Festivus Gastronomicus
Review: Tokyo Wako
Jen and I hadn’t seen each other in about 4 weeks and a date was in order. Since Jen was still recovering from hand surgery I thought of a great restaurant where the food is not only great tasting, but they put on a fancy show, AND they cut all your food into bite size pieces for you.
Tokyo Wako
401 E Huntington Dr
Arcadia, CA 91006
(626) 447-8761
(map)
So we’re not going to use the word hibachi. The concept is called Teppanyaki (Teppan for short). Tokyo Wako is sort of like Benihana where the chef cooks everything on a huge iron grill at your table and puts on a big show with much clanking of knives and masterful egg work throughout. It’s really not like Benihana in that the food is actually very good.
Tokyo Wako is so good that there are pictures of celebrities on the wall like Michael Stipe and Eminem. Lay people and drugged out rockers and rappers alike enjoy the rather simple combination of quality ingredients with copious amounts of oil and butter.
My family visited Tokyo Wako when it first opened and have been back many times since. It will serve you all well to know that there is no finer menu item than the Wako Wako Special. Aside from affording you the tastiest offering from the menu, you will also get to say Wako Wako throughout the evening.
When you get to Tokyo Wako (Japanese for “We are ashamed of our culture”) you are immediately greeted by a Taiwanese girl in an authentic Japanese kimono and obi then seated with a group of complete strangers. This is especially exciting. Maybe you’ll sit next to another couple on a date, maybe a family celebrating a birthday, or maybe gang members fresh out the clink.
Just as with most nicer Asian restaurants, you get a full-service meal of multiple courses. This includes miso soup, salad with a surprisingly delightful ginger dressing, fried rice, and an assortment of vegetables with your entrée. These aren’t just warm up acts keeping you distracted until the chef can get to your table; these starters are all part of an ensemble of goodness singing a harmonious tune to your tongue. The soup and the salad are the only things prepared in the kitchen, the rest comes together right at your table.
It doesn’t matter how many times you got to a teppanyaki restaurant, the show is still awesome. Yes, you know what’s going to happen. The chef stacks those onion slices and you know where he’s going with that, but the predictability doesn’t do anything to diminish the cool factor. The flaming onion volcano is a genius move, perhaps the greatest in the history of dining room cooking.
Tokyo Wako does a serious amount of show and Jen and I realized that the best way to see the most of it is to bring a kid along with you. The chef’s really like to play it up for the kiddies. Also, they do quite a bit for a birthday boy or girl. They dress you up in some flamboyant kimono and sumo wig, give you a drink in a geisha glass, and sing a corny song. Don’t be afraid to go for the Japanese kitsch, this is what it’s all about- especially if you bring an actual Japanese person to embarrass.
After all the fried rice is done and all the veggies are laid out the chef turns up the heat and the show is put on hold while the chef does the serious cooking. Succulent shrimp and tender steaks are cooked up and sliced so easily you’ll wish you’d spent your money on sharpening your chef’s knife at home instead of going out to eat.
The shrimp and steak comes together in a maelstrom of clanks, cuts, sizzles, and heaps of melting butter. The end result of all the cooking madness is a fantastic plate of surf and turf goodness. Seriously, I can’t say enough how good the food is, how the steak just melts away in your mouth, and how you must treat yourself to the awesome force of Japanese goodness that is the Wako Wako Special.
The thing that distinguishes Tokyo Wako from other Teppanyaki places is that even with all the show, the food tastes great and always ends up being the highlight of the evening. Benihana has a good show, but tastes like crap.
So make a night of it if you want to see some virtuoso cooking and slicing and get to eat the delicious product of Japanese cultural exploitation- especially if you need to have your food cut into small pieces for you. The Wako Wako Special at Tokyo Wako will not disappoint (and you’ll get to say Wako for days afterward).