Tokyo Japanese Steak House

This place closed and has reopened as Bento Ya Restaurant. I was there for their grand opening yesterday and it was great! Check out my review for them. I would give a star rating here but it’s not Tokyo any more ;)

Food was average. The lady that was at the front was more worried about her phone call and eating her own dinner rather than my order. The décor was nice but way too bright! May give it one more try…

Our latest trip here really was like an episode of Seinfeld. We arrived at 6:20 for a 6:30 reservation. Every table was full. The hostess told us «it will be about 10 minutes.» A quick scan let me know it would be 30 minutes at least. We sat down a bit after 7. We’ve been here twice before and it never really wowed me but this was awful. The cook didn’t come to our table until 7:50. Drink orders were repeatedly wrong, they were out of filet, never brought our salads (but charged us for them)…it really was comically bad. Three strikes.

Tokyo Japanese Steak House and Sushi Bar, located at 6125 S. Semoran Blvd., Ste. 103, Orlando, FL 32 822, served my mom and me sushi with expired cream cheese and were unresponsive, nonchalant and unwilling to exchange the food nor take the expense off the bill.
My mother and I arrived to Tokyo Japanese Steak House and Sushi Bar right after the restaurant opened at 5 p.m. on Thursday, June 9, 2011. We were seated by hostess, Ashley, and served by server/​manager Derno Michaelangelini. We ordered Shrimp & Scallops off of the Hibachi menu, one California Roll and one Philadelphia Roll.
After we received the food, I took a bite of the Philly Roll and the cream cheese used inside tasted putrid. I took a sip of water and told my mother about it. She took a small bite of the Philly Roll and agreed that the cream cheese had obviously expired.
When Derno Michaelangelini returned to our table, we informed him that the cheese was bad and that we’d like to send it back and get a different sushi roll. He told us that he wasn’t sure this could be done and told us he’d check with the chef. After keeping us waiting for several minutes, Derno Michaelangelini returned and said that there was nothing that could be done. He said that the chef told him that he opened the package of cream cheese that very morning. I told him that this may indeed be the case, but that the restaurant’s vendor may have provided them with expired cheese. I asked Derno Michaelangelini to try the Philly Roll to experience the expired cheese for himself. He refused.
I asked for the Philly Roll to be removed our bill. Derno Michaelangelini said no. I asked to speak with a manager.
Derno Michaelangelini informed me that he was not just our server, but the manager. I asked to speak to the owner. Derno Michaelangelini told me that he didn’t know the owner’s last name and that the owner simply called when he wanted, and that Derno Michaelangelini had no way to reach the owner. Later, I picked up a business card from the hostess and counter and saw that the owner’s name is Jerry Chen. I asked the hostess, Ashley, if I could call the owner. She told me that Jerry Chen just calls in and that the staff doesn’t know when he will call again. I asked Derno Michaelangelini if there was anyone higher than him in the restaurant.
He told me that the owner’s brother is higher than he, and was in the kitchen. I asked to speak with the owner’s brother. Derno Michaelangelini answered, «He’s not going to come out here to talk to you. He doesn’t speak English.» I asked Derno Michaelangelini how he communicates with the non-​English speaking Asian chefs, and he told me through sign-​language. I asked to try to speak with the chefs through sign-​language, and Derno Michaelangelini refused.
We asked for boxes to pack up the edible food and the expired Philly Roll. We paid for our meal and left to Orange County Health Department at 5730 Lake Underhill Road in Orlando to give them the expired Philly Roll served at Tokyo Japanese Steak House and Sushi Bar. The health department had already closed for the day.
The customer service at Tokyo Japanese Steak House and Sushi Bar was terrible, but I am more alarmed at their willingness to serve customers expired dairy products that could be detrimental to their health.

A hibachi grill for lunch? How unusual is that??? Still, Ginza on Colonial is a tad better, in my opinion, based on portion, price, and ambience. The place is new, clean, and looking good in the face of a LOT of competition up and down the street. The Downside? Well, to be honest, the noodles look exactly the same as Spaghetti. I wonder…

I was craving sushi so I dragged my friend here– we drove down Semoran and went: «Japanese restaurant!» and pulled in. Forgetting that we had eaten lunch here on the way to the airport once.
I had teppanyaki — Steak. Last time I got white rice, this time I decided to just get the fried rice. And it was tasty! The steak had too much sauce and I’m a «no suce on my rice person» but when the chef put the steak on my plate, he wasn’t very careful where he put it. Again, When the vegetables were ready I had neatly cleared a spot for them and he just threw the veggies on top of the meat.
In any case, the restaurant was much more busy which gave a nice atmosphere. Now granted it was dinner rather than lunch. I enjoyed watching him cook. Not aware the meal came with a shrimp «appetizer» I freaked out a little when he plopped 2 shrimp on my plate– I’m allergic to shrimp.
I got a crunchy sushi roll (lost the menu so I don’t know the exact name). It was really delicious and I had asked for some spicy mayo– Amazing flavors when used with the meat and other dipping sauces.
There was so much food (for me anyway) so I brought home half my rice and steak and veggies! Can’t wait to see if they make the leftover cut!

This was bad
While in Orlando for business, I Unilocaled several restaurants, in the area before leaving the hotel, but it was Saturday night, Daytona was in session and everywhere we planned out had at least an hour wait and everyone needed something other than MickeyD’s. So against my judgment, we tried this place.
Drinks, I always ask for red wine from the bottle opened that day, especially in low or mid scale restaurants. Or server checked and told me the Pinot was opened today. I said fine, it clearly was the newest, but not opened that day, it was at least two days old and oxidized, plus the glass was dirty. Still I was with a group, I did not want to be annoying, it was Saturday night and the place was packed.
I actually thought the sushi was fine. We ordered several rolls and a Sushi Deluxe, everyone thought it was fine.
Real problems: Unknown to us since the blinds were closed and we could not see inside, this was a Hibachi restaurant. I can and do eat Sushi a few times a week, Hibachi never. The restaurant was not well ventilated so the smoke was bad. One of the people on our party did not want sushi, so we ordered the Shrimp and Scallop dinner, the menu did not say it was Hibachi. The server did ask me if I wanted fried or Jasmine rice. I clearly ordered Jasmine rice. Out comes the dinner with fried rice, noodles soaked in soy and Terriki sauce as was the meat, we sent it back. The server returned and announced that we could not send it back since it is what we ordered. I told her fine, charge me and throw it in the garbage, she was clearly upset and they did take it off the bill and i tipped her the $ 20.00 cost of the entrée way in excess of the normal 20%

I manage to hit this place when I am in Orlando doing training at SIMCOM right around the corner. While I am not a fan of the tamago (it is usually ICE cold) the rest is ok. I’ve never had any of the chop chop table stuff nor have I had anything but cooked sushi (just being honest) in all I am happy as I think they do an OK job. It is not as classy as some but just OK.

DISGUSTING.
I’m not even sure I’ll be able to slide any humor into this review.
Went for lunch and ordered the spicy yellow tail roll and the double roll which featured yellow tail and tuna.
Mmmm, grey tuna. I knew this was gonna be awesome once I saw that.
I tasted both rolls and made my husband try a piece. We were immediately put off by the overly potent fishy taste.
I know, I know, it’s friggin sushi what do you expect? Well, I can tell you that fish doesn’t start to taste fishy until you either add heat to release the oils or it starts to turn. Gross.
I told my server about it and she brought it to the attention of someone who seemed to be playing manager but was more interpretor for the manager/​owner who would not speak to me about it.
I explained that it was bad and he informed me that the fish was just brought in this morning. Ok… maybe it was bad when you got it. I honestly can’t remember the last time I sent food back, but I had to.
I sat there and waited for my husband to finish his tempura box (which was perfectly fine cause you can’t screw up fried chicken and veggies) and received the bill.
Guess what was still on there. Yup! $ 12 worth of nasty fish I couldn’t eat. I asked about why they would leave items on the bill that were inedible and not eaten and they outright REFUSED to remove it from the bill. Instead they told me I had the option not to tip. You know, cause it was my poor servers fault that the food was bad. Absurd! That poor girl was sitting on the other side of the room looking as if she’d been down this road before and she was certain that this table was a wash. Of course I tipped her.
Holy crap, I will never step foot in this place again. My server was good, the tempura box was fine but prey to all the gods you can think of if you order sushi.

This place used to be good but now has terrible customer service and so-​so food.
I work near this location and took someone from out of town. The servers have a take it or leave it attitude and their service is robotic.
I ordered from the lunch menu, we had previously ate at the giant hibachi grill tables. The lunch menu has a strange font and the way items are spaced it is difficult to assocuate the name or with the items that come on the plate. The sushi menu was normal.
So I ordered a sushi combination plate off the lunch menu not realizing the title was above the item. When my food arrived I pointed out it was not what I wanted. We cleared up the confusion but they refused to make the item I really wanted. It was like take it or leave it and the manager never came around or circulated in the dining room.
I don’t know if they have new owners but the volume of customers was way down.
I will never go back since I got a very spicy dish and the time it took to come was way too long for lunch.

We were staying at a hotel near the airport after spending a week at a Disney World Resort. We were thoroughly sick of yucky resort and theme-​park food — so when I saw Tokyo while driving by — we were all over it.
We had our 5 year-​old in tow — and she was fascinated with the show around the hibachi grill, they had a kid-​menu that included chicken, rice, noodles and a «real» vegetable.
We also ordered California rolls.
— The rolls were nothing to write home about, but such a contrast to they Disney offerings that we polished them off. The portion sizes were huge, and the vegetables were fresh. I would highly recommend this place for anyone like us who is weary of the Disney experience, and looking for something else before flying home.

I have been here twice for the hibachi grill twice. The first time I came a night, and it was extremely busy. We were packed around the grill. The second time, I went in the middle of the day, and my wife and I were the only people at the grill. This made us feel a little awkward, but the chef still set things aflame and put on a pretty good show. You get a tremendous amount of food: your entrée (chicken, steak, shrimp, or veggie), soup, salad, shrimp appetizer, noodles, and rice, all for around $ 15. This is not a bad deal, and it’s a fun place to go for a night out.

I always like to try new sushi places in search of that hidden gem. This is definitely not that place. Some of the rolls we ordered were just OK while others were so bad we couldn’t even finish them.
The restaurant itself is clean and nice inside with two large hibachi grills. If I went again (which I don’t see happening) I would do this instead of sushi. The rolls were plain and uninspired. They did not have that fresh quality and their Volcano Roll looked disgusting. We tried it anyway and although it wasn’t as bad as it looked it wasn’t good either. It looked like a roll covered with grey cole slaw. Yuck. The other rolls were forgettable.
We ordered our meal to-​go but the hostess who helped us wasn’t very friendly, in fact, she barely spoke to us besides taking our order. Pass on the sushi for sure!

Yesterday we went to Tokyo Japanese Steak House for a late sushi lunch at 2:45 PM. But they wouldn’t serve us saying they close at 3 and reopen at 5 for dinner. This location is down by the airport with tons of businesses around you would think they get lots of people like us looking for a «late lunch». Oh well. Today still craving sushi, I called in for some take out… earlier this time. I dove into the first piece of a much anticipated tuna roll and BLAH!!! I have never had such a FISHY tasting roll. I can only guess the fish had passed its prime. I hadn’t had sushi that bad since my first venture into the realm of raw fish, a box from the Sushi counter in the old Gooding’s Grocery store up on Goldenrod. Ghastly! Good for me I didn’t give up on Sushi and have enjoyed excellent sushi from some of the finest chefs. I won’t give up on Tokyo either; I’ll give them one more chance. After all, I did get there a late again today. Maybe they were saving the good stuff for the dinner seating.