Reviews & Ratings for Mikado Japanese Steak House

01/25/11

BEST FOOD hands down!

by Justme101 at Citysearch

I have went to Mikados on many occassions. I have a craving like no other when it comes to Mikados, matter of fact I am going tonight :-) The atmosphere is great, the Chefs are funny....and the entire staff are all personable. I dont understand why people want to downgrade this place. It is great for all occassions and even for no occassions at all. I even go there (send my husband) to get a bottle of their salad dressing, cause I dont like the dressings in stores since I have been "turned on" to Mikado's salad dressing.

To all the people that whine about their feelings were hurt by a Chef "bully" grow up and stop being so sensitive, that was their job, it wasnt personal....FOH!

07/31/10

Best Hibachi in my opinion

by TNTITAN at Citysearch

They are great, I know the owners and some of the chefs we go so much. I love the rice and steak sauce. The mai tais are cheap and excellent. I would recommend it to anyone.

however, i did have (1) isolated bad experience. I arrived 30 mins before close and they wouldnt seat me. Of course they manager seen it was my family and tried to seat us. but i was so p'd off that we left and didnt go back for almost a yr. When i seen the bartender at a gas station one night, she mentioned that they felt so bad about that night. I mean, im a customer and they remember ME almost a yr later! so i gave em another chance, and its been great since. hope you can experience it. Ask for Bruce to be your chef!

• Pros: entertaining, bar drinks are good and cheap, great food
• Cons: i did have one bad experience that kept me away for a while

03/06/09

Great amosphere

Contributor at Citysearch

Like most hibachi grills, the atmosphere is quite aoothing... A lirele escape from buy life. They don't have any sushi, however, but their other selections are great

10/30/08

reunitied with an old favorite flame

by piperblue at Citysearch

I used to go to Mikado with my family when I was younger but for no specific reason I never got a chance to make it out there as I would have liked to. I do specifically remember their ginger sauce that went on the salads. Since then, I always compare their sauce with other japanese restaurants and it just does not match up to Mikado's. I was recently asked to go there with a friend and it was like being back at home. Not only was the sauce just as I remembered but the food was beyond satisfaction, accompanied by a very reasonable tab for the quality of food. As far as service goes, I have worked in the restaurant business for a number of years therefore there are certain things I expect when I go out to eat. The service you recieve at a restaurant can make or break the place and I could not have been more satisfied. The chefs were hilarious, servers were friendly and not overbearing, bartender kept a great conversation going, and even the host was very polite and took great care of us. I feel bad for not coming back sooner, but I will definitely make up for it in the future. No complaints here!

07/02/08

Mediocre Japanese food at best.

by BCarver1 at Citysearch

Having been to several Japanese-style steak houses, when I moved to Nashville I was eager to find a good one here. Unfortunately the first I happened upon was Mikado. The boast often about their 25 years of service. The building's condition definitely reflects 25 years of existence, with little in the way of upkeep/maintenance. The place looks like it's been closed down for the better part of the decade. Still, though, I've had a great number of wonderful experiences with ethnic food in less then opulent settings, so I persevered.

The first think you see when you enter the foyer of the restaurant is a conveniently placed menu. The prices are INSANE. The cheapest protein-containing dish is $17 for chicken. The average price for an entree is roughly $21. For that much money - call me cheap - I expected DELICIOUS food and significant portions. One of my favorite things about Japanese steak houses is that the portions tend to be significant enough to last for a dinner and lunch the next day. I was disappointed in the measly size of the entree. It started with soup - which I assume was supposed to represent miso soup. It was, in fact, chicken broth with a raw slice of mushroom. It's salt-level was somewhere between Atlantic and Pacific. The salad was bland; it consisted of soggy iceberg lettuce adorned with fast-food quality croutons (croutons in a Japanese-style salad? A first for me) drenched in about a cup of an unidentifiable salad dressing. I ordered the steak and shrimp combo, my friend ordered shrimp and scallop. We watched as the chef placed the seafood on the hibatchi and cooked it. And cooked it. And cooked it some more. My shrimp had the consistency of old chewing gum. My friends scallops? Used, re-treaded tires. The highlight of the meal was the orange sherbet at the end with the fortune cookie. I implore anyone looking for Japanese food to find somewhere else in Nashville to satisfy such cravings.

• Pros: Um...the hispanic chefs do an entertaining, albeit offensive impression of Japanese people.
• Cons: Poor pricing, poor food, poor ambience.

02/22/08

Fun place to go

by Shellylovesdavid at Citysearch

I went on a Saturday night with my 2 cousin's & a friend of mine. We had to wait but even where we had to wait was nice. There is a bar there. Since we had 4 in our party we shared our table with other people. The cook was fun & I took a couple of pictures. I liked the soup & I loved my steak. I can't wait to go back with David!

02/16/08

The number five with a side of shrimp and a mikado special to drink!

by hstargazer at Citysearch

This restaraunt is the absolute best japanese steak house in nashville. I have been to them all and by far the sauces and salad dressing and overall taste of the food is far supurb then any other. Granted the style of the restaurant is not as chic as Kobe's per say, but the food and the friendly service speaks volumes. However, beware...this restaurant will ruin you for any other. It will stand as a prerequisite for all other habatci grill restaraunts you will visit. My personal choices: The number five (the filet steak is much better than the new york strip) with a side of shrimp, and a mikado special to drink! That's the good stuff!

• Pros: steak and shrimp sauces, specialty drinks, salad dressing...filet steak!
• Cons: more casual...

12/04/07

One of the BEST for Japanese

by dixieonny at Citysearch

I've been to a few other Japanese restaurants in the past. I have to say that Mikado's is definitely at the top of my list. I started going there this past summer and have always had a great experience. We have actually started to become regulars! We buy their sauces and dressings to have at home too as well as ordering extra to go. Not that I ever finish my whole meal in one sitting because you end up with so much food by the time it's over.

We always get a seat very quickly and the staff are all very friendly and quite quick for the most part.

The cooks have all been good so far. I have my pick for Fav! but I think I've had just about all the chefs they have and have yet to have a bad experience. Only once did they give me the sirloin when I requested Filet, but as soon as they noticed, they quickly fixed it and I ended up with both ! What a deal~

All in all, I highly recommend it! Fun for a group, fun for two!

• Pros: Service, Food, Ambience, Convenient location
• Cons: No Sushi

06/13/07

A horrible evening.

by jenjen416 at Citysearch

We were served by a "chef" whose whole act was based on making customers laugh by pretending to speak broken English and basically reinforce every Asian stereotype that exists. Myself and my boyfriend had never been to a Japanese steakhouse before, so I found myself the target of every "joke" the chef had to offer. He came off less as a comedian and more like a schoolyard bully. It was completely humiliating because we were with my boyfriend's parents and it was his father's birthday...so had I walked out it would probably have ruined dinner. I was near tears by the time dinner was finally over. We paid over $20 a person and honestly, even had dinner not been excruciating, the food was not impressive to say the least. The steak was tough and bland and the rice was tasteless. I am very confused about why this has so many good reviews...the Asian buffet down the street has more taste. I will never go back and if all Japanese steakhouses are like this, I won't be visiting any of them either.

• Pros: This is great if you are entertained by bullying and stereotypes
• Cons: Food was not worth over $20 a person.

05/23/07

Good for groups but very busy due to the location. A meduim rating for food and flair

by debomad at Citysearch

I can only give this one an OK. It was not bad but is was not anything special either. It is a lack luster dining experience.

• Pros: Free Parking, OK food
• Cons: OK food, lack of value