I love hibachi. I've had really good hibachi experiences, and I've had fairly poor hibachi experiences. My experience at Goten was middle of the road. Some aspects were below average and some above average. I'll start with the below average first. The ambience is less than desirable. It feels somewhat similar to having dinner in the boiler room depicted on Nightmare on Elm Street. I'm not saying it was a nightmare, but the exposed pipes in the ceiling and the dishes, glassware, silverware, and five-gallon buckets in the dining area are less than desirable. The food was on par with the typical hibachi grill. Not spectacular, yet, not poor either. Now, on to the positives, the chef was friendly and enthusiastic, moreso than a lot of the hibachi chefs I've encountered. The chef was also very accommodating for a pescetarian diner at the same table. The service was much faster and better than the typical hibachi restaurant. Hibachi restaurants usually always suffer from slow to nearly non-existent service. Overall, I would sum it up as an average dining experience that hit my craving for a hibachi dinner.
(3)
Alex P.
Its been a while since I've tried Goten (no idea where my review went). Anyway, I've mainly had their cooked food like chicken teriyaki and rice dishes. Its always been really tasty and reasonably priced. I've been meaning to return to try the sushi...
(4)
Marcia M.
You may find reasonably priced sushi here but nothing that will tempt you to mosey on back for another visit.... I met a couple of colleagues here for an impromptu dinner and was curious to what the outcome would be as I have never really had Goten on my radar as a spot that I was eager to try. It was dinner primetime at around 7:30pm and Goten was pretty empty with the exception of maybe 2-3 other tables. We sat around the Hibachi grill but I opted for a sushi roll, bowl of miso soup., and a glass of red. Again, it was satisfying but nothing stellar was offered in food or vibe. I would potentially come back but considering that it took me 3 years to event make it in the first time, I doubt that it will be any time soon. Yelp365#14
(3)
Tiffini B.
Dinner for 2, including 3 sushi rolls, 2 beers, and tip came to $60. Not the largest choices of sushi rooks and the menu is a bit confusing. Not really worth the price. Sushi was average. Service was great.
(3)
Paul K.
No tricks/entertainment, $4 Miller lights, 18% gratuity and the messiest dining experience ever, food was cold by the time it was done. The night started with waiting for members of the party we were with to arrive. Our party of 12 and another party of about 20 were crammed into the waiting area as we waited for the bastard stragglers that they refused to let us sit without (if 11 out of 13 are there and the other 2 just called and will be there in 10 minutes, sit the group). So with nearly 25 people milling about in the waiting area and the more claustrophobic hanging outside the doors, our party was finally allowed to sit when the last 2 managed to work their way into the restaurant. The chef who showed up had 2 tricks - the volcano standard and butterfly... the volcano was basically a standard volcano except everything on it was on fire and everything around it was on fire, the butterfly was a slab of butter he threw. There were no other silly tricks. From my seat I could watch 2 other chefs doing roughly the same no-tricks cooking. Ok, I thought... as long as it's good. A little bit into the prep rice started flying everywhere. I added a photo if I'm not mistaken of rice 11 inches off the grill on my cup. Would not have been an issue if it were not extremely buttery rice, it was everywhere. Table, pants, in my water. Chef explained he was not a normal chef, that for some reason he had been drafted to do the hibachi and that was why he did not do the whole shebang... would have sufficed if there were not 2 other chefs in plain site doing much the same prep. Salad comes out, it's generic costco salad with a mustard dressing on it that was ok, but nothing special. Fried rice got done, plunked on the plates. It was another 5 or 6 minutes till the veggies got on the plate, I'd already started eating the rice as it was getting cold. Rice was extremely buttery... I mean, it was butter with some rice thrown in. Veggies arrived, they were somewhat cooked... they'd been in a pile and not stirred up enough so some were crisp and some were mush. They were thoroughly unremarkable. He went through and prepped the meat for everyone, then in the last place threw my tofu into the oily spot where the chicken was being prepped to prepare it. I'm not a horribly picky vegetarian but anyone more picky than me would have freaked. Also, by this point the rice was barely above room temperature. Tofu gets done and is uncooked in the center and fried on the outside. Nuclear hot so it warmed up the rice some. Was just not good. Basically the meal components were just eh. He took too long so everything was the wrong temp when served. Checks come out, there're ~$23 additional charges than I was expecting, 18% gratuity and they threw a portion of the birthday girl's meal on all of our checks... not a huge thing except I was not asked and someone else had her meal. They also tacked on $6 it seems for fried rice for us, but I did not pay much attention to the menu when ordering. Got out of there with 4 beers and 2 & 1/7th meals for ~$75, which if it had been entertaining, or good, would not irk me so much. This was like the Waffle Hibachi House
(2)
Kelly K.
I felt the need to write a review b/c our group had a great experience unlike some of these other reviews. The atmosphere and staff were nice. Our hibachi chef was fun and personable. We ordered lobster, shrimp, scallops and filet. Sharing is easy and plenty of food. Everything was cooked just the way we asked. I recommend the Nigori cold sake. The sashimi salmon was excellent! The place was clean and well ventilated. They were full with nice families and Vanderbilt students celebrating Valentines. I recommend reservations. We look forward to going back.
(4)
Meredith C.
It's the Cirque du Soleil of the food world. No really! The chefs juggle their knives and set towers of onions on fire. Then, you get to eat the food that tastes like it was prepared by the feet of a sweaty acrobat named Ling Ming. Hibachi is a tough sell for me because you end up sitting next to randoms that look like Kenny Rogers and tell you stories about "the service." But I thought I would give it a whirl. The meal opened with soup and salad. Soup? No. Broth? Yes. Broth does not equal soup. There were 8 noodles in the bottom of the bowl. I know because I counted. The guy next to me, Kenny Rogers' twin, was lucky enough to get 10 noodles AND a single floating mushroom slice in his broth. I decided from that moment that Kenny was my mortal enemy for the duration of that meal. Salad? Ehh, that's debatable. I realize that salad doesn't have a strict definition, but it should. In my world of culinary righteousness, iceburg lettuce and unidentifiable, ginger-based creamy dressing don't qualify as salad. In fact, iceburg lettuce doesn't even qualify as food. It's just crunchy atmosphere. Even Kenny passed on the salad. The main meal was salmon, veggies, fried rice, and a myriad of the usual Asian condiments - soy, terriyaki, and the weird orange one everyone seems to like but nobody knows what it is. So the guy starts doing his little shenanigans with the knives and what-not. He drops the knife constantly. I thought he was going to take off his head, or at least that big dumb hat he was wearing. He really sucked at it, which is fine; just cook my food. I came here to eat not watch you fail at juggling. After he didn't juggle anything for a long while, he finally starts cooking. That's all fine until he cracks the eggs for the fried rice and quite obviously left some of the shell in there. I honestly don't know how he didn't see that. Anyway, I judged him for that. MEANWHILE, Kenny is asking me for sips of my beer. He poured it on his soup spoon. Who does that? What a weirdo. Food hits my plate. And I do mean literally. I consume. Luckily someone else got the eggshell, but you bet your bottom dollar I was looking for it. It tasted like something from ChinaBoat, a shady takeout place I used to go to in college that had a questionable number of cats roaming the premises. I did have a bite of someone's steak (not Kenny's) and it was a decent cut of meat. I didn't eat the dessert. It was some kind of sourbet thing. But I will give it a C- since Kenny ate all his. Guess they didn't have sourbet back in Nam. I guess I don't see the appeal of hibachi. I'm pretty sure it's something that white trash families do for a "nice" dinner. Bottom line? Skip it. You can get the same thing at Chef Yang's China Buffet for $5.
