Osaka Hibachi Sake Bar & Restaurant — Restaurant in Moncton

It should be no coincidence that I absolutely love Japanese food. Sushi ranks as one of my top favourite foods out there and it almost completely drained my wallet while I attended college on Vancouver Island, B.C. This time, however, I ordered Unagidon, which is barbecued eel ("Unagi" is the Japanese word for prepared Japanese freshwater eel) and which - along with Octopus - happens to be my two favourite seafood dishes. Yes, they beat Pacific salmon, clams, and scallops, but not by much.

So you can excuse me for being quite partial when I rate this excellent restaurant.

But, now, what is the Osaka Hibachi restaurant actually like? Well, first of all, it is elegant and upscale, and can be on the expensive side, as most if not all Japanese restaurants can and should be expected to be, upon considering how much skill and artistry goes into so many of these dishes. I mean, every dish you get is practically a work of art. And as tempted as you might be to preserve the memory by taking snapshots of every meal you receive, it would be like sitting in the front row of a concert and spending more time filming the performers on your smartphone than to listening to the music. And the Osaka Hibachi restaurant is no exception; every dish you order here will be a work of art so this should be appreciated as you enjoy the food. And it is not just visual, either. Ingredient combinations can have some very subtle significances in flavour as well. Seasonal ingredients are a good example because a well-made seasonal dish will actually "taste" like the season it represents. That was how I felt when I had the salad that accompanied my Unagidon dish. So the presentation was excellent.

The drink I ordered was good, too. I'd never ordered an "Osaka-tini" before but I could tell it was well-made because nothing tasted out of balance. And of course I liked the flavour.

As far as the atmosphere went, I was pleasantly surprised. There weren't any traditional low tables that I could see (where you sit kneeled on the floor) but I sat near the front neat a window so I couldn't see everything. That Japanese style could still be seen everywhere, though, complete with Nyan Cat statue at the front near the counter. And as I sat enjoying my meal, I believe I heard someone's birthday being celebrated with a gong.

Now that is style.

One thing I should inform readers about would be that since this restaurant does allow families with children, you may need to put up with the occasional crying baby. I did. And that can't be helped. Not only would it be bad for business, I have also found that Japanese people (or at least the Japanese people I've met and known) have a very hard time refusing or declining anyone. Consider it a cross-cultural experience that I hope never gets taken advantage of.

And as for service, I actually had two waitresses attend me while both still looking quite busy (the second waitress came to my table only because she saw me waiting for something with no food in front of me). And they even offered to answer any questions I might have had. So the servers are very attentive. And the waiting time was not that long, either. On the night I was there, