I visited Shogun on 1/26/12 while on a week vacation in Orlando. I had been waiting to use my gift certificate from Restaurant.com all week (I can't tell you how much I LOVE Japanese food!) and I ended up at Shogun on Thursday instead of Friday because i just couldn't wait any longer! LOL This restaurant is located inside the Rosen Inn on I-drive. The place is pretty small, the bathrooms are in the hotel hallway and there is a room with pool tables and a bar right next door...it didn't look promising. You know when your mom says, "never judge a book by its cover!", that certainly applies here! Malyn (I think I spelled that right) was my server and BY FAR was the best server I had the ENTIRE time I was on vacation. I'm a waitress myself, and my parents owned a restaurant for 17 years, so I can be a bit demanding at times (just to test the waters and see what the waitstaff is made of) and I can be "nitpick-ey" about certain things....Malyn was an absolute dream server! She was attentive, super nice, funny, and relatable...I couldn't have been more pleased! I started off by ordering a shogun cocktail and California Rolls. The drink was delicious (bartender didn't skimp on the pour!) and the California Rolls were big, fresh, and very tasty. The only bad thing about their sushi is the selection...very limited...but they do have the basic "favorites" that most people eat, so for me the limited options weren't a big deal. I continued my dinner with the Shogun Special which comes with your choice of Miso or Chicken Soup, salad with Ginger dressing, White rice or Fried rice, veggies, and a Chicken/Steak/Shrimp combo cooked up on the Hibachi grill. For $19.95 the portion size is adequate, but back at home (Massachusetts) I would've gotten a little more chicken and steak...not a big deal though! I opted for the chicken soup which is pretty much just broth...but that's expected. I read other reviews on this place and I laughed about the fact that people think "Chicken Soup" means "Chicken Noodle Soup". Seriously, I've never been to a Hibachi place that serves anything close to Chicken Noodle Soup....what do people expect? Anyway, the soup was good and the salad was good too. The salad needed to be drained better because there was a ton of water at the bottom of my bowl, but the ginger dressing was absolutely delicious...it's now my second favorite of all time (Umi's in Swansea, MA still holds the #1 spot in my heart!). I opted for fried rice with my dinner but also ordered a second white rice as well because I like to mix everything together, smother it in ginger sauce, and eat the leftovers the next day...YUM! The veggies, chicken, steak, and shrimp were all cooked perfectly and nicely seasoned so no complaints there. Both of the sauces they serve with the meal are tasty (the normal Ginger sauce/mayo and some sort of Terriyaki sauce as well, as opposed to the hot mustard that most Hibachi places serve). Our chef was lackluster which in a way was a blessing. He did a horrible onion Volcano and then...nothing, no show, nada! LOL I've been to tons of Japanese restaurants so I've seen the "Japanese Egg roll", "Japanese Pac-man", and the shrimp flip sooo many times that I wasn't missing that stuff. However, the chef cooked with absolutely no flair whatsoever...made even worse by the fact that the other chef on duty (who looked kinda Mexican) was super fun and playful with his diners and was putting on a great show only 1 table down from us...I felt cheated! But, even without the flair, the food was delicious and certainly filling. I normally round out my Hibachi meal with an order of fried ice cream but **GASP** they don't have that at Shogun. **cry** Come on! Add that to the menu please!!! All-in-all I thoroughly enjoyed myself at Shogun and will definitely be back the next time I'm in Orlando. Shogun gets 4 stars instead of 5 for these reasons: lackluster Chef, no Fried Ice Cream, limited Sushi options, and small portion sizes on the meats (well, in my particular meal anyway).
(4)
Robin F.
I went to Benihana's in CA once decades ago, and that was enough chopping and flipping food for me for a lifetime. But last night I was in Orlando on business, and my colleague wanted to go to Shogun. I have to say I was not enthused. As a vegetarian, I thought there would be little on the menu to order, and I was correct. I ended up with the veggie sushi and the tofu yaki. Our waitress was super nice, asked me if it was ok if the meat touched my food. When I told her I'd rather it didn't, she conveyed this info to the chef, who cooked my food then put on the meat items. The tofu was flavorful and nicely grilled. The veggies were over-grilled and too laden with oil and sauce for my taste. (That's why I gave four as my rating and not higher. ) They didn't taste like vegetables any more and were limp and oily. Having a plant based diet, I'm pretty damned picky about my vegetables. Maybe the rest of the world likes them like that. I don't know. The fried rice was super American style. That's cool, because a lot of American places overcook it and make it gummy like that. Next time I'll see if I can order a bowl of just plain steamed rice. No real criticism here; I realize Shogun probably cooks for the tourist trade in Orlando, and they make what they are used to in Ohio or wherever. Wait staff and chef were friendly and competent. Place seemed genuine and fun. I'd go back there before Benihana's for sure.