(2)
Tyrod B.
Their "10%" discount was more like 2%.... Wont go again
(2)
Megan C.
I recently visited Goten for a friend's birthday and we had a great experience there. We had a group of twelve and they were perfectly accommodating to us. Our waitress was attentive and our hibachi chef was highly entertaining. Atmosphere is typical of a hibachi restaurant, as was the experience. I ended up ordering the terriyaki steak hibachi dinner which was pretty tasty. I've yet to try their sushi selections, but some friends who did seemed pleased. All in all, a pretty good experience. One drawback: It's a bit tough to find parking, only street or valet available.
(4)
Rachel H.
I decided to check out this neighborhood spot that I had somehow managed to avoid for the past several years. I had the Salmon Teriyaki Bento box at lunch. The salmon teriyaki was very good. The rest of it was disappointing. The tempura dipping sauce lacked flavor beyond sweet. It came with an egg roll, too (???), which could have been from Sysco. I opted for fried instead of white rice, and it was clearly fried, but not with much for flavor. The worst, however, was the sushi. Using the proper rice with the proper seasonings is key to sushi. They sell envelopes of dehydrated vinegar as Tamanoi Sushinoko and I've used them successfully at home. I'm not enough of an expert to know where Goten went wrong (wrong rice, poorly cooked, not enough seasoning?), but it was wrong. The soup and salad to start were also disappointing. The soup was OK, but with one undercooked piece of pasta and a salty broth of little distinction. The salad was chopped iceberg lettuce drowned in dressing.
(2)
Tori W.
I honestly struggled between a two and a three, but it came down to the fact that nothing wowwed me at all about our visit to Goten. Now, I will fully admit I am snoody about my Japanese food and had come to this restaurant not expecting much considering other yelpers comments, so maybe I'm a little harsh. The only good thing about the meal was the portions and the sushi. I got the beef teriyaki bento and subbed a tuna roll for the California roll. The tuna roll was good (but its honestly very hard to mess up such a simple thing), the tempura was soggy, the beef teriyaki was overdone and tasted like nothing but sauce, the sunomono was alright but had little flavor (I know its supposed to be lightly flavored but come on). The most flavorful thing on the plate was the orange slices. As said in other reviews, the service was also poor. I had ordered white rice with the meal (which is actually the default and fried rice was $1 extra, though they do not tell you so) but was given fried rice. The waiter even tried to charge us for it. The only time we saw him, too, was when food came out. All in all, disappointing. I really wish I had the 5 star experience some yelpers got, but I can't even accept that as a 3 star quality meal. I will stick with Smyrna and Tokyo Steakhouse.
(2)
Kristen M.
First time I've ever been asked by mgmt to leave the table when half of the restaurant was empty and no one in our party was being rowdy--all because they needed to seat a large party coming later? Service was slow and insufficient, and then we were rudely asked to finish our drinks at the front of the (empty) restaurant--not exactly how you plan to be treated at a restaurant to say the least. This is not the first time I've had poor service here, and food is definitely not worth the disrespect they give to customers.
(1)
Jason S.
I had a chance to try the sushi and hibachi here - just was not that impressed, I would call it OK overall. The sushi didn't seem that particularly fresh, but tasted OK. They seem to have a passable list. I generally enjoy fresh and shuddered as my fellow patrons drowned their rolls in soy sauce. Blech. As for the hibachi, I've eaten at many different places all over the country, the food was average and the cook seemed like he was phoning it in. Given that it was a business meal, that's fine with me, but if I was coming there for a party or something of the like, I would imagine that some would be disappointed. All-in-all a very average experience.
(3)
Jamie A.
There is a lot of nostalgia wrapped up in my assessment of Goten...I have fond memories of the dark halls and small hibachi rooms at the previous 21st ave location. I continue to mourn the loss of sister restaurant, Goten 2 in Cummings Station. They had exceptional sushi. But this is a review for Goten in its current state. I'm not a fan of the big open room of hibachi grills. I have yet to have a meal in that room. Sushi is inconsistent. I've had some great yellow tail nigiri and some not-so-great. I usually stick to the non-raw rolls. They are always more than happy to customize a roll for me. Where this place is rocking is the regular dining room (non-hibachi) menu. Most entrees are $10 or less and include soup (miso or clear--a basic broth with a few noodles), salad (mustard dressing is a must! the raspberry and onion dressings are also tasty), entree and green tea. My favorite is the creamy wine sauce chicken. I always have enough left over for another full meal. Ah crap, now I want some of that mustard dressing.
(4)
Erin F.
Food is sub par to say the least.did not taste fresh. Sushi tasted like it was day old rolled sushi. Fish did not taste fresh. Service is slow and not trained. Need serious attention. A shame it is a music venue hotel restaurant option.
(1)
Alex C.
I've been there 3-4 times because it's near my office, so I've only eaten there for lunch. The experience can be defined in one word: SLOW. Just today I went, and I was seated. It was 10 minutes before someone came and got my drink order. It was another 10 minutes before the drink actually came. Literally, just as I was getting out of my seat, the server came back with my drink and took my order. (There were only 3 tables in the restaurant) I ordered Tempura Udon. The food was decent, if a little underseasoned for my taste, and took 20 minutes to come out. I spent 40 minutes of my lunch hour waiting. The sushi is decent-- I've had their chirashi and tekka don in the past. It wasn't anything to rant or rave over, but it wasn't really anything to complain about, either. If you are on a time crunch, definitely avoid this place. Ken's is 2-3 blocks west, is way faster, and has better food, in my opinion.
(2)
Lana O.
Yum! Food was delish. The waitress seemed to have a little trouble understanding us, but maybe that added to the "authenticity" of the experience and was very attentive. All my food was fresh and tasty, and very reasonably priced. Went with a group of about 5 of us on a Sunday night and had a great time.
(4)
Eric L.
A for effort, C- for food. Goten is like when little kids play "grown up" and you turn to them and go "awwwww... how cuuuuute!" Frommers Nashville & Memphis guide wrote Goten up as the best in Nashville, but it would not fly in any major US metropolitan area. I was already a little disillusioned with the general quality of Nashville food, so I went for "safe" choices that I figured would be easy for the kitchen to get. Hiyayakko -- come on! raw tofu! Came only drenched with too much soy sauce and a mountain of bonito flakes. I love bonito flakes, but that combination alone didn't cut it. The bar for "good enough" hiyayakko is really low in terms of both effort and required kitchen skill, so after this came out, I had a good idea what I was in for Katsudon -- Seriously overseasoned. Again, more soy sauce does NOT make a dish more Japanese or more delicious. Fail. Zarusoba -- Like I said, I went out of my way to make it easy for the kitchen, but they were brutal. Overcooked, smushy, with no bite. The tsuyu was not very good. To be clear, I didn't try the hibachi, which is probably harder to screw up from a "seasoning" perspective. But given the general quality of the kitchen, I'd avoid it. I can see people liking the hibachi for the EXPERIENCE, but I suspect people who rate this place highly just like the show and the decor. One saving grace -- our waitress was hot. Though, on that note, it also irks me that Asian places just hire Asian waitresses to make the place look more "authentic". Restaurants are businesses though, and for average consumers with no taste buds, investing in all Thai and Korean waitresses to guarantee Asian staff probably pays off better than making good food.
