When I first walked into Oishi, I was impressed by the polite and attentive staff as well as the beautiful restaurant decorated in red and black with hanging Japanese lanterns and Japanese doors for the rooms used for special occasions. The restaurant located at 12220 Shawnee Mission Parkway also had black leather chairs and booths that very comfortable.

The menu offers a wide selection of Japanese food including sushi, hibachi, teriyaki dishes and combination fried rices. Even though they have hibachi on the menu, they don’t cook it in front of you. The chefs cook the order in the kitchen and bring it out to you.

I ordered the steak and shrimp hibachi. The presentation of my meal was not only beautiful but the perfect temperature. The chef prepared both the meats and fried rice perfectly. Despite this, the steak and vegetables tasted bland and relied on Asian sauce to provide flavor. This disappointed me because the only food on my plate with good flavor was the shrimp and fried rice. For an extra $2, I purchased the hot tea which served as a the restaurant as a metaphor for the entire restaurant. The tea was presented in a beautiful ethnic teapot, but the tea itself tasted bland.

Each hibachi meal costs between $15 to $18, which is comparable to other restaurants  serving hibachi in the area. Although I wasn’t excited about the food, the experience was worth the price. Oishi Japanese Restaurant.