.

Katie had her mind made up to try one of the items off of the Minami izakaya menu. The Gyoza ($4.95) would be what she ended up settling on. I'm glad she did. I often find gyoza to be too rubbery and not really filled with anything that tastes so great. These were the exact opposite of that. Not sure what they had in them, but it tasted good and the outer portion of this was nowhere near rubbery. One of the better gyozas I have had.

Last but not least, Katie got the Hot Soba with a Pork Cutlet and with Curry ($15.95) as her meal this evening. Just like with mine, the breading was nice and crisp on this, but a little more pronounced because hers was devoid of the egg. The pork was tender underneath and was a good compliment to the comforting curry. I was a little surprised that Katie described this meal as very clean, which is not something you often hear when something is deep-fried. She was a fan of the soba, which she called comforting, but understated. It was more of a subtle dish, not as flavorful as the pho she gets at our nearby Vietnamese place.

I ate a good amount of food at Minami but did not feel crazy full or bloated after leaving this evening. I liked everything, but due to the fact that I have never had this kind of food before, I'm not sure how it compares to others. I can tell you that I liked it well enough to come back again and maybe get what Katie had, as it was my favorite thing I tried. The prices seemed more than fair for the amount of food that you receive. Service was a little spotty, but they were very busy by the time we ended our meal, and they had a little bit of a wait as we walked out the door. Glad my aunt Hiroko got me a bit out of my comfort zone, and I look forward to trying other Japanese restaurants in the near future.

Out of five coral reefs, (because Minami means south in Japanese and the most southern spot of that country is Okinotorishima, a coral reef in the Philippine Sea), five being best to zero being worst, Soba Izakaya Minami gets 3 coral reefs.

As mentioned earlier, Soba Izakaya Minami does not have a website, but you can find out more info about them on their Yelp page here: https://www.yelp.com/biz/soba-izakaya-minami-laguna-hills-2

Heading to Hayashi in Our Neck of the Woods - CLOSED

Hayashi

27531 Puerta Real

Mission Viejo, CA 92691

I can finally report that Katie got a new job, which was much needed after the rather adventurous year and a half she spent at her old one. Even better than getting away from that place, she now only has a block and a half away commute. No more toll road fees, filling up with gas every few days, and the usual wear and tear on her car. As an added bonus, she even got a restaurant tip near where we live, as they brought food into the office during her first week. She was so impressed we had it for dinner that evening.

Hayashi has been here a lot longer than we have lived here. Their first Yelp review is dated from 2008, but they only get a little love from Yelpers because they only have 156 reviews in those ten years. It's not surprising since they are in a shopping center hidden behind the Kaleidoscope, and there needs to be a bigger anchor store to bring people into this shopping plaza. There is some construction at the vacated Sports Chalet spot, which I've heard is going to be a Mini Target, but it was not listed on the Target website, and I have nothing to confirm this other than a bit of hearsay that I've picked up on.

Whatever goes in here will hopefully increase foot traffic, although based on our visit, Hayashi does not appear to really need it. On the recent Wednesday evening when Katie and I visited Hayashi, the two-man culinary team behind this restaurant handled numerous to-go orders and a handful of orders for dining in with ease.

The low-key dining room is small and has about ten tables of two, which probably fills up with the numerous working professionals who inhabit the plethora of office buildings nearby. The menu at Hayashi is surprisingly extensive. They offer teriyaki plates and bowls, bento specials, over 20 varieties of sushi, noodles, and combo meals. 84 numbered things to choose from, direct from a tiny kitchen. Very impressive. We quickly made our choices at the register, and about ten minutes later, we were digging in. Let's see if I had the same love of this restaurant that Katie had when she had it at work.

It's not really too cold outside, but Katie started things off with this Chicken Ramen ($6.50). She loved this soup that came out lava hot in a metal bowl, which did little to cool it down too quickly. She claims that this had a tinge of spiciness, the chicken was flavored well, and she loved the rest of this bowl enough to come here two other times after this visit to have this for lunch. You can say she's addicted.

Not content with the soup, Katie also feasted on this Philadelphia Roll ($7.50). This Philly roll comes with, you guessed it, cream cheese, along with some salmon, cucumber, and avocado. I'm not too big of a fan of cream cheese, so Katie had this all to herself. She also enjoyed this. She called the fish very fresh and found it the perfect accompaniment to the chicken ramen.

On my first visit to Hayashi, I used the same strategy I use when eating in a barbecue or Mexican restaurant, getting a combo meal, and at Hayashi, that equivalent would be this BBQ Beef Bento Special ($9.25). I like doing this so you can try more of their menu all in one shot. This Bento special included 4 pieces of a California roll, a scoop of rice, miso soup, mixed green salad, 2 gyoza, and a choice of salmon, tempura, or what I got the BBQ beef. The beef was excellent and tender, but it would have been better if it was served a little warmer than it was and with more teriyaki sauce on it. Unlike a few Yelp reviewers, I found my California roll freshly made with plenty of crab and avocado inside the outer rice casing. I remember liking the gyoza, but they were not overly stuffed, which left the insides forgettable. The salad was good, with a very flavorful ginger dressing, where a little of it went a long way. The weak link of this plate was the miso soup, but I've never been blown away by any miso soup I've ever had, and that held true here.

