2 Interesting and 1 mildly disturbing hibachi fact (s)*
Interesting fact 1.
Most hibachi chefs receive no formal training but instead learn on the job – mainly through practice and by making mistakes in front of customers.
Interesting fact 2.
Hibachi knives are not sharp. In fact they are generally very dull from constantly cutting on metal.
Mildly Disturbing Hibachi fact...wait for it...
Hibachi cooking is a dangerous job – see Q and A with a real hibachi chef below courtesy of: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/hp8t5/iama_hibachi_teppanyaki_chef_ama/:
"Q: Do you go through a lot of bandaids?
A: A Ton!!! I burned myself every night…Literally. There is so much grease flying around, and you are in front of a huge grill for 8 hours a day that it’s inevitable. I’ve been sent home probably 10 times for cuts that wouldn’t stop bleeding, so I couldn’t cook anymore that night. I have had stitches twice.
Q: I went to a hibachi place a couple of weeks ago…our chef slipped and landed with his entire forearm on the stove…
A: When I first started I used to clean grills with my palm open on the top of the cleaning rag. Everyone told me not to do it that way, but I never knew why. One day the rag got caught on the grill and my open palm slide across. I was out the rest of the night."
On that note – on to Best Hibachi EVER 2011.
We knew we were in for an adventure when we headed to the he next hibachi restaurant on our list – Noda (http://www.nodarestaurant.com/) located in the ever beautiful and enticing DMV mall in White Plains. Entering Noda was like embarking on a samurai challenge. Taking our courage in hand we navigated the sketchy parking lot, dodged the freak summer hail storm, tiptoed around the creepy DMV mall and finally reached our destination.
Noda is a typical Hibachi experience. No shiny plasma tvs, trendy hip hop music or hi-tech ventilation system here; instead expect “antique” wood paneling, stacked boxes of cooking oil visible in the back room, and cheesy carpeting. They did impress us a little, and boosted their authenticity rating to 4, with their aquariums filled with oversized gold fish, colorful parasols hanging from the ceiling, and samurai swords.
The food was on the good side of average and we loved the large portion sizes, free ice cream, and affordable bill. We didn’t love the lack of enthusiasm from our chef, a small volcano (on the flip side it did let off a lot of smoke), and we felt a large void when our chef skipped both the shrimp and vegetable toss (although we were thrilled that it decreased our dry cleaning bills). All in all, it was a solid Hibachi experience earning an overall rating of 3.3 hibachi knives – breakdown below.
Here’s the super exciting part though. We got a coupon. An awesome coupon. And because we are so awesome (and we have so many other hibachi places to try and honestly can only stomach so much hibachi) we are raffling this coupon off to you. Post a comment or become a follower on our blog and you are eligible for this super awesome coupon to Noda. You know you want it.
Ambience: 3.5 hibachi knives
Wait Time: 3 hibachi knives
Knife Skills: 3 hibachi knives
Bad Jokes: 2 hibachi knives
Price: 4.5 hibachi knives
Taste: 3.5 hibachi knives
Food Quality: 3.5 hibachi knives
Volcano Skills: 3.5 hibachi knives
Shrimp Toss: N/A…doh
Entry Smell: 2.5 hibachi knives
Residual Smell: 2 hibachi knives
Authenticity: 4 hibachi knives
Ginger Dressing Flavor: 4 hibachi knives
Soup: 4 hibachi knives
Birthday Treatment: 3.5 hibachi knives
Vegetable throw: N/A…double doh
*All hibachi “facts” reported in this post were found on www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/hp8t5/iama_hibachi_teppanyaki_chef_ama/:
