Teppan Edo

[staceymay00]

I rarely see this mentioned in threads about restaurants. We are taking my very picky daughter on a graduation trip next June and her favorite restaurants at home are Benihana type restaurants, so I was thinking this might be a good option for us. Anyone like it, hate it?

We have eaten there several times over the years and have always found the food and service good, including our three kids. The hibachi place closest to our house is not as good and we rarely go there, so we've enjoyed this meal when we visit Epcot. The only issue we ever had was our most recent visit when the family seated with us (parents, grandmother and a child around 5 yo) was inconsiderate. Mom and grandma were "loud talker" types, and the child watched a show the entire meal without headphones. We've eaten there 5 or 6 times and that is the only time we were seated with inconsiderate people, but it is a always a risk.

 

[Wild4Walt]

This is a must do for our vacations. We also really enjoy teppanyaki style dining at home so it's a natural fit for us but as always, I think it's better at Disney. ( I may be biased )

 

[disneycat321]

Go for it! I’m of the mindset that, if it’s a restaurant you want to try and know that it’s a food type you like, go ahead and try it. Food is so subjective. I’d rather make up my own mind than read reviews. If I’d read reviews I’d have never eaten at ‘Ohana and that is our favorite!

I SO agree with this! I can't believe how many negative reviews I read on here for my favorite restaurants. Oh, well! Just a reminder to take reviews with a grain of salt in general. Everyone is different.

 

[KJTex]

We love this place. They always accommodate special requests for allergies, sauces on the side, etc... Food is delicious and super filling. My only complaint is that sometimes the meal takes longer than I would like, but that is true for most TS restaurants. I guess I am more of a QS person.

 

[KSR0330]

We went for the first time during our May trip. I was so excited as I had heard so many great reports about it. Wow, were we disappointed! As a previous poster said, the food was bland and the chicken was tough. My 19 yo son was still hungry after the meal, even after eating some of mine.

 

[jdisnut]

Then eating at Teppan Edo which is authentic Japanese is a bad idea.

With all respect, there is literally nothing about Teppan Edo that would be considered anything remotely close to authentic Japanese cuisine. Though a version of teppanyaki cooking originated in Japan in the mid-1940s -- beef consumption there is a Western import -- this style of restaurant didn't become popular until the creation of Benihana, which first opened in New York in 1964. Rocky Aoki, the founder of the chain, once famously said, "The minute I forgot I was Japanese, success began." Teppan Edo isn't a reflection of Japanese food at all.

There's nothing wrong with that. Teppanyaki is a fun dining experience, and there's a reason why it's popular across the U.S. It's especially effective at a setting like Disney World, because the food is accessible to just about everybody. It's a great place to go for a graduation celebration, though as others have said, it's probably no better -- or perhaps even worse -- than your local teppanyaki restaurant.

 

[`OhanaHare]

With all respect, there is literally nothing about Teppan Edo that would be considered anything remotely close to authentic Japanese cuisine. Though a version of teppanyaki cookie originated in Japan in the mid-1940s -- beef consumption there is a Western import -- this style of restaurant didn't become popular until the creation of Benihana, which first opened in New York in 1964. Rocky Aoki, the founder of the chain, once famously said, "The minute I forgot I was Japanese, success began." Teppan Edo isn't a reflection of Japanese food at all.

There's nothing wrong with that. Teppanyaki is a fun dining experience, and there's a reason why it's popular across the U.S. It's especially effective at a setting like Disney World, because the food is accessible to just about everybody. It's a great place to go for a graduation celebration, though as others have said, it's probably no better -- or perhaps even worse -- than your local teppanyaki restaurant.

WIth all due respect, I have eaten many times in Japan. I have traveled extensively and this is why I love Teppan Edo and stand by it. If you choose to believe otherwise then do so. But I have been at authentic hibachi/teppanyaki in Osaka before. The Japanese even invented this way of cooking.

ETA: The only thing that differs is the foods made on the grill, although there was beef tongue as one of main things made on the teppan.

 

[B-Ride]

If your daughter likes Benihana, she’ll probably enjoy Teppan Edo

I heartily agree. This isn't my kind of food and I ate here just for my wife and two sons who do. I had a good time and both the food and experience were great.

 

[Jessicavoet]

We went once, would never go again. We can get way better hibachi for cheaper at home. They didn't even have fried rice which was really weird to me.

 

[jdisnut]

WIth all due respect, I have eaten many times in Japan. I have traveled extensively and this is why I love Teppan Edo and stand by it. If you choose to believe otherwise then do so. But I have been at authentic hibachi/teppanyaki in Osaka before. The Japanese even invented this way of cooking.

ETA: The only thing that differs is the foods made on the grill, although there was beef tongue as one of main things made on the teppan.

For sure, the style of meal that Rocky Aoki popularized in the U.S. at Benihana is adapted from an actual type of Japanese cooking. Misono is believed to be the first teppanyaki restaurant in Japan, and it opened in Kobe in, I believe, 1945. (Misono has a location in Osaka now as well.) Americans didn't invent the concept, though I still stand by my point that the teppanyaki that we tend to think of -- and the teppanyaki served at Teppan Edo -- is far closer to the fare at Benihana than anything in Japan that isn't geared largely or entirely toward Western tourists. Again, I don't say that as a pejorative. World Showcase doesn't aspire to give an authentic version of the culture it represents. It exists to give visitors the flavor of different cultures and hopefully inspire them to experience them for themselves in the future.

At least, that's my perspective on it.

 

[JW9DVC]

I'm in the don't waste your time with this place crowd. The food is just not good. Barely any seasoning and the meats all were tough as shoe leather. Even the shrimp were tough and way overcooked. Service was mediocre and took forever to get the check finished out. One and done for us.

You tell them how you want your meat cooked, so this should have been brought up at the time of eating. Seems like you failed yourself on this one.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

Teppan Edo has been a family tradition since our first trip to Disney World in the early 2000s. Our "kids" are now in their 20s and still insist we eat at Teppan Edo each trip. We've been there probably a half dozen times and have never had a bad meal. I agree with a previous poster who complained about the lack of fried rice but that's something that isn't a huge issue to us. The food is always plentiful and we think it's at least as good as our local hibachi places (and better than the local Benihana). We always eat there on the dining plan so the "cost" compared to some local hibachi place isn't an issue. The only thing I think it overpriced is the sushi, and that's simply because it wasn't included in our dining plan and we paid out of pocket.

 

[sponica]

I guess give it a shot. I didn't find our chef entertaining though, as in no personality, as in "here i am, i will cook in front of you"

The food was decent. I can't remember what i ordered though.

Whatever drink I had was good. I remembered the drink!

I'm not inclined to return anytime soon as we have better restaurants of this style closer where we live.

 

[Pirate6518]

You tell them how you want your meat cooked, so this should have been brought up at the time of eating. Seems like you failed yourself on this one.

While I appreciate the snarky comment, you have been to an actual restaurant before correct? You tell the chef how to cook your shrimp? Your chicken? Season the meat? In "normal" settings, that's not gonna happen. Only thing I can control is how I want my steak cooked. If the quality of the meat sucks and it's tough as shoe leather, not much I can do on that front except complain to a manager.

 

[JW9DVC]

While I appreciate the snarky comment, you have been to an actual restaurant before correct? You tell the chef how to cook your shrimp? Your chicken? Season the meat? In "normal" settings, that's not gonna happen. Only thing I can control is how I want my steak cooked. If the quality of the meat sucks and it's tough as shoe leather, not much I can do on that front except complain to a manager.

Yes. You tell them how it is cooked. Yet it seems you failed. They are cooking in right in front of you. You have the control. They start trimming the fat. You say. No. Keep it on. They start seasoning it. Say I want extra salt. More soy, less pepper. At a restaurant. I tell them what seasonings I want if it differs from my liking. If you took it as snarky. Good luck to you when you order your food.

 

[Alicefan]

Japanese food is never "Very seasoned" if you wanted that you would have been better off at one of the Morocco pavilion restaurants, or even Mexico.
It sounds like you had an off night there or it was solely the chef your table was assigned. I would have said something to management.

I doubt it was an off night because it sounds like our experience as well. I agree with the others when they say it's only good if you don't have a Japanese restaurant at home to compare it to. I definitely don't agree that Japanese food isn't seasoned because that's where the chefs do their tricks and flair with the salt and pepper and lemon and butter and soy sauces etc. This restaurant is just bland and dumbed down for the masses like most/all of the other restaurants in Epcot. There's nothing authentic to be found there. My ex was majorly into anything Japanese and he had it in his mind that because it was Disney, it was going to be the epitome of Japanese food. I tried to warn him that it was going to be theme park food but he wouldn't have it so we went and at the end there was a big "I told ya so" when we left and he was disappointed at the flavorless food. The same goes for the CS spot in Japan. I've heard people rave about it but I was shocked at what people find to be "good food". It wasn't quite on par with what you get in the mall. Everything including the meat tasted canned. In fact I'd bet my life on it. blah!

 

[Alicefan]

Then eating at Teppan Edo which is authentic Japanese is a bad idea.

LOL I surely wouldn't call this place "authentic". It's a dumbed down Americanized version catering to the theme park masses and tasteless because of this.

 

[Alicefan]

Yes. You tell them how it is cooked. Yet it seems you failed. They are cooking in right in front of you. You have the control. They start trimming the fat. You say. No. Keep it on. They start seasoning it. Say I want extra salt. More soy, less pepper. At a restaurant. I tell them what seasonings I want if it differs from my liking. If you took it as snarky. Good luck to you when you order your food.

You sound like a thrill to cook for lol. I'd prefer not to have to try to do my chef's job for him myself. What Pirate 6518 is saying is that typically you don't have to bark out directions because a place with decent food and chefs will already know how to cook good food. I've never been to a hibachi where I've had to correct the way my chef was preparing my food. If I did, I wouldn't go back. Also your comments ARE snarky, including this one, it wasn't just "taken that way". You're allowed to like the food there. No need to tell people that they didn't like it because THEY'RE doing it wrong.

 

[Pirate6518]

You sound like a thrill to cook for lol. I'd prefer not to have to try to do my chef's job for him myself. What Pirate 6518 is saying is that typically you don't have to bark out directions because a place with decent food and chefs will already know how to cook good food. I've never been to a hibachi where I've had to correct the way my chef was preparing my food. If I did, I wouldn't go back. Also your comments ARE snarky, including this one, it wasn't just "taken that way". You're allowed to like the food there. No need to tell people that they didn't like it because THEY'RE doing it wrong.

BINGO! I couldn't have said it any better.

 

[`OhanaHare]

LOL I surely wouldn't call this place "authentic". It's a dumbed down Americanized version catering to the theme park masses and tasteless because of this.

An that's your ill founded opinion. This thread has been dead for days.

BTW: Salt and pepper and what they do at TE isn't the seasoned type the OP was talking about, hence my comment on that.