(4)
Beverly N.
food is good. came with a party of nine and we waited at least an hour for our chef to come out.. we're so hungry.. we got our appetizers but we want our damn teppanyaki food. -_- sorry, if u guys are short handed. at this point, alll tricks aside. just give us our food.
(2)
Brooke K.
We were staying at the Rosen Inn and I bought a certificate from restaraunt.com to use here. I read the yelp reviews and was nervous since so many of them were pretty bad. Luckily everything went smoothly. We showed up for our reservation and were seated promptly. Luckily we were the last ones sat at an already full table so we didn't have to wait to long. A couple came in about 5 minutes after us and they waited for about 45 minutes for their table to fill up. We were lucky and got one of the fun cooks. The cook at the table next to us was really boring and quiet the whole time, so we were really happy we got a lively and fun one. We weren't expecting much from the food but it was much better than we had anticipated. It was good! Except for the California roll, those were disgusting. Overall we had a very good experience and would definitely return. We were in and out in just over an hour and a half but most of the time was spent eating and watching the chef, luckily we didn't have a lot of time spent sitting around bored.
(4)
Sandra H.
My family enjoyed the food here. We did the chicken and filet hibachi. The chef was very friendly and gave a nice experience. I gave this place 4 stars because it's a little pricy for the food you get. Overall, we had a good time.
(4)
Ruben G.
Great service, fun cook. Overall was a great experience. Food size is huge . No need for apetizer. Will definitely return.
(5)
Jeremy C.
*** this review is being posted BEFORE the food has came out.**** We've been here over an hour and still haven't received our soup or salad. Also, it's upper 40s here and we were sat at a table in which the air conditioner vent was BLASTInG !! when we told 2 different workers about it, they both said their was nothing they could do. Obviously, everyone gets busy and I'm sure the air needs to be on due to that fact this is a hibachi restaurant and food is cooked over an open flame. But, SERIOUSLY!! Over an hour?!?!?
(1)
Vishwah R.
It's the best Japanese cuisine I've had in a while. Our dishes delivered bold flavors and beautifully seasoned stir fries. It was satisfying and delicious. When in town, we will definitely dine again.
(5)
James S.
Teppanyaki. . .delicious. The chef was encouraging my friend's daughter to try dishes. . .She's a very finicky eater and amazingly, she actually tried it. She really like the Japanese soda, even though she couldn't open it. Great showmanship on grille techniques for entertaining. Both my friend and her daughter were impressed since they never been before. Food was good and steak grilled just perfectly along with the chicken. The squash was delectable and just right on seasoning, which means he didn't drown it in soy sauce. On a side note, it was entertaining watching my friend attempting to eat with chopsticks for the 1st time. . .the baby ones modified for kids. She provided me with more amusement than the chef. I recommend taking your friends who never been to provide you with the same entertainment. . .in the end, its the little things that count.
(5)
Mike L.
As far as Japanese steakhouses go, this place was top notch. It is located in one of the hotels on International Drive in the back. When we arrived, we were seated immediately. The waitress took our drink order and as usual for this type of restaurant, we had to wait until other diners arrived before placing our dinner order. Our chef was Pete and he was very entertaining. He cooked everything to perfection and was very attentative. He even performed some of the tricks twice so that all the kids could watch them. He was very funny. The food was delicious and the restaurant was clean. What more can I say.
(5)
Scott J.
We loved the experience of the food and the chef (Roland). The food was very good and tasty, a standard Japanese steakhouse. We had a restaurants.com coupon so it sweetened the deal. However we were upset with the end part of the meal. They made us wait approximately 15 minutes after everyone was finished for the check. A cleaning staff split one of our guest's drink. He wasn't sympathetic about it at all. However, one of the waiters allowed for a new drink. All in all, great food. However, the employees need to work on time management and working with customers.
(3)
Jon L.
Hmm. I am not generally a big fan of hibachi, as I find the jokes sort of corny and the food to be pretty mediocre. So this place pretty much lived up to that expectation. Meh food, corny jokes, and the prices are not cheap. Nothing bad really, but nothing awesome either. The wait staff is very nice but also a little weird..our waiter seemed to talk over us most of the time and not really listen to what we were saying. That being said, if you love love love hibachi, this place will be fine.
(3)
Dave O.
We were in town for vacation and had a coupon for this place. Got there early and were seated promptly. Had to wait about 15 for some more people to show up to make a table full but not bad at all. Waitress was attentive and got our orders right, ( wife has allergies as did another lady at the table). Had Jerry as our chef, he was awesome! Great personality and very entertaining. He cooked everything perfect, allergies and all. I would recommend this place. Its the usual Japanese steakhouse but it was good, no complaints. Average pricing, $20+ per entree.
(4)
Craig S.
A fun place to have a delicious meal. My wife and I enjoyed our steak and shrimp dinner here while we stayed at the attached Rosen Inn. The show was great and the cook was a lot of fun. Everything turned out perfect and the service left nothing to be desired.
(5)
Jay N.