(2)
M B.
We got take-out last night as a bit of a treat for ourselves. I love hibachi japanese and couldn't find a lot of reasonably-priced choices. The food wasn't cheap...$30 for two of us. Not expensive but I was hoping for some decent food. When we got home and opened everything up we were underwhelmed. The salad (in its own container) was probably less than a cup of shredded lettuce, nothing else. I didn't expect anything huge but ?really? is lettuce that expensive? The appetizer shrimp were thrown in with our entree...no biggee. We got a chicken/shrimp hibachi dinner and the teriyaki steak. The serving of hibachi vegetables was probably less than four ounces...again, squash and onions are not expensive. The meat was okay...overcooked and (again) underwhelming. The white sauce (which I generally like) was chunky...kind of gross really. Overall, it just wasnt worth it...pay a little more or go somewhere else. Again, this was take-out so the in-house experience may be better but our dinner was sub-par.
(2)
Karen F.
I'm surprised at all the crappy reviews. I had several sushi rolls here and they were fresh and tasty. They had the best saki martini ever (it was like drinking cucumber-infused water!). There was Barbie-doll bachelorette party next to us, but that's not the restaurant's fault. ;) I would totally come here again! :D
(4)
Robert K.
As far as hibachi places in Nashville go, Goten shines brighter than the rest. The prices at Goten are pretty competitive with other hibachi places that I have been to around town (around twenty dollars for the shrimp and chicken). The food seems high quality, but like many Asian places, the food here is pretty salty. I think the shrimp and chicken hibachi dinner combination is the best. One of my friends ordered the steak hibachi dinner which he liked, but I thought it was a tad on the salty side for just some steak and veggies. The house fried rice is really good, as is the miso soup. Overall, this is the hibachi place I go to when I am in the mood for a show and some sodium!
(3)
Paul H.
Went to Goten on a recent trip back to Nashville - I like the new location (attatched to the Indigo Hotel on West End) much better than the old place on 21st - definitely a little more open and modern than the old, black booths. The experience wasn't the best - probably because it was a night when all the Vandy sororities were having formals. So, it was super busy with drunk undergrads - thankfully, I was never drunk and/or disrespectful as a Vandy undergrad. So, we ended up waiting for about a half hour after our reservation for our seats. The hostess could have made it better by being friendly, she wasn't - and it seemed like she couldn't be bothered to deal with us. She was over it! Anyway, once we got to our table they didn't have enough seats, so they tried to make 7 of us squeeze into a spot for 5. But thankfully, our complaints were taken seriously and we were seated at another table. The food at Goten is pretty good - it's not the best hibachi I've ever had, but it does make a strong showing. I also think the prices are pretty reasonable for the amounts of food you get. If the service was more attentive I would have given Goten another star - but I'm so over the hostess and her attitude.
(3)
Laura F.
Good sushi and decently priced. Will definitely add this to my favs!
(4)
thomas h.
Some coworkers and I decided to check out Goten after passing by and thinking it looked interesting. I'm not sure if I've just been spoiled with good food in LA or being in Nashville on business just makes me cranky, but I still haven't had amazing food there (no offense to locals, maybe I'm just going to the wrong places). I had the chicken + steak special and couldn't tell the difference between the chicken vs. the steak due to it being overcooked and all the teriyaki sauce that was drowning everything. -food was overly salty and waaaay overcooked -chef's tricks weren't original and ours couldn't do the egg cracking trick (where the chef throws the egg up and cracks it with the side of his spatula). He didn't even peel off the shrimp tails and throw them in his hat (which is a staple)! +the chef was able to do the onion volcano trick the first time +it wasn't crowded and we didn't have to wait (probably 'cause it was a Wednesday night) -the soup was nasty...unless you like the taste of MSG (the soup even had eggshell pasta in it!) +the desserts were actually pretty good (sorbet & mousse) -one of my coworkers is pescetarian...she ordered shrimp and told our chef that she doesn't eat chicken/beef and asked that he wipe his spatula after handling the chicken/beef...he said "OK" and then went on using the same spatula without wiping it down. Needless to say, my coworker didn't eat much. She of course would've preferred that he cook the shrimp before the chicken/beef (like a lot of places do since shrimp cooks so fast), but she didn't want to be difficult. In summary, I won't go back.
(2)
Megan M.
The hibachi chefs are super entertainers, but the actual food they prepare is just so-so, in my opinion. I'm just not a fan of the flavors and the fish tastes like it came from the Cumberland. The sushi I've had here however is really good and they have some good specialty drinks on the menu, though drinks aren't cheap. Parking situation is not great but about normal for a West End restaurant. Fun place for a group, just wish the food was better.
(3)
Kev L.
Very mixed feelings on this place. Please also keep in mind my review is based strictly on sushi and not on the hibachi. After being dead tired of Delta delaying my flights (in Atlanta), I decided to opt on getting Goten as opposed to going out to Franklin to visit one of my favorite sushi places anywhere, Sake. The prices seemed to be moderately reasonable for the sushi. $5 was the typical price for the average rolls and the Nigiri pieces were around $5 for two pieces. I ordered the White Tuna & Yellowfin Nigiri along with an Alaskan Roll and a Shrimp Crunchy Roll. I will say the Nigiri pieces were astonishingly flavorful. This is also extremely applicable to the yellowtail. Impressively fresh and tasty. I was very satisfied with those two choices. However the quality took a bit of a sharp nosedive when it came to the rolls. The Alaskan roll was about a 6 out of 10 on the flavor-o-meter. The sushi was standard in flavor but not anything eye opening. I was however extremely disappointed with the Crunchy Shrimp Roll. The roll was very very flavorless. And the tempura within the roll was not crunchy at all. My guess is probably the shrimp was fried way ahead of time. Otherwise I don't know how to explain soggy tempura. (But as I said, just a guess). I felt that I totally wasted my money on that roll. On a final note, I was not very impressed at all with the staff. Even though it was a pickup order, they did not show the slightest of courtesy when I picked up my food. Their stares were cold and in a sad way, mean. I was thanked though as I left, so at least at the end they attempted to act like humans if even for a split second. I don't know that I will try this place again, but if I do catch a crave for fresh nigiri, I may pop on over again.
(3)
Theresa B.
