Shogun Japanese Steakhouse

11/11/2007 Posted by psl80proof

I have been to Shogun about 15 times and it has never disappointed me. The negative reviews seem to focus on poor management, which very well may be true if you are demanding precise seating on a weekend evening, but the food is to die for. For people who like a mouth full of flavor and zest, it's hard to find any other restaurant that would have more flavor. I can't believe some reviews said their food was cold....it's straight off the grill!!! How could it be served cold?!!? The fried rice alone could be a meal, it's comparable to PF Chang's except with more of a teriaki flavor. I wish I could take the sauces home somehow.... especially the hot sauce (by request). It has the most unique form of heat but doesn't burn or scorch your mouth like a jalepeno. For people that complain the the chef "seems out of it," it's because they will do as little or as much entertaining as you want them to. Sometimes regulars like myself have seen the show tons of times and you'd rather just talk with your company. The chef will pick up on that and just make the food for you. But if you cheer them on and show interest in their show, then they'll do more. I think that's very professional of them to perceive what the customers want during the meal, apparently misinterpreted as being boring or indifferent by some. For $17 or so you can get a salad (with amazing ginger dressing!), soup, shrimp appetizer, half a plate of fried rice, vegetables, steak/chicken, side sauces, and spumoni ice cream! Plus alot of entertainment, food tricks, and fire flareups, it's almost like a mini Vegas dinner show. The chefs I've had always have a clever sense of humor if you engage them. They'll even try to flip you a piece of food and let you catch it in your mouth (followed by jokingly flipping a huge chunk of butter for you to catch in your mouth!). Shogun will easily become a family favorite that you will crave fortnightly!

Pros: Hot food, fun entertaining chefs, very bold and zesty tastes, tons of food for $17

Cons: very busy on weekends, as they have to wait to seat 10 at a time per chef. Best on weekdays.

08/24/2007 Posted by jeremy78tn

This was my first experience at a Japanese hibachi restaurant in Nashville. In Knoxville, I was apparantly spoiled by Miyabi's and Kanpai of Tokyo, as Shogun's wasn't even in their league. We were told there would only be a 15 min wait so to pass the time we went to the bar to have a drink. The bar area was in general not clean and seemed very unkept and the bartender seemed irritated that we wanted a drink. While I was trying to decide what to order, I noticed her sneaking a smoke from a cigarette she had hidden in a customer's ash tray. Now, its bad enough to deal with the general public smoking but to have to deal with my bartender taking a puff like a school girl in the bathroom was just trashy. I skipped my drink and my date had sake, hard to mess that up. We were set in a nice timely manner as promised and most things were good after that. At the table we sat with 8 other people we didn't know at first but proceeded to talk with everyone. I ordered a extra extra dirty vodka martini on the rocks and my date ordered a cosmo, both off the drink menu (I did ask for an additional extra dirty). When we got the drinks they were terrible. My martini had zero olive juice and it even says dirty in the menu description and the only thing about my date's drink that resembled a cosmo was the color. I asked for some olive jucie and doctored mine while my date just suffered thru it. After that the food was good, not great, and the cook (or is it chef?) was pleasant and entertaining. He was very skilled at his job and his server assistant was on top of her game as well. The sauces they give for the food were not very tasty so we pushed ours aside. The food was prepared properly and the meat was good but the rice was dry and the vegetables in the rice seemed like they were out of a can. Now to the bill. As I reviewed our bill I realized we were not charged for our bar drinks and the party beside us was charged for 2 meals instead of 4, so I guess we got redeemed ;-)

Pros: Chef performance, table conversation

Cons: bar area, bartender, lack of ambience