This restaurant is located in the backside of the Rosen hotel on I Drive just North of Sand Lake Road. I so wanted to love this place! I am always hopeful, so when I see a place with 3.5 stars, I always hope my experience will be at least a four. We checked in for our reservation a little early. and were seated after about 10 minutes. There are about 8 hibachi grills each seating 10 people each. The restaurant is very clean with kind of a modern minimalist decor. Not a lot of Japanese kitch here. Our server eventually came and took the order for the table. 20 minutes later we got our drinks. I was not impressed. We had ordered Hibachi and soup and salad was included. This was served first. The Miso soup was just OK, but the ginger dressing on the salad was quite good. The chef came out and he started the show. He was pretty good. All the usual stunts and props. Volcano, egg roll, and so on. First came vegetables and then fried rice. Neither were bad, but not great. We had beef, chicken, shrimp, and scallops. All the meats were very good except the scallops which were over cooked and rubbery. The show was done, the chef disappeared and then it got strange, Everyone was done eating, but no one came. The server showed up 15 minutes later and tried to get everyone to buy another round of drinks. Everyone declined, and she left, we thought to get the checks. 15 minutes later she showed up without any checks. She was checking to see if anyone wanted more drinks. Everyone asked for their checks. Did I mention that it was about 60 degrees in the place and everyone was shivering. 20 minutes later she came back with the bills. I actually paid cash so we wouldn't have to wait 15 minutes for her to pick up the card and another 15 to bring it back to sigh. Did also mention that there is an 18% gratuity already added to your bill. I usually have no problem with this because I almost always tip more than that. In most cases I have found that a server has less incentive to take care of the customer if a tip is guaranteed. Tonight we spent about an hour eating and well over an hour waiting. It is only open 6-10. Bottom line: Nice place, average food, and terrible service.
(2)
Emily D.
We basically ended up here by mistake. We were staying at The Rosen Inn and didn't have time to grab dinner at Universal before having to catch the shuttle back to the hotel. The shuttle took us in the back way and we noticed the restaurant, so we decided to give it a try. It was actually the most fun we had our whole trip. While waiting for our chef, we watched Chef Pete cook and perform for another group and were very impressed. We had Roland, and he was great as well. We ordered the chicken teriyaki which was tasty yet light after a day of eating greasy park food. He let us try some steak too. We ordered the Yokahama mama which was delicious and had plenty of liquor. The soup and salad weren't memorable, but we appreciated them. Our server (I want to say Eileen, but I can't remember for sure. She was a sweet older woman) was an absolute doll. I would recommend giving Shogun a try.
(5)
Ryan J.
(Reminder, huge coupon guy here, always looking to save money, especially dining out with the entire family). I visited Shogun while on vacation with my family, and we went on a Wednesday (2-8-12) at 7:15 p.m. We had a restaurant.com certificate to use ($75 off a minimum purchase of $150, plus 18% gratuity added before discount), and my kids have never experienced a hibachi grill dinner before. Perfect timing! I called ahead to make a reservation for 6 people but was told that I probably didn't need it as they were a bit slow that night. Better safe than sorry. We arrived about ten minutes early for our reservation and were seated right away by a very kind hostess/greeter. Malyn was our server and she was fantastic! She was very busy as she was responsible for a total of 3 hibachi tables full of people. She was extremely attentive as she could be, given how busy she was. I do have to say that the dinner overall was extremely slow from beginning to end which was annoying when you are to eat with 4 children. It was at least 20 mins between soup to salad and about 25 mins until the cook came out - not cooking, just coming out with the tray of food for the orders. Our cook, Pete, was great and extremely entertaining especially playing towards the children. They were in awe of his skills. I've seen better shows but again he was playing towards my kids, and I appreciated it very much! He did the "egg trick" as my kids' called it, the volcano and even made a Sponge Bob Square Pants out of the fried rice - which was a first for me. I was a bit disappointed that he didn't flip any shrimp/steak/chicken. My kids would have loved that. Our dinner came to a total of $130.xx which included 4 adult meals (prices ranged from $25.95 to $31.95) and 2 kids meal ($9.95/each) along with 4 sodas ($3.95/each Japanese brand with a novelty marble in the neck of the bottle.) and 2 mixed drinks ($7.95/each). This total included the tip and after $75 off for the restaurant.com certificate. (Note: I did tip extra because of all of Malyn's hardwork which is included in the $130.xx. It would have been about $120.xx without it) It was a great night out with the family, albeit, a slow dinner. Though, if it was any slower, I would have knocked it 1 star but Malyn and Pete saved the experience for a full 5 stars.
(5)
J P.
Experienced horrible service. Purchased a discount on Restaurant.com and attempted to use it. Tried to be proactive by making reservations and confirming the day of. Hostess was confused. We were frustrated and left.
(1)
Tina C.
At the end of a long day at Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom of full humidity under the sun and walking all day my former love and I were exhausted and wanted to unwined to Japanese Hibachi. Usually I never finish my entire meal but this time was different. The sake was good. The chefs prepare you meal in front of you and thankfully did not sing while cooking. They only performed tricks with knifes of their quick hands. This restaurant is featured in local tour guides and have a coupon for 10% or 20% off to attract patrons to dine in.
(4)
Joseph W.
Try your luck else where. I'll begin with the (few) positives. First, the price wasn't o bad b/c we had a coupon. The service was fairly nice. The chef was friendly and did an alright job entertaining us. That being said, it was the worst Japanese steak houses I've been to. The sushi selection consisted of 4 types of typical rolls. The spicy tuna roll I had was OK, but certainly nothing special. The hibachi was nothing to write home about, but still decent. The real trouble was the wait. They initially told us there would be a 30 minute wait. this turned out to be two hours. And once we were seated, it took 30 minutes to receive any service. This was largely due to them being severely understaffed. But problem was so severe, that it made the whole experience terrible. What's more, the ambiance was non-existent, and it feels all the more clumsy since the restaurant itself is in the back of a two star hotel. Given that you have many other places to get sushi and hibatcho, I would recommend skipping Shogun and to try you luck elsewhere.
(1)
Daya A.
So the concept of this restaurant is interesting....they show the chefs put on a live entertaining cook in your face experience, similiar to Kobe's. They are very talented with the knifes and chop all kinds of things in the air (mushrooms, onions, peppers.)...I must admit the cooking show is very nice (washed down version of live iron chef) but the food does not have much of a "wow" factor. The main thing that gets cooked (or made right then and there) is your choice of meat /seafood and rice. The chef savours the food with kikkoman and oil, then you get a choice of soup/ salad to accompany your meal. The main salad they serve consist of a ginger dressing with mushy croutons on top of iceburg lettuce. More seasonings, and fresher salads will do the trick for an extra star. This place has potential =)
(2)
Jennifer M.
We had a great dinner here back in November while doing the Disney thing. Food was actually pretty tasty! The chef even put some on a plate for our 3 year-old who wasn't getting a paid meal. Only drawback was waitress seemed overwhelmed. Also some couple across from us at other end of table was making snide comments that we shouldn't have brought such a young child to that "type" of restaurant. She behaved like an angel most of the time and we had a great dinner at a great price!
(4)
J B.
This was one of the worst experiences I've ever had! Our dinner experience took 4 hours! My 6 year old was crying because they made us wait so long and he was starving. We got up to leave several times to leave and they kept telling us the chef was coming. I wouldn't recommend it even if it was free, not worth the aggravation or the waste of time.
(1)
Stephanie B.
All locals at our table, no need for a Saturday night reservation far in advance! Service was great, the grill chef hilarious, and prices were verrrry reasonable (esp compared to other Orlando teppan grills). The filet & shrimp were wonderful! My glass of wine was only $6. It is smack dab in the middle of I Drive, so foot traffic was gnarly in getting there. All in all very good!
(4)
David C.
Good sushi. BIG portions on the entres. Did not do the tepanyaki, but it looked cool. The servers are friendly. The menu is currently in flux. Deserts were good as well.
(4)
Barry N.
This review is a courtesy for those who may be travelling to the Orlando area and thinking of a teppan yaki dinner. Don't be lured by a discount or two-for-one coupon here. With a Benihana and Kobe in town, go with the percentages and head to one of those. While the service was OK (it was a Sunday evening and the place was about 1/3 full), the success of your meal at these types of places is highly dependent on your chef and the quality of the ingredients. In our case, neither of these were up to our expectations. It's kind of sad when you order a steak and chicken combo at a steakhouse and you enjoy the chicken more. (I only ordered the chicken part in case my son wanted some extra.) I won't go into more detail on this because it's just not worth dissecting the meal. Maybe the food quality would seemingly have been enhanced if we had a lively chef. But ours was a dud. A final note on the dipping sauces: these should normally accentuate your teppan yaki foods. In this case, the soy-ginger style sauce was bland and missing something critical, and the other sauce (typically a mustard based sauce for beef or chicken) was literally described by the chef as "mayonnaise, ketchup and something else". I don't know what the "something else" was, but I dipped my steak once and then went without dipping for the rest of the meal.
(1)
Kathrine C.
We arrived at 7:30 for dinner, told it would be 30 minute wait. At 8:15, my husband checked and was told the host had somehow managed to forget about us. We were seated at 8:30. The chef did not come out until around 10 and obviously rushed through everything. Long story short, we were done with dinner after 11, almost 3 hours after we had arrived. By the time food was done, I wasn't even really hungry anymore. For the inconvenience, we were offered complimentary edamame--the cheapest appetizer on the menu.
(1)
Cheryl A.
This place isn't closed. The hibachi cook was good, wait staff friendly & responsive, & the food was yummy. Our waitress can read minds I think & brought us drink refills & waters the second we thought of it. If i lived in Orlando I world become a regular here.
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Dinner Parking : Private Lot Bike Parking : No Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : No Wi-Fi : No Has TV : No Waiter Service : Yes Caters : No
Nicole G.
I visited Shogun on 1/26/12 while on a week vacation in Orlando. I had been waiting to use my gift certificate from Restaurant.com all week (I can't tell you how much I LOVE Japanese food!) and I ended up at Shogun on Thursday instead of Friday because i just couldn't wait any longer! LOL This restaurant is located inside the Rosen Inn on I-drive. The place is pretty small, the bathrooms are in the hotel hallway and there is a room with pool tables and a bar right next door...it didn't look promising. You know when your mom says, "never judge a book by its cover!", that certainly applies here! Malyn (I think I spelled that right) was my server and BY FAR was the best server I had the ENTIRE time I was on vacation. I'm a waitress myself, and my parents owned a restaurant for 17 years, so I can be a bit demanding at times (just to test the waters and see what the waitstaff is made of) and I can be "nitpick-ey" about certain things....Malyn was an absolute dream server! She was attentive, super nice, funny, and relatable...I couldn't have been more pleased! I started off by ordering a shogun cocktail and California Rolls. The drink was delicious (bartender didn't skimp on the pour!) and the California Rolls were big, fresh, and very tasty. The only bad thing about their sushi is the selection...very limited...but they do have the basic "favorites" that most people eat, so for me the limited options weren't a big deal. I continued my dinner with the Shogun Special which comes with your choice of Miso or Chicken Soup, salad with Ginger dressing, White rice or Fried rice, veggies, and a Chicken/Steak/Shrimp combo cooked up on the Hibachi grill. For $19.95 the portion size is adequate, but back at home (Massachusetts) I would've gotten a little more chicken and steak...not a big deal though! I opted for the chicken soup which is pretty much just broth...but that's expected. I read other reviews on this place and I laughed about the fact that people think "Chicken Soup" means "Chicken Noodle Soup". Seriously, I've never been to a Hibachi place that serves anything close to Chicken Noodle Soup....what do people expect? Anyway, the soup was good and the salad was good too. The salad needed to be drained better because there was a ton of water at the bottom of my bowl, but the ginger dressing was absolutely delicious...it's now my second favorite of all time (Umi's in Swansea, MA still holds the #1 spot in my heart!). I opted for fried rice with my dinner but also ordered a second white rice as well because I like to mix everything together, smother it in ginger sauce, and eat the leftovers the next day...YUM! The veggies, chicken, steak, and shrimp were all cooked perfectly and nicely seasoned so no complaints there. Both of the sauces they serve with the meal are tasty (the normal Ginger sauce/mayo and some sort of Terriyaki sauce as well, as opposed to the hot mustard that most Hibachi places serve). Our chef was lackluster which in a way was a blessing. He did a horrible onion Volcano and then...nothing, no show, nada! LOL I've been to tons of Japanese restaurants so I've seen the "Japanese Egg roll", "Japanese Pac-man", and the shrimp flip sooo many times that I wasn't missing that stuff. However, the chef cooked with absolutely no flair whatsoever...made even worse by the fact that the other chef on duty (who looked kinda Mexican) was super fun and playful with his diners and was putting on a great show only 1 table down from us...I felt cheated! But, even without the flair, the food was delicious and certainly filling. I normally round out my Hibachi meal with an order of fried ice cream but **GASP** they don't have that at Shogun. **cry** Come on! Add that to the menu please!!! All-in-all I thoroughly enjoyed myself at Shogun and will definitely be back the next time I'm in Orlando. Shogun gets 4 stars instead of 5 for these reasons: lackluster Chef, no Fried Ice Cream, limited Sushi options, and small portion sizes on the meats (well, in my particular meal anyway).
(4)Robin F.
I went to Benihana's in CA once decades ago, and that was enough chopping and flipping food for me for a lifetime. But last night I was in Orlando on business, and my colleague wanted to go to Shogun. I have to say I was not enthused. As a vegetarian, I thought there would be little on the menu to order, and I was correct. I ended up with the veggie sushi and the tofu yaki. Our waitress was super nice, asked me if it was ok if the meat touched my food. When I told her I'd rather it didn't, she conveyed this info to the chef, who cooked my food then put on the meat items. The tofu was flavorful and nicely grilled. The veggies were over-grilled and too laden with oil and sauce for my taste. (That's why I gave four as my rating and not higher. ) They didn't taste like vegetables any more and were limp and oily. Having a plant based diet, I'm pretty damned picky about my vegetables. Maybe the rest of the world likes them like that. I don't know. The fried rice was super American style. That's cool, because a lot of American places overcook it and make it gummy like that. Next time I'll see if I can order a bowl of just plain steamed rice. No real criticism here; I realize Shogun probably cooks for the tourist trade in Orlando, and they make what they are used to in Ohio or wherever. Wait staff and chef were friendly and competent. Place seemed genuine and fun. I'd go back there before Benihana's for sure.
(4)Beverly N.
food is good. came with a party of nine and we waited at least an hour for our chef to come out.. we're so hungry.. we got our appetizers but we want our damn teppanyaki food. -_- sorry, if u guys are short handed. at this point, alll tricks aside. just give us our food.
(2)Brooke K.
We were staying at the Rosen Inn and I bought a certificate from restaraunt.com to use here. I read the yelp reviews and was nervous since so many of them were pretty bad. Luckily everything went smoothly. We showed up for our reservation and were seated promptly. Luckily we were the last ones sat at an already full table so we didn't have to wait to long. A couple came in about 5 minutes after us and they waited for about 45 minutes for their table to fill up. We were lucky and got one of the fun cooks. The cook at the table next to us was really boring and quiet the whole time, so we were really happy we got a lively and fun one. We weren't expecting much from the food but it was much better than we had anticipated. It was good! Except for the California roll, those were disgusting. Overall we had a very good experience and would definitely return. We were in and out in just over an hour and a half but most of the time was spent eating and watching the chef, luckily we didn't have a lot of time spent sitting around bored.
(4)Sandra H.
My family enjoyed the food here. We did the chicken and filet hibachi. The chef was very friendly and gave a nice experience. I gave this place 4 stars because it's a little pricy for the food you get. Overall, we had a good time.
(4)Ruben G.
Great service, fun cook. Overall was a great experience. Food size is huge . No need for apetizer. Will definitely return.
(5)Jeremy C.
*** this review is being posted BEFORE the food has came out.**** We've been here over an hour and still haven't received our soup or salad. Also, it's upper 40s here and we were sat at a table in which the air conditioner vent was BLASTInG !! when we told 2 different workers about it, they both said their was nothing they could do. Obviously, everyone gets busy and I'm sure the air needs to be on due to that fact this is a hibachi restaurant and food is cooked over an open flame. But, SERIOUSLY!! Over an hour?!?!?
(1)Vishwah R.
It's the best Japanese cuisine I've had in a while. Our dishes delivered bold flavors and beautifully seasoned stir fries. It was satisfying and delicious. When in town, we will definitely dine again.
(5)James S.
Teppanyaki. . .delicious. The chef was encouraging my friend's daughter to try dishes. . .She's a very finicky eater and amazingly, she actually tried it. She really like the Japanese soda, even though she couldn't open it. Great showmanship on grille techniques for entertaining. Both my friend and her daughter were impressed since they never been before. Food was good and steak grilled just perfectly along with the chicken. The squash was delectable and just right on seasoning, which means he didn't drown it in soy sauce. On a side note, it was entertaining watching my friend attempting to eat with chopsticks for the 1st time. . .the baby ones modified for kids. She provided me with more amusement than the chef. I recommend taking your friends who never been to provide you with the same entertainment. . .in the end, its the little things that count.
(5)Mike L.
As far as Japanese steakhouses go, this place was top notch. It is located in one of the hotels on International Drive in the back. When we arrived, we were seated immediately. The waitress took our drink order and as usual for this type of restaurant, we had to wait until other diners arrived before placing our dinner order. Our chef was Pete and he was very entertaining. He cooked everything to perfection and was very attentative. He even performed some of the tricks twice so that all the kids could watch them. He was very funny. The food was delicious and the restaurant was clean. What more can I say.
(5)Scott J.
We loved the experience of the food and the chef (Roland). The food was very good and tasty, a standard Japanese steakhouse. We had a restaurants.com coupon so it sweetened the deal. However we were upset with the end part of the meal. They made us wait approximately 15 minutes after everyone was finished for the check. A cleaning staff split one of our guest's drink. He wasn't sympathetic about it at all. However, one of the waiters allowed for a new drink. All in all, great food. However, the employees need to work on time management and working with customers.
(3)Jon L.
Hmm. I am not generally a big fan of hibachi, as I find the jokes sort of corny and the food to be pretty mediocre. So this place pretty much lived up to that expectation. Meh food, corny jokes, and the prices are not cheap. Nothing bad really, but nothing awesome either. The wait staff is very nice but also a little weird..our waiter seemed to talk over us most of the time and not really listen to what we were saying. That being said, if you love love love hibachi, this place will be fine.
(3)Dave O.
We were in town for vacation and had a coupon for this place. Got there early and were seated promptly. Had to wait about 15 for some more people to show up to make a table full but not bad at all. Waitress was attentive and got our orders right, ( wife has allergies as did another lady at the table). Had Jerry as our chef, he was awesome! Great personality and very entertaining. He cooked everything perfect, allergies and all. I would recommend this place. Its the usual Japanese steakhouse but it was good, no complaints. Average pricing, $20+ per entree.
(4)Craig S.
A fun place to have a delicious meal. My wife and I enjoyed our steak and shrimp dinner here while we stayed at the attached Rosen Inn. The show was great and the cook was a lot of fun. Everything turned out perfect and the service left nothing to be desired.
(5)Jay N.
This restaurant is located in the backside of the Rosen hotel on I Drive just North of Sand Lake Road. I so wanted to love this place! I am always hopeful, so when I see a place with 3.5 stars, I always hope my experience will be at least a four. We checked in for our reservation a little early. and were seated after about 10 minutes. There are about 8 hibachi grills each seating 10 people each. The restaurant is very clean with kind of a modern minimalist decor. Not a lot of Japanese kitch here. Our server eventually came and took the order for the table. 20 minutes later we got our drinks. I was not impressed. We had ordered Hibachi and soup and salad was included. This was served first. The Miso soup was just OK, but the ginger dressing on the salad was quite good. The chef came out and he started the show. He was pretty good. All the usual stunts and props. Volcano, egg roll, and so on. First came vegetables and then fried rice. Neither were bad, but not great. We had beef, chicken, shrimp, and scallops. All the meats were very good except the scallops which were over cooked and rubbery. The show was done, the chef disappeared and then it got strange, Everyone was done eating, but no one came. The server showed up 15 minutes later and tried to get everyone to buy another round of drinks. Everyone declined, and she left, we thought to get the checks. 15 minutes later she showed up without any checks. She was checking to see if anyone wanted more drinks. Everyone asked for their checks. Did I mention that it was about 60 degrees in the place and everyone was shivering. 20 minutes later she came back with the bills. I actually paid cash so we wouldn't have to wait 15 minutes for her to pick up the card and another 15 to bring it back to sigh. Did also mention that there is an 18% gratuity already added to your bill. I usually have no problem with this because I almost always tip more than that. In most cases I have found that a server has less incentive to take care of the customer if a tip is guaranteed. Tonight we spent about an hour eating and well over an hour waiting. It is only open 6-10. Bottom line: Nice place, average food, and terrible service.
(2)Emily D.
We basically ended up here by mistake. We were staying at The Rosen Inn and didn't have time to grab dinner at Universal before having to catch the shuttle back to the hotel. The shuttle took us in the back way and we noticed the restaurant, so we decided to give it a try. It was actually the most fun we had our whole trip. While waiting for our chef, we watched Chef Pete cook and perform for another group and were very impressed. We had Roland, and he was great as well. We ordered the chicken teriyaki which was tasty yet light after a day of eating greasy park food. He let us try some steak too. We ordered the Yokahama mama which was delicious and had plenty of liquor. The soup and salad weren't memorable, but we appreciated them. Our server (I want to say Eileen, but I can't remember for sure. She was a sweet older woman) was an absolute doll. I would recommend giving Shogun a try.
(5)Ryan J.
(Reminder, huge coupon guy here, always looking to save money, especially dining out with the entire family). I visited Shogun while on vacation with my family, and we went on a Wednesday (2-8-12) at 7:15 p.m. We had a restaurant.com certificate to use ($75 off a minimum purchase of $150, plus 18% gratuity added before discount), and my kids have never experienced a hibachi grill dinner before. Perfect timing! I called ahead to make a reservation for 6 people but was told that I probably didn't need it as they were a bit slow that night. Better safe than sorry. We arrived about ten minutes early for our reservation and were seated right away by a very kind hostess/greeter. Malyn was our server and she was fantastic! She was very busy as she was responsible for a total of 3 hibachi tables full of people. She was extremely attentive as she could be, given how busy she was. I do have to say that the dinner overall was extremely slow from beginning to end which was annoying when you are to eat with 4 children. It was at least 20 mins between soup to salad and about 25 mins until the cook came out - not cooking, just coming out with the tray of food for the orders. Our cook, Pete, was great and extremely entertaining especially playing towards the children. They were in awe of his skills. I've seen better shows but again he was playing towards my kids, and I appreciated it very much! He did the "egg trick" as my kids' called it, the volcano and even made a Sponge Bob Square Pants out of the fried rice - which was a first for me. I was a bit disappointed that he didn't flip any shrimp/steak/chicken. My kids would have loved that. Our dinner came to a total of $130.xx which included 4 adult meals (prices ranged from $25.95 to $31.95) and 2 kids meal ($9.95/each) along with 4 sodas ($3.95/each Japanese brand with a novelty marble in the neck of the bottle.) and 2 mixed drinks ($7.95/each). This total included the tip and after $75 off for the restaurant.com certificate. (Note: I did tip extra because of all of Malyn's hardwork which is included in the $130.xx. It would have been about $120.xx without it) It was a great night out with the family, albeit, a slow dinner. Though, if it was any slower, I would have knocked it 1 star but Malyn and Pete saved the experience for a full 5 stars.
(5)J P.
Experienced horrible service. Purchased a discount on Restaurant.com and attempted to use it. Tried to be proactive by making reservations and confirming the day of. Hostess was confused. We were frustrated and left.
(1)Tina C.