Ok..remind me not to do that again...hahaha... Meeting a group of people after work on the West End, on a Friday night is not an easy fete...eating the food they threw together was also not an easy fete...talking about them will be... First let's start off with my Saki Martini...awful...ok not just awful..but damn awful...it was served by a tired bartender in this small little area, that you thought could have come from behind the small bar and waited on the only table she had of 7..so I walked up to the small bar and said I wanted to experience the Saki Martini..it was served in a Saki container and a martini glass full of ice with the marinated cucumber laying on the ice...I asked how does this work..is the glass being chilled??..do I dump the ice or pour the Saki over it??..she said you pour it over the ice..and gave me the (what'd you come here for look.)..I didn't think it was such a dumb question because I drink martinis all the time and if I ask for the up, murky, and slightly stirred...that's what I get...If I ask for them murky on the rocks that's what I get but very rarely served in a martini glass on the rocks...any way the best part about that 6 dollar drink was the cucumber... Next we are lead to our seats in the Hibachi area of the restaurant...oK THIS IS SOME FUNNY SHIT...Most or all of the Hibachi grills I have been to were to say the least entertaining-I's quite amusing though...watching the "chefs" that are supposedly good at juggling things..drop utensils..continuously....isn't the entertaining part of what we're paying for??...I know I wasn't impressed by the dry fried rice and the tough filet or dry chicken...but omw...the salad and broth was to die for..I mean it literally..I'd rather die than have warm brown water and a wedge of iceberg lettuce with some type of unknown ginger dressing on it....the prices are not cheap either and they add an automatic gratuity....so no matter what the service is like you tip the "chef "and the wait staff...wait staff...not so much worried..I would tip them regardless..but that "chef"...NFW.... Oh well..just another learning experience..from the moment you drive up till you leave...Now no need to be a kid and not heed the free advice...we Yelp for a reason...it's cuz we believe!!!
(1)
Caleb H.
It all started when we walked in the door and were asked if we wanted a seat at the hibachi or a regular table. I responded hibachi and their immediate reply was that there was no more seating available at the hibachi, only regular seating was available. So don't offer me a choice. Inform me when I come in that you only have regular tables available. We watched the hostesses play this game with everyone that came in after us. It never got better from there. We won't be back.
(2)
Rachael S.
My partner and I went here for a random Monday night just to try something new, I have to say I think we left overall pretty happy. The only issue was the service, the waiters seemed uneducated in anything to do with the food. However the cook was very good and the atmosphere was nice, the fried rice was fantastic as well as my chicken...the only thing lacking was the miso soup. However everything was reasonably priced, and you get an un godly amount of food that could feed a football team. (I had lunch for two days after) The sushi was also pretty good, I would say we would come back.
(4)
Wayne H.
Came here for a Christmas lunch with the lab I was rotating in. First time I ever visited a "hibachi" meal-officially Teppanyaki- where a rice bowl meal was cooked on a superheated metal plate and the chef did some tricks in preparation. Frankly I wasn't impressed. Maybe it was the chef that prepared for us- he had some trouble catching knives and objects thrown into the air- but I kinda felt sorry for him trying to amuse people. The meals were basically fried rice with chicken, beef or shrimp and could be ordered right across the street (at a very mediocre Chinese restaurant) for $6, instead of the nearly $20 meal. That salad has been raved upon, but frankly it wasn't particularly memorable either. I probably won't come back.
(2)
D K.
For my first date with a gentlemen, I chose this restaurant. I have always wanted to find a reason to eat there and so I thought that this would be the perfect time. We had reservations for 6.30. When we got there, we were led to the back room which was dark and chilly. Obviously they were short on staff because it took approx. 5 min. for someone to show up then another 10 to get my drink. We sat there for approx. 20 min. and the whole time I was miserable. There were a group of college kids in the next room that was yelling and screaming. There were approx. 80 in all. I couldn't even talk to my date. I asked the manager if he would please ask them to quieten down a little so the rest of us could enjoy our time at the restaurant but his exact words were the following: "No, I will not. They have been coming here every year for the past few years and I am not going to bother them". I was not the only one to complain nor the only one to leave. I will never go there again. I understand that this group was having fun but if I feel that if they were disrupting the other patrons, then it is the the managers duty to say something or else risk losing business from future customers who will want to come by multiple times throughout the year. It seems to me that all he cared about at the time was these individuals and how much money he was going to make rather than the 2 of us or anyone else there.
(1)
John A.
It is not clean. The restaurant needs an overall in both the physical environment, as well as the food. As a parent of young children, getting out of the house for a Saturday night date is a bid deal and we felt like we made a mistake spending our time here. Not planning to return.
(1)
Matt C.
I have to contribute here because the low star reviews are absolutely unfair. As a former Nashville resident, I dined at Goten probably 5 or 6 times, and EVERY TIME the experience was well worth every penny. The hibachi chefs are talented both in cooking and performance skills. The food is so delicious that my friends and I would often plan a trip weeks in advance just to build up anticipation for it. Honestly, my favorite restaurant in Nashville. The other two average reviews don't make sense. I've never had a bad experience.
(5)
Lauren B.
Meh. Standard Tennessee hibachi... but I would definitely pass on the sushi.
(3)
Judson R.
Great hibachi. Been there many times. Get the filet mignon and shrimp, its amazing!
(4)
Robin S.
I think of Goten as just slightly better than your run-of-the-mill hibachi-style restaurant. To me, they are all the same. The only reason I say Goten is a bit better is because of the location--they moved into a new place (it's been a while now) right off of West End Avenue, and it's now connected to the new Hotel Indigo. So, as hotel restaurants go, it's pretty good! Service is just OK. The hostesses always seem bored (and maybe they are) but the "chefs" are decent and as entertaining as you want them to be. For example, I went with a friend and her kids, and of course the chef really put on a show for the kids and they loved it! But, when I went with two girlfriends, he realized that we were not there to be entertained, just to eat, so he kept it pretty low-key. That is nice. Food is good--I generally get steak and chicken, and the meal comes with a good bit--salad, soup, rice, veggies, and dessert. If you are a local and have company in town, this is a good place to go because they can accommodate larger groups. If you are from out of town, I suggest going somewhere more "Nashville", unless you are just really jonesin' for some hibachi-style food. Overall, I like Goten, but it could be in Anywhere, USA.
(3)
Claire L.
I agree with Matt C. The low ratings is definately unfair. I just went to Goten last night for the first time & I love it! I can not wait to go back! I'm a huge fan of Japanese food & being from the Northeast where there is an abundance of excellent Asian cuisine, Goten is definately ranks high as one of the better places to go for Japanese cuisine- especially in Nashville. I would rank Goten higher than Samurai & Ginza two other Japanese restaurants that I also find to be pretty good, but not as good as Goten. My only complaint with Goten is that the wait staff is a little slow & wasn't very good on refilling our waters/ tea. But otherwise food is excellent.
(5)
Ta G.
I went to eat here with my boss on a business trip. Surprisingly, I had never been to a hibachi restaurant before. This place flat out sucks. Since we were seated at the grill by ourselves, they switched out the chef for a newbie that was slow and didn't know how to do anything. He also didn't understand English. We ordered the filet mignon and lobster and he cooked it way over well done. We kept telling him to stop, but it wasn't until someone else walked by and explained to him that we wanted medium rare. He started grilling again and we had to tell him to stop AGAIN. Anyway, he didn't know what he was doing, and I thought it was messed up that they swapped the chefs when they saw us come in. The grill next to us was full and they had the chef cook everything right, quickly, with some entertainment value. The only decent thing about the meal was the rasberry salad dressing, otherwise the rest of the food didn't taste very good. Yuck. The end.
(1)
Joe S.
Solid sushi and japanese food. Have not had their hibachi. Teriyaki chicken is a little weak - I would stay away from it. You get quite a bit of food with the bento box specials.
