by Ryan Lindner

 

I have been to more than a dozen different Japanese Teppan restaurants and I have never been disappointed. I am happy to say that Zip Fusion kept the streak alive. This restaurant has it all. It has a sushi bar, a regular bar, regular tables for the more traditional dinning, and last but not least, my favorite, the Teppan tables. The Teppan cooking should be the only reason to go to this style of a restaurant. Teppan is a style of Japanese cuisine that uses an iron griddle (teppan) to cook food.
There are about 8 to 10 seats around a giant griddle, on which your food is prepared. Once we were seated, our waitress took our drink orders and left the Sushi and Dinner menus. After pondering over the many choices of sushi, our group ordered the Crunchy Roll.  The sushi they brought out was a much larger portion than that of the other restaurants I have been to.  After we devoured our appetizer we all ordered our entrées. They had a pretty big selection ranging from chicken to lobster. While the cook gathers our ingredients in the back, the waitress brings out our soup and salad. The soup was delicious; it was chicken and noodles instead of the more traditional Miso soup. I loved the salad that they prepared for us. It was a normal salad but the dressing was the best I have ever had. It is ginger dressing and I can’t have enough of it. It is one of my favorite parts of this experience. After the first time I had this dressing I insisted that my fiancé should learn how to make it. When the soup and salad were finished, the real fun began. There were five people in our party.  All of us ordered different food from chicken to salmon.  Our chef, who said his name was Toyota, brought out his special cart filled with everyone’s orders. He put on the best dinner show around. While he cooked our food in front of us, he twirled and threw his cooking utensils all around and skillfully caught them. Some Teppan chefs throw food into the guest’s mouths, and most make a steam train out of an onion.  Everyone at the table is having a great time clapping and laughing. The cook makes your dining experience a very special one. Everyone loved their food. I tried to be a little different this time with my order and ordered steak and salmon. The fish was excellent. Along with the meat you order, the meal comes with cooked vegetables, fried noodles and your choice of fried rice or steamed. To top it off they give you a few grilled shrimp to complement your meal and a scoop of rainbow sherbet to finish it off.
Zip Fusion got 5 thumbs up from our group.
Zip Fusion is located in the Gateway Center by the theaters.  To top it off, it has a live band on Friday and Saturday evenings. So if you are looking for some entertainment while you eat, stop by and give Zip Fusion a try.