Katie ended up loving her visit to Hayashi, while I liked it enough, but would come back again since it is so close to our place and will be convenient for dinners when we want to stay close to home. Hayashi is not really destination dining, but it is good enough if you are in the area craving quick and affordable Japanese cuisine. Service was rushed because they were busy with only two people running this place and a steady stream of customers filtering in. Still, they were polite and in control, promptly getting the food out. I'm so happy that Katie finally has a great work environment, and it has already led us to another spot in our heavy restaurant rotation when we want to stay close to home.

Out of five cabins (because Hayashi is a Japanese surname that translates to forest or woods, and there are tons of cabins in forested areas), five being best to zero being worst, Hayashi gets three cabins.

Hayashi has a very bare-bones website, but you can find their address and a menu on it here: http://famoushayashi.com/menu.html

Birthday Bash at Bari Bari

Bari Bari Japanese Steak House

19677 Yorba Linda Blvd. 

Yorba Linda, CA 92886

When you are 5 or 6 years old the world seems so small. I lived in Anaheim Hills for the first three years of my life, but then we moved to Yorba Linda in 1975. My parents still live in that house, and we travel there regularly for birthdays, holidays, and for other family events. Coming back here always brings back memories.

Back when kids actually got out of the house, rode bikes, played in parks, and set up lemonade stands, I was roaming within a mile of my house, and exploring the one shopping center that we had near us. This shopping center used to house Von's Supermarket, Thrifty's, and a TG&Y back then. There were also smaller stores between the anchor stores. Now the Thrifty's has turned into a Rite Aid, Cons has been transformed into a Trader Joe's, and the TG&Y has been chopped up into smaller shops.

Back to present day, we were here at this shopping center of my youth, which is at the corner of Fairmont and Yorba Linda Boulevard for my sister's birthday. She had recently eaten at Bari Bari for her anniversary, and could not wait for us to try it as well. So Katie and I, my parents, and my sister's three girls and husband made reservations to eat in our old stomping grounds.

I'm not sure how long Bari Bari has been here, but the oldest review on Yelp is from 2007, and people talk about coming here way before that. They used to serve lunch, but now they are only open for dinner. The wear and tear on this teppanyaki restaurant is evident, but from what we observed, the restaurant is clean, but since it's a smaller restaurant, the smoke from the tables does linger a bit. I've also heard that during peak times it is hard to get a seat at one of their four teppanyaki grill tables. A lot of the Yelpers also report feeling rushed, but we did not experience any of that. Let's see what we did experience though.

Before our teppanyaki chef made his appearance, our waitress brought out our Salads and Soup. Both are included in the price of the entrees at Bari Bari. The salad is your basic variety garden salad, with iceberg lettuce, a few strands of red cabbage, and a ginger dressing. The dressing woke up this rather drab salad just enough to entice me to finish it. The soup was a miso broth concoction with a few sliced mushrooms included. This soup was unremarkable, and really was more watery than a soup should be, so I ended up just drinking it.

While we were eating our food, the teppanyaki chef arrived, and began doing all of the tricks of the trade that you expect from a teppanyaki restaurant. The onion volcano, flipping egg in all of our mouths, flipping shrimp into his shirt pocket, and cracking an egg in midair with his spatula. Our chef was pretty nice and friendly, and after he finished all of his tricks, he turned all business as he was making our meals. Since Katie had alerted him to her shrimp allergy, he cooked all of the seafood last, which made my dad wait for his scallops and shrimp.

Since everything is cooked in stages, you find yourself eating bits and pieces off of your plate here. The most popular items appear to be the combination dinners, and they have a wide variety of options for you to choose from. I went with the Filet Mignon and Shrimp ($27.25). The chef had asked how I wanted my steak, and it actually came out to my desired medium rare, which is kind of an oddity for this kind of place. Usually it comes to me medium to well done, and is tough. This was not the case at Bari Bari. The steak was the best thing I ate all night here. It was tender, and cooked perfectly. The shrimp were okay, but nothing to crow about. Dinners also come with grilled veggies and grilled fried rice, which was pretty average. Katie selected the Chicken Dinner ($17.25) for her entree, and thought it was okay, but nothing distinguished it from any other teppanyaki place she has visited.

I should probably disclose to all of you that this is one of my least favorite kinds of meals that is out there. I have never really been awestruck by anything that I've had at a teppanyaki restaurant before, and that held true on this night as well. Yes, the steak was cooked better than at most teppanyaki restaurants, but the rest of the meal fell to impress. You're basically overpaying by a good amount for watching them cook your food in front of you. At least here at Bari Bari you are not paying Benihana prices, which if their website menu prices are correct, are about $5 higher on most items. On the plus side, the service we had on this night was pretty good, with our waitress waiting in the wings, refilling our drinks, and taking away our plates when we were done. She even brought my sister a beer with a candle rubber banded around it for her birthday. The rest of my family really enjoyed their meals at Bari Bari, and liked watching the chef, and that's all that's really important. It's really awesome that my nieces can make childhood memories in the same area me and my sister made ours.

Out of five motorbikes, (because there was a Japanese comic book series, "Baribari Legend", which had an eight year run about motorbike racing), five being best to zero being worst, Bari Bari Japanese Steak House gets 2.5 motorbikes.

Bari Bari Japanese Steak House does not have a website, but you can find information about them on their Yelp page here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/bari-bari-japanese-steak-house-yorba-linda