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Dinner Parking : Street Bike Parking : Yes Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Loud Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : No Wi-Fi : No Has TV : No Waiter Service : Yes
Derek S.
I love hibachi. I've had really good hibachi experiences, and I've had fairly poor hibachi experiences. My experience at Goten was middle of the road. Some aspects were below average and some above average. I'll start with the below average first. The ambience is less than desirable. It feels somewhat similar to having dinner in the boiler room depicted on Nightmare on Elm Street. I'm not saying it was a nightmare, but the exposed pipes in the ceiling and the dishes, glassware, silverware, and five-gallon buckets in the dining area are less than desirable. The food was on par with the typical hibachi grill. Not spectacular, yet, not poor either. Now, on to the positives, the chef was friendly and enthusiastic, moreso than a lot of the hibachi chefs I've encountered. The chef was also very accommodating for a pescetarian diner at the same table. The service was much faster and better than the typical hibachi restaurant. Hibachi restaurants usually always suffer from slow to nearly non-existent service. Overall, I would sum it up as an average dining experience that hit my craving for a hibachi dinner.
(3)Alex P.
Its been a while since I've tried Goten (no idea where my review went). Anyway, I've mainly had their cooked food like chicken teriyaki and rice dishes. Its always been really tasty and reasonably priced. I've been meaning to return to try the sushi...
(4)Marcia M.
You may find reasonably priced sushi here but nothing that will tempt you to mosey on back for another visit.... I met a couple of colleagues here for an impromptu dinner and was curious to what the outcome would be as I have never really had Goten on my radar as a spot that I was eager to try. It was dinner primetime at around 7:30pm and Goten was pretty empty with the exception of maybe 2-3 other tables. We sat around the Hibachi grill but I opted for a sushi roll, bowl of miso soup., and a glass of red. Again, it was satisfying but nothing stellar was offered in food or vibe. I would potentially come back but considering that it took me 3 years to event make it in the first time, I doubt that it will be any time soon. Yelp365#14
(3)Tiffini B.
Dinner for 2, including 3 sushi rolls, 2 beers, and tip came to $60. Not the largest choices of sushi rooks and the menu is a bit confusing. Not really worth the price. Sushi was average. Service was great.
(3)Paul K.
No tricks/entertainment, $4 Miller lights, 18% gratuity and the messiest dining experience ever, food was cold by the time it was done. The night started with waiting for members of the party we were with to arrive. Our party of 12 and another party of about 20 were crammed into the waiting area as we waited for the bastard stragglers that they refused to let us sit without (if 11 out of 13 are there and the other 2 just called and will be there in 10 minutes, sit the group). So with nearly 25 people milling about in the waiting area and the more claustrophobic hanging outside the doors, our party was finally allowed to sit when the last 2 managed to work their way into the restaurant. The chef who showed up had 2 tricks - the volcano standard and butterfly... the volcano was basically a standard volcano except everything on it was on fire and everything around it was on fire, the butterfly was a slab of butter he threw. There were no other silly tricks. From my seat I could watch 2 other chefs doing roughly the same no-tricks cooking. Ok, I thought... as long as it's good. A little bit into the prep rice started flying everywhere. I added a photo if I'm not mistaken of rice 11 inches off the grill on my cup. Would not have been an issue if it were not extremely buttery rice, it was everywhere. Table, pants, in my water. Chef explained he was not a normal chef, that for some reason he had been drafted to do the hibachi and that was why he did not do the whole shebang... would have sufficed if there were not 2 other chefs in plain site doing much the same prep. Salad comes out, it's generic costco salad with a mustard dressing on it that was ok, but nothing special. Fried rice got done, plunked on the plates. It was another 5 or 6 minutes till the veggies got on the plate, I'd already started eating the rice as it was getting cold. Rice was extremely buttery... I mean, it was butter with some rice thrown in. Veggies arrived, they were somewhat cooked... they'd been in a pile and not stirred up enough so some were crisp and some were mush. They were thoroughly unremarkable. He went through and prepped the meat for everyone, then in the last place threw my tofu into the oily spot where the chicken was being prepped to prepare it. I'm not a horribly picky vegetarian but anyone more picky than me would have freaked. Also, by this point the rice was barely above room temperature. Tofu gets done and is uncooked in the center and fried on the outside. Nuclear hot so it warmed up the rice some. Was just not good. Basically the meal components were just eh. He took too long so everything was the wrong temp when served. Checks come out, there're ~$23 additional charges than I was expecting, 18% gratuity and they threw a portion of the birthday girl's meal on all of our checks... not a huge thing except I was not asked and someone else had her meal. They also tacked on $6 it seems for fried rice for us, but I did not pay much attention to the menu when ordering. Got out of there with 4 beers and 2 & 1/7th meals for ~$75, which if it had been entertaining, or good, would not irk me so much. This was like the Waffle Hibachi House
(2)Kelly K.
I felt the need to write a review b/c our group had a great experience unlike some of these other reviews. The atmosphere and staff were nice. Our hibachi chef was fun and personable. We ordered lobster, shrimp, scallops and filet. Sharing is easy and plenty of food. Everything was cooked just the way we asked. I recommend the Nigori cold sake. The sashimi salmon was excellent! The place was clean and well ventilated. They were full with nice families and Vanderbilt students celebrating Valentines. I recommend reservations. We look forward to going back.
(4)Meredith C.
It's the Cirque du Soleil of the food world. No really! The chefs juggle their knives and set towers of onions on fire. Then, you get to eat the food that tastes like it was prepared by the feet of a sweaty acrobat named Ling Ming. Hibachi is a tough sell for me because you end up sitting next to randoms that look like Kenny Rogers and tell you stories about "the service." But I thought I would give it a whirl. The meal opened with soup and salad. Soup? No. Broth? Yes. Broth does not equal soup. There were 8 noodles in the bottom of the bowl. I know because I counted. The guy next to me, Kenny Rogers' twin, was lucky enough to get 10 noodles AND a single floating mushroom slice in his broth. I decided from that moment that Kenny was my mortal enemy for the duration of that meal. Salad? Ehh, that's debatable. I realize that salad doesn't have a strict definition, but it should. In my world of culinary righteousness, iceburg lettuce and unidentifiable, ginger-based creamy dressing don't qualify as salad. In fact, iceburg lettuce doesn't even qualify as food. It's just crunchy atmosphere. Even Kenny passed on the salad. The main meal was salmon, veggies, fried rice, and a myriad of the usual Asian condiments - soy, terriyaki, and the weird orange one everyone seems to like but nobody knows what it is. So the guy starts doing his little shenanigans with the knives and what-not. He drops the knife constantly. I thought he was going to take off his head, or at least that big dumb hat he was wearing. He really sucked at it, which is fine; just cook my food. I came here to eat not watch you fail at juggling. After he didn't juggle anything for a long while, he finally starts cooking. That's all fine until he cracks the eggs for the fried rice and quite obviously left some of the shell in there. I honestly don't know how he didn't see that. Anyway, I judged him for that. MEANWHILE, Kenny is asking me for sips of my beer. He poured it on his soup spoon. Who does that? What a weirdo. Food hits my plate. And I do mean literally. I consume. Luckily someone else got the eggshell, but you bet your bottom dollar I was looking for it. It tasted like something from ChinaBoat, a shady takeout place I used to go to in college that had a questionable number of cats roaming the premises. I did have a bite of someone's steak (not Kenny's) and it was a decent cut of meat. I didn't eat the dessert. It was some kind of sourbet thing. But I will give it a C- since Kenny ate all his. Guess they didn't have sourbet back in Nam. I guess I don't see the appeal of hibachi. I'm pretty sure it's something that white trash families do for a "nice" dinner. Bottom line? Skip it. You can get the same thing at Chef Yang's China Buffet for $5.
