Teppan Kitchen and Lung Kee Congee and Noodles

My parents were telling me about this new place called Saboten that specializes in Japanese tonkatsu that I had to check out.  They warned me that the line ups were huge at this place, since it just opened so I figured it couldn't hurt to have a look.  Once I saw the line, I said to myself, screw it, I'll wait till the fad is over, just like Beard Papa.  It was unreal watching all the lemmings line up to try this place, and though I was hungry, I had no intention of waiting an hour to try tonkatsu served on a styrofoam plate.

Instead, my folks and I tried Teppan Kitchen, which had absolutely nobody standing by it waiting to place an order.  Haha, I don't know if it was out of pity or curiosity that drove me to try it, but looking at the lone chef standing behind the counter staring at the mile-long line up for Saboten, I thought, "kawaisou". 

Anyway, I walked over and my stomach started to grumble at the sight of the plastic food in the display.  I'm always a sucker for the 3D menus so I told my dad that I was trying this place.

My mom's teeth were still reeling from the dentist so she settled for Lung Kee's congee instead of semi cooked meat on an iron pan. 

Seafood congee and radish cakes.  Not my favourite items on the menu, but I tried them anyway and decided that they were on par with standard food court offerings.

When our meals were ready, I was surprised by the presentation.  The meals were actually served on the iron skillets, and they had the paper shield to protect the customer from oil spatter.  The miso soup came in a styrofoam containter, and that was to be expected, but the little wooden spork was a nice touch.

My dad ordered the salmon and I ordered the beef which came semi-raw and the residual heat from the skillet was cooking the rest.  Of course, I gobbled it up while it still had a pulse, wouldn't want to overcook the beef.  Both dishes tasted surprisingly good.  We didn't need to add any extra sauce, though it was available if one felt the need to drown their rice in sauce and make porridge. 

Gotta love the spork.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with Teppan Kitchen, and I'd probably eat there again.  As for Lung Kee, probably not unless I was sick because everyone knows that congee is the best medicine for any kind of illness, haha!

Gyu Kaku

I think I've said this before, but one of the great things about working downtown is the huge selection of good eats...the downside of that is turning into a whale.  in my immediate work area, there are a lot of affordable places to grab a lunch, which really doesn't inspire me much to pack lunch anymore.  It also doesn't help that a lot of my colleagues don't pack lunch either and really, really like to eat out practically every day.  One of the places that we discovered was Gyu Kaku.  Apparenly, there are Gyu kaku's all over Japan, but I don't recall going into one the last time I was there. 

The outside of this place almost looks tacky, but once inside, it feels like an izakaya/restaurant.

We ordered a few appies like the ika karaage (Fried Calamari), and the Cheese Fried Wontons.  Both were cheap and tasty, but had me screaming for some sake to go with it (I couldn't of course, because I was working).

As you can tell, presentation was clean, and the chef obviously put some care into it.

I ordered the Unagi Bibimbap, and for about $10.95, I thought it was a steal.  All the Stone Bowl dishes had the servers do the mixing and the pressing.  Mine had a liberal amount of unagi in it so I was happy.  Taste was good, and for me, it came quick....can't say the same for everyone else though....

One of my colleagues ordered the Garlic Shrimp Bibimbap and it took forever to show up.  Most of us were done our meals by the time hers came.  I'm sure it was a one of type situation of miscommunication, or maybe they were still defrosting the shrimp, haha!  

For what it's worth, I still liked the place.  The food tastes good, the prices are reasonable, and the service was friendly enough, although a bit chaotic at times becase the place got pretty busy and it didn't seem like they had enough staff on at the time.  Would I go back?  Yeah, probably.  I haven't been back since, but that's only because there are so many other places to try downtown!