At the end of a long day at Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom of full humidity under the sun and walking all day my former love and I were exhausted and wanted to unwined to Japanese Hibachi. Usually I never finish my entire meal but this time was different. The sake was good. The chefs prepare you meal in front of you and thankfully did not sing while cooking. They only performed tricks with knifes of their quick hands. This restaurant is featured in local tour guides and have a coupon for 10% or 20% off to attract patrons to dine in.
(4)Joseph W.
Try your luck else where. I'll begin with the (few) positives. First, the price wasn't o bad b/c we had a coupon. The service was fairly nice. The chef was friendly and did an alright job entertaining us. That being said, it was the worst Japanese steak houses I've been to. The sushi selection consisted of 4 types of typical rolls. The spicy tuna roll I had was OK, but certainly nothing special. The hibachi was nothing to write home about, but still decent. The real trouble was the wait. They initially told us there would be a 30 minute wait. this turned out to be two hours. And once we were seated, it took 30 minutes to receive any service. This was largely due to them being severely understaffed. But problem was so severe, that it made the whole experience terrible. What's more, the ambiance was non-existent, and it feels all the more clumsy since the restaurant itself is in the back of a two star hotel. Given that you have many other places to get sushi and hibatcho, I would recommend skipping Shogun and to try you luck elsewhere.
(1)Daya A.
So the concept of this restaurant is interesting....they show the chefs put on a live entertaining cook in your face experience, similiar to Kobe's. They are very talented with the knifes and chop all kinds of things in the air (mushrooms, onions, peppers.)...I must admit the cooking show is very nice (washed down version of live iron chef) but the food does not have much of a "wow" factor. The main thing that gets cooked (or made right then and there) is your choice of meat /seafood and rice. The chef savours the food with kikkoman and oil, then you get a choice of soup/ salad to accompany your meal. The main salad they serve consist of a ginger dressing with mushy croutons on top of iceburg lettuce. More seasonings, and fresher salads will do the trick for an extra star. This place has potential =)
(2)Jennifer M.
We had a great dinner here back in November while doing the Disney thing. Food was actually pretty tasty! The chef even put some on a plate for our 3 year-old who wasn't getting a paid meal. Only drawback was waitress seemed overwhelmed. Also some couple across from us at other end of table was making snide comments that we shouldn't have brought such a young child to that "type" of restaurant. She behaved like an angel most of the time and we had a great dinner at a great price!
(4)J B.
This was one of the worst experiences I've ever had! Our dinner experience took 4 hours! My 6 year old was crying because they made us wait so long and he was starving. We got up to leave several times to leave and they kept telling us the chef was coming. I wouldn't recommend it even if it was free, not worth the aggravation or the waste of time.
(1)Stephanie B.
All locals at our table, no need for a Saturday night reservation far in advance! Service was great, the grill chef hilarious, and prices were verrrry reasonable (esp compared to other Orlando teppan grills). The filet & shrimp were wonderful! My glass of wine was only $6. It is smack dab in the middle of I Drive, so foot traffic was gnarly in getting there. All in all very good!
(4)David C.
Good sushi. BIG portions on the entres. Did not do the tepanyaki, but it looked cool. The servers are friendly. The menu is currently in flux. Deserts were good as well.
(4)Barry N.
This review is a courtesy for those who may be travelling to the Orlando area and thinking of a teppan yaki dinner. Don't be lured by a discount or two-for-one coupon here. With a Benihana and Kobe in town, go with the percentages and head to one of those. While the service was OK (it was a Sunday evening and the place was about 1/3 full), the success of your meal at these types of places is highly dependent on your chef and the quality of the ingredients. In our case, neither of these were up to our expectations. It's kind of sad when you order a steak and chicken combo at a steakhouse and you enjoy the chicken more. (I only ordered the chicken part in case my son wanted some extra.) I won't go into more detail on this because it's just not worth dissecting the meal. Maybe the food quality would seemingly have been enhanced if we had a lively chef. But ours was a dud. A final note on the dipping sauces: these should normally accentuate your teppan yaki foods. In this case, the soy-ginger style sauce was bland and missing something critical, and the other sauce (typically a mustard based sauce for beef or chicken) was literally described by the chef as "mayonnaise, ketchup and something else". I don't know what the "something else" was, but I dipped my steak once and then went without dipping for the rest of the meal.
(1)Kathrine C.
We arrived at 7:30 for dinner, told it would be 30 minute wait. At 8:15, my husband checked and was told the host had somehow managed to forget about us. We were seated at 8:30. The chef did not come out until around 10 and obviously rushed through everything. Long story short, we were done with dinner after 11, almost 3 hours after we had arrived. By the time food was done, I wasn't even really hungry anymore. For the inconvenience, we were offered complimentary edamame--the cheapest appetizer on the menu.
(1)Cheryl A.
This place isn't closed. The hibachi cook was good, wait staff friendly & responsive, & the food was yummy. Our waitress can read minds I think & brought us drink refills & waters the second we thought of it. If i lived in Orlando I world become a regular here.
(5)