(2)Tyrod B.
Their "10%" discount was more like 2%.... Wont go again
(2)Megan C.
I recently visited Goten for a friend's birthday and we had a great experience there. We had a group of twelve and they were perfectly accommodating to us. Our waitress was attentive and our hibachi chef was highly entertaining. Atmosphere is typical of a hibachi restaurant, as was the experience. I ended up ordering the terriyaki steak hibachi dinner which was pretty tasty. I've yet to try their sushi selections, but some friends who did seemed pleased. All in all, a pretty good experience. One drawback: It's a bit tough to find parking, only street or valet available.
(4)Rachel H.
I decided to check out this neighborhood spot that I had somehow managed to avoid for the past several years. I had the Salmon Teriyaki Bento box at lunch. The salmon teriyaki was very good. The rest of it was disappointing. The tempura dipping sauce lacked flavor beyond sweet. It came with an egg roll, too (???), which could have been from Sysco. I opted for fried instead of white rice, and it was clearly fried, but not with much for flavor. The worst, however, was the sushi. Using the proper rice with the proper seasonings is key to sushi. They sell envelopes of dehydrated vinegar as Tamanoi Sushinoko and I've used them successfully at home. I'm not enough of an expert to know where Goten went wrong (wrong rice, poorly cooked, not enough seasoning?), but it was wrong. The soup and salad to start were also disappointing. The soup was OK, but with one undercooked piece of pasta and a salty broth of little distinction. The salad was chopped iceberg lettuce drowned in dressing.
(2)Tori W.
I honestly struggled between a two and a three, but it came down to the fact that nothing wowwed me at all about our visit to Goten. Now, I will fully admit I am snoody about my Japanese food and had come to this restaurant not expecting much considering other yelpers comments, so maybe I'm a little harsh. The only good thing about the meal was the portions and the sushi. I got the beef teriyaki bento and subbed a tuna roll for the California roll. The tuna roll was good (but its honestly very hard to mess up such a simple thing), the tempura was soggy, the beef teriyaki was overdone and tasted like nothing but sauce, the sunomono was alright but had little flavor (I know its supposed to be lightly flavored but come on). The most flavorful thing on the plate was the orange slices. As said in other reviews, the service was also poor. I had ordered white rice with the meal (which is actually the default and fried rice was $1 extra, though they do not tell you so) but was given fried rice. The waiter even tried to charge us for it. The only time we saw him, too, was when food came out. All in all, disappointing. I really wish I had the 5 star experience some yelpers got, but I can't even accept that as a 3 star quality meal. I will stick with Smyrna and Tokyo Steakhouse.
(2)Kristen M.
First time I've ever been asked by mgmt to leave the table when half of the restaurant was empty and no one in our party was being rowdy--all because they needed to seat a large party coming later? Service was slow and insufficient, and then we were rudely asked to finish our drinks at the front of the (empty) restaurant--not exactly how you plan to be treated at a restaurant to say the least. This is not the first time I've had poor service here, and food is definitely not worth the disrespect they give to customers.
(1)Jason S.
I had a chance to try the sushi and hibachi here - just was not that impressed, I would call it OK overall. The sushi didn't seem that particularly fresh, but tasted OK. They seem to have a passable list. I generally enjoy fresh and shuddered as my fellow patrons drowned their rolls in soy sauce. Blech. As for the hibachi, I've eaten at many different places all over the country, the food was average and the cook seemed like he was phoning it in. Given that it was a business meal, that's fine with me, but if I was coming there for a party or something of the like, I would imagine that some would be disappointed. All-in-all a very average experience.
(3)Jamie A.
There is a lot of nostalgia wrapped up in my assessment of Goten...I have fond memories of the dark halls and small hibachi rooms at the previous 21st ave location. I continue to mourn the loss of sister restaurant, Goten 2 in Cummings Station. They had exceptional sushi. But this is a review for Goten in its current state. I'm not a fan of the big open room of hibachi grills. I have yet to have a meal in that room. Sushi is inconsistent. I've had some great yellow tail nigiri and some not-so-great. I usually stick to the non-raw rolls. They are always more than happy to customize a roll for me. Where this place is rocking is the regular dining room (non-hibachi) menu. Most entrees are $10 or less and include soup (miso or clear--a basic broth with a few noodles), salad (mustard dressing is a must! the raspberry and onion dressings are also tasty), entree and green tea. My favorite is the creamy wine sauce chicken. I always have enough left over for another full meal. Ah crap, now I want some of that mustard dressing.
(4)Erin F.
Food is sub par to say the least.did not taste fresh. Sushi tasted like it was day old rolled sushi. Fish did not taste fresh. Service is slow and not trained. Need serious attention. A shame it is a music venue hotel restaurant option.
(1)Alex C.
I've been there 3-4 times because it's near my office, so I've only eaten there for lunch. The experience can be defined in one word: SLOW. Just today I went, and I was seated. It was 10 minutes before someone came and got my drink order. It was another 10 minutes before the drink actually came. Literally, just as I was getting out of my seat, the server came back with my drink and took my order. (There were only 3 tables in the restaurant) I ordered Tempura Udon. The food was decent, if a little underseasoned for my taste, and took 20 minutes to come out. I spent 40 minutes of my lunch hour waiting. The sushi is decent-- I've had their chirashi and tekka don in the past. It wasn't anything to rant or rave over, but it wasn't really anything to complain about, either. If you are on a time crunch, definitely avoid this place. Ken's is 2-3 blocks west, is way faster, and has better food, in my opinion.
(2)Lana O.
Yum! Food was delish. The waitress seemed to have a little trouble understanding us, but maybe that added to the "authenticity" of the experience and was very attentive. All my food was fresh and tasty, and very reasonably priced. Went with a group of about 5 of us on a Sunday night and had a great time.
(4)Eric L.
A for effort, C- for food. Goten is like when little kids play "grown up" and you turn to them and go "awwwww... how cuuuuute!" Frommers Nashville & Memphis guide wrote Goten up as the best in Nashville, but it would not fly in any major US metropolitan area. I was already a little disillusioned with the general quality of Nashville food, so I went for "safe" choices that I figured would be easy for the kitchen to get. Hiyayakko -- come on! raw tofu! Came only drenched with too much soy sauce and a mountain of bonito flakes. I love bonito flakes, but that combination alone didn't cut it. The bar for "good enough" hiyayakko is really low in terms of both effort and required kitchen skill, so after this came out, I had a good idea what I was in for Katsudon -- Seriously overseasoned. Again, more soy sauce does NOT make a dish more Japanese or more delicious. Fail. Zarusoba -- Like I said, I went out of my way to make it easy for the kitchen, but they were brutal. Overcooked, smushy, with no bite. The tsuyu was not very good. To be clear, I didn't try the hibachi, which is probably harder to screw up from a "seasoning" perspective. But given the general quality of the kitchen, I'd avoid it. I can see people liking the hibachi for the EXPERIENCE, but I suspect people who rate this place highly just like the show and the decor. One saving grace -- our waitress was hot. Though, on that note, it also irks me that Asian places just hire Asian waitresses to make the place look more "authentic". Restaurants are businesses though, and for average consumers with no taste buds, investing in all Thai and Korean waitresses to guarantee Asian staff probably pays off better than making good food.
(2)M B.
We got take-out last night as a bit of a treat for ourselves. I love hibachi japanese and couldn't find a lot of reasonably-priced choices. The food wasn't cheap...$30 for two of us. Not expensive but I was hoping for some decent food. When we got home and opened everything up we were underwhelmed. The salad (in its own container) was probably less than a cup of shredded lettuce, nothing else. I didn't expect anything huge but ?really? is lettuce that expensive? The appetizer shrimp were thrown in with our entree...no biggee. We got a chicken/shrimp hibachi dinner and the teriyaki steak. The serving of hibachi vegetables was probably less than four ounces...again, squash and onions are not expensive. The meat was okay...overcooked and (again) underwhelming. The white sauce (which I generally like) was chunky...kind of gross really. Overall, it just wasnt worth it...pay a little more or go somewhere else. Again, this was take-out so the in-house experience may be better but our dinner was sub-par.
(2)Karen F.
I'm surprised at all the crappy reviews. I had several sushi rolls here and they were fresh and tasty. They had the best saki martini ever (it was like drinking cucumber-infused water!). There was Barbie-doll bachelorette party next to us, but that's not the restaurant's fault. ;) I would totally come here again! :D
(4)Robert K.
As far as hibachi places in Nashville go, Goten shines brighter than the rest. The prices at Goten are pretty competitive with other hibachi places that I have been to around town (around twenty dollars for the shrimp and chicken). The food seems high quality, but like many Asian places, the food here is pretty salty. I think the shrimp and chicken hibachi dinner combination is the best. One of my friends ordered the steak hibachi dinner which he liked, but I thought it was a tad on the salty side for just some steak and veggies. The house fried rice is really good, as is the miso soup. Overall, this is the hibachi place I go to when I am in the mood for a show and some sodium!
(3)Paul H.
Went to Goten on a recent trip back to Nashville - I like the new location (attatched to the Indigo Hotel on West End) much better than the old place on 21st - definitely a little more open and modern than the old, black booths. The experience wasn't the best - probably because it was a night when all the Vandy sororities were having formals. So, it was super busy with drunk undergrads - thankfully, I was never drunk and/or disrespectful as a Vandy undergrad. So, we ended up waiting for about a half hour after our reservation for our seats. The hostess could have made it better by being friendly, she wasn't - and it seemed like she couldn't be bothered to deal with us. She was over it! Anyway, once we got to our table they didn't have enough seats, so they tried to make 7 of us squeeze into a spot for 5. But thankfully, our complaints were taken seriously and we were seated at another table. The food at Goten is pretty good - it's not the best hibachi I've ever had, but it does make a strong showing. I also think the prices are pretty reasonable for the amounts of food you get. If the service was more attentive I would have given Goten another star - but I'm so over the hostess and her attitude.
(3)Laura F.
Good sushi and decently priced. Will definitely add this to my favs!
(4)thomas h.
Some coworkers and I decided to check out Goten after passing by and thinking it looked interesting. I'm not sure if I've just been spoiled with good food in LA or being in Nashville on business just makes me cranky, but I still haven't had amazing food there (no offense to locals, maybe I'm just going to the wrong places). I had the chicken + steak special and couldn't tell the difference between the chicken vs. the steak due to it being overcooked and all the teriyaki sauce that was drowning everything. -food was overly salty and waaaay overcooked -chef's tricks weren't original and ours couldn't do the egg cracking trick (where the chef throws the egg up and cracks it with the side of his spatula). He didn't even peel off the shrimp tails and throw them in his hat (which is a staple)! +the chef was able to do the onion volcano trick the first time +it wasn't crowded and we didn't have to wait (probably 'cause it was a Wednesday night) -the soup was nasty...unless you like the taste of MSG (the soup even had eggshell pasta in it!) +the desserts were actually pretty good (sorbet & mousse) -one of my coworkers is pescetarian...she ordered shrimp and told our chef that she doesn't eat chicken/beef and asked that he wipe his spatula after handling the chicken/beef...he said "OK" and then went on using the same spatula without wiping it down. Needless to say, my coworker didn't eat much. She of course would've preferred that he cook the shrimp before the chicken/beef (like a lot of places do since shrimp cooks so fast), but she didn't want to be difficult. In summary, I won't go back.
(2)Megan M.
The hibachi chefs are super entertainers, but the actual food they prepare is just so-so, in my opinion. I'm just not a fan of the flavors and the fish tastes like it came from the Cumberland. The sushi I've had here however is really good and they have some good specialty drinks on the menu, though drinks aren't cheap. Parking situation is not great but about normal for a West End restaurant. Fun place for a group, just wish the food was better.
(3)Kev L.
Very mixed feelings on this place. Please also keep in mind my review is based strictly on sushi and not on the hibachi. After being dead tired of Delta delaying my flights (in Atlanta), I decided to opt on getting Goten as opposed to going out to Franklin to visit one of my favorite sushi places anywhere, Sake. The prices seemed to be moderately reasonable for the sushi. $5 was the typical price for the average rolls and the Nigiri pieces were around $5 for two pieces. I ordered the White Tuna & Yellowfin Nigiri along with an Alaskan Roll and a Shrimp Crunchy Roll. I will say the Nigiri pieces were astonishingly flavorful. This is also extremely applicable to the yellowtail. Impressively fresh and tasty. I was very satisfied with those two choices. However the quality took a bit of a sharp nosedive when it came to the rolls. The Alaskan roll was about a 6 out of 10 on the flavor-o-meter. The sushi was standard in flavor but not anything eye opening. I was however extremely disappointed with the Crunchy Shrimp Roll. The roll was very very flavorless. And the tempura within the roll was not crunchy at all. My guess is probably the shrimp was fried way ahead of time. Otherwise I don't know how to explain soggy tempura. (But as I said, just a guess). I felt that I totally wasted my money on that roll. On a final note, I was not very impressed at all with the staff. Even though it was a pickup order, they did not show the slightest of courtesy when I picked up my food. Their stares were cold and in a sad way, mean. I was thanked though as I left, so at least at the end they attempted to act like humans if even for a split second. I don't know that I will try this place again, but if I do catch a crave for fresh nigiri, I may pop on over again.
(3)Theresa B.
Ok..remind me not to do that again...hahaha... Meeting a group of people after work on the West End, on a Friday night is not an easy fete...eating the food they threw together was also not an easy fete...talking about them will be... First let's start off with my Saki Martini...awful...ok not just awful..but damn awful...it was served by a tired bartender in this small little area, that you thought could have come from behind the small bar and waited on the only table she had of 7..so I walked up to the small bar and said I wanted to experience the Saki Martini..it was served in a Saki container and a martini glass full of ice with the marinated cucumber laying on the ice...I asked how does this work..is the glass being chilled??..do I dump the ice or pour the Saki over it??..she said you pour it over the ice..and gave me the (what'd you come here for look.)..I didn't think it was such a dumb question because I drink martinis all the time and if I ask for the up, murky, and slightly stirred...that's what I get...If I ask for them murky on the rocks that's what I get but very rarely served in a martini glass on the rocks...any way the best part about that 6 dollar drink was the cucumber... Next we are lead to our seats in the Hibachi area of the restaurant...oK THIS IS SOME FUNNY SHIT...Most or all of the Hibachi grills I have been to were to say the least entertaining-I's quite amusing though...watching the "chefs" that are supposedly good at juggling things..drop utensils..continuously....isn't the entertaining part of what we're paying for??...I know I wasn't impressed by the dry fried rice and the tough filet or dry chicken...but omw...the salad and broth was to die for..I mean it literally..I'd rather die than have warm brown water and a wedge of iceberg lettuce with some type of unknown ginger dressing on it....the prices are not cheap either and they add an automatic gratuity....so no matter what the service is like you tip the "chef "and the wait staff...wait staff...not so much worried..I would tip them regardless..but that "chef"...NFW.... Oh well..just another learning experience..from the moment you drive up till you leave...Now no need to be a kid and not heed the free advice...we Yelp for a reason...it's cuz we believe!!!
(1)Caleb H.
It all started when we walked in the door and were asked if we wanted a seat at the hibachi or a regular table. I responded hibachi and their immediate reply was that there was no more seating available at the hibachi, only regular seating was available. So don't offer me a choice. Inform me when I come in that you only have regular tables available. We watched the hostesses play this game with everyone that came in after us. It never got better from there. We won't be back.
(2)Rachael S.
My partner and I went here for a random Monday night just to try something new, I have to say I think we left overall pretty happy. The only issue was the service, the waiters seemed uneducated in anything to do with the food. However the cook was very good and the atmosphere was nice, the fried rice was fantastic as well as my chicken...the only thing lacking was the miso soup. However everything was reasonably priced, and you get an un godly amount of food that could feed a football team. (I had lunch for two days after) The sushi was also pretty good, I would say we would come back.
(4)Wayne H.
Came here for a Christmas lunch with the lab I was rotating in. First time I ever visited a "hibachi" meal-officially Teppanyaki- where a rice bowl meal was cooked on a superheated metal plate and the chef did some tricks in preparation. Frankly I wasn't impressed. Maybe it was the chef that prepared for us- he had some trouble catching knives and objects thrown into the air- but I kinda felt sorry for him trying to amuse people. The meals were basically fried rice with chicken, beef or shrimp and could be ordered right across the street (at a very mediocre Chinese restaurant) for $6, instead of the nearly $20 meal. That salad has been raved upon, but frankly it wasn't particularly memorable either. I probably won't come back.
(2)D K.
For my first date with a gentlemen, I chose this restaurant. I have always wanted to find a reason to eat there and so I thought that this would be the perfect time. We had reservations for 6.30. When we got there, we were led to the back room which was dark and chilly. Obviously they were short on staff because it took approx. 5 min. for someone to show up then another 10 to get my drink. We sat there for approx. 20 min. and the whole time I was miserable. There were a group of college kids in the next room that was yelling and screaming. There were approx. 80 in all. I couldn't even talk to my date. I asked the manager if he would please ask them to quieten down a little so the rest of us could enjoy our time at the restaurant but his exact words were the following: "No, I will not. They have been coming here every year for the past few years and I am not going to bother them". I was not the only one to complain nor the only one to leave. I will never go there again. I understand that this group was having fun but if I feel that if they were disrupting the other patrons, then it is the the managers duty to say something or else risk losing business from future customers who will want to come by multiple times throughout the year. It seems to me that all he cared about at the time was these individuals and how much money he was going to make rather than the 2 of us or anyone else there.
(1)John A.
It is not clean. The restaurant needs an overall in both the physical environment, as well as the food. As a parent of young children, getting out of the house for a Saturday night date is a bid deal and we felt like we made a mistake spending our time here. Not planning to return.
(1)Matt C.
I have to contribute here because the low star reviews are absolutely unfair. As a former Nashville resident, I dined at Goten probably 5 or 6 times, and EVERY TIME the experience was well worth every penny. The hibachi chefs are talented both in cooking and performance skills. The food is so delicious that my friends and I would often plan a trip weeks in advance just to build up anticipation for it. Honestly, my favorite restaurant in Nashville. The other two average reviews don't make sense. I've never had a bad experience.
(5)Lauren B.
Meh. Standard Tennessee hibachi... but I would definitely pass on the sushi.
(3)Judson R.
Great hibachi. Been there many times. Get the filet mignon and shrimp, its amazing!
(4)Robin S.
I think of Goten as just slightly better than your run-of-the-mill hibachi-style restaurant. To me, they are all the same. The only reason I say Goten is a bit better is because of the location--they moved into a new place (it's been a while now) right off of West End Avenue, and it's now connected to the new Hotel Indigo. So, as hotel restaurants go, it's pretty good! Service is just OK. The hostesses always seem bored (and maybe they are) but the "chefs" are decent and as entertaining as you want them to be. For example, I went with a friend and her kids, and of course the chef really put on a show for the kids and they loved it! But, when I went with two girlfriends, he realized that we were not there to be entertained, just to eat, so he kept it pretty low-key. That is nice. Food is good--I generally get steak and chicken, and the meal comes with a good bit--salad, soup, rice, veggies, and dessert. If you are a local and have company in town, this is a good place to go because they can accommodate larger groups. If you are from out of town, I suggest going somewhere more "Nashville", unless you are just really jonesin' for some hibachi-style food. Overall, I like Goten, but it could be in Anywhere, USA.
(3)Claire L.
I agree with Matt C. The low ratings is definately unfair. I just went to Goten last night for the first time & I love it! I can not wait to go back! I'm a huge fan of Japanese food & being from the Northeast where there is an abundance of excellent Asian cuisine, Goten is definately ranks high as one of the better places to go for Japanese cuisine- especially in Nashville. I would rank Goten higher than Samurai & Ginza two other Japanese restaurants that I also find to be pretty good, but not as good as Goten. My only complaint with Goten is that the wait staff is a little slow & wasn't very good on refilling our waters/ tea. But otherwise food is excellent.
(5)Ta G.
I went to eat here with my boss on a business trip. Surprisingly, I had never been to a hibachi restaurant before. This place flat out sucks. Since we were seated at the grill by ourselves, they switched out the chef for a newbie that was slow and didn't know how to do anything. He also didn't understand English. We ordered the filet mignon and lobster and he cooked it way over well done. We kept telling him to stop, but it wasn't until someone else walked by and explained to him that we wanted medium rare. He started grilling again and we had to tell him to stop AGAIN. Anyway, he didn't know what he was doing, and I thought it was messed up that they swapped the chefs when they saw us come in. The grill next to us was full and they had the chef cook everything right, quickly, with some entertainment value. The only decent thing about the meal was the rasberry salad dressing, otherwise the rest of the food didn't taste very good. Yuck. The end.
(1)Joe S.
Solid sushi and japanese food. Have not had their hibachi. Teriyaki chicken is a little weak - I would stay away from it. You get quite a bit of food with the bento box specials.
(3)