Aya Japanese Steakhouse

Oh how times have changed. This place used to be fun, now it’s just a lesson in patience we didn’t sign up for.
We waited 50 minutes for the cook to show up and start cooking. He lit the fire, disappeared into the kitchen, left our food sitting there, and then came back with food for another table. Since when is hibachi a group project?
We arrived while only two other families were finishing up, so there’s zero excuse for the wait, the confusion, or the shared cook situation. The kids were pissed. The adults were annoyed.
Save your time and your appetite. We won’t be back.

Food used to be 6/5. Now it’s easily a 2 or 3 out of 5. The past 2 times we have come to the hibachi, we have had a shared cook that cooks for our half of the table and for the other half of the “table” (2 separate grills back to back.) This situation causes the experience to become less enjoyable because you are only getting half of the “show.” They will cook the noodles and rice on one grill, and then the veggies and meat on the other grill. Aside from that, the food becomes over cooked because only half of his attention is on each grill. Much of his time is spent double checking what everyone got because there are so many people on different tabs. I think the place could use a good cleaning and some updated furniture. With that and some extra cooks, it could easily be a good place to eat again. We waited over 45 minutes for the cook to come out and cook because the other half of our “table” came in much later. So essentially they waited for us to order, they brought our drinks and then our soups and salads. we finished as these folks came in, we had to wait for them to order and finish their soups and salads, and then they finally started cooking the food. It was disappointing. The cook almost forgot to do the veggie thing where they toss it in everyone’s mouths (did it at the very end) there was no saki either of the last 2 times we went. The cook didn’t interact with us. They don’t really come around asking for refills of beverages. It was just a poor, poor experience compared to how it used to be. We won’t be back for a while. We will give it time to improve and try again, if it doesn’t improve, we won’t be back again.

I came here for my wife’s birthday and it was the best choice. The food is amazing and the restaurant is so clean. The chief was very skilled and very fun. I recommend the shrimp and steak which does come with rice and noodles.