“Hibachi-style cuisine has become increasingly popular with people in recent years. This is a style of cooking where diners sit at a table with other people and a chef comes to the table and does the cooking right there. A couple of these types of restaurants are in this area, and the best just might be Otani Steak House.”
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Hibachi-style cuisine has become increasingly popular with people in recent years. This is a style of cooking where diners sit at a table with other people and a chef comes to the table and does the cooking right there.

A couple of these types of restaurants are in this area, and the best just might be Otani Steak House. It’s located on Merriman Road in the valley and is only 10 to 15 minutes away from campus.

Otani’s menu is not very extensive, however the items they have are all quite good. Three of my personal favorites are the sukiyaki steak, sesame chicken and scallops and the salmon. No matter the entrée, all lunches and dinners come with Japanese soup, salad and fried rice. The dinner menu also includes a complementary shrimp appetizer and orange sherbet for dessert.

Before I start talking about the entrees, I want to make sure you know how good the soup and salad is. The soup is a very simple mushroom broth garnished with green onion. Let me tell you, if you are feeling a little under the weather, the soup really hits the spot. The salad is simply mixed greens topped with an orange-citrus vinaigrette.

My personal favorite entree is the sukiyaki steak. The thinly sliced sirloin steak with bean sprouts, carrots and mushrooms combined in a sweetened soy sauce produces a very clean flavor.

Another delicious entree is the salmon. I recently tried this dish for the first time and must say it was delightful. The generous fillet of salmon is seasoned with soy sauce, lemon juice and butter. All of these simple ingredients combined create a delectable piece of salmon.

Rounding out the entrees is the sesame chicken and scallops. The scallops are cooked until golden brown and seasoned with soy sauce, lemon juice and butter. The sesame chicken is seasoned with a special brown sauce, soy sauce, butter and of course toasted sesame seeds.

I would not be doing Otani justice if I did not mention the fried rice. This is the item that keeps me coming back and, most of the time, I wind up ordering double rice. It is a simple fried rice that contains butter, bean sprouts, carrots, the special brown sauce, soy sauce and sesame seeds. I really do not know what to say about the rice except that it is delicious.

The best part about dining at Otani is that there are a number of ways to avoid paying the full price. One way is to go for lunch.

At dinnertime, the sukiyaki steak costs around $14 but the lunch price is only $6.50 and you still get the soup, salad and fried rice. If you are really strapped for cash, the sesame chicken at lunch is only $4.95 and it still includes the soup, salad and fried rice.

Another way to save money at Otani is the entertainment card, which can save you $14 on your dinner. So if you and a friend go there for dinner, the entertainment card basically gets you one of the entrees for free.

And what college student doesn’t like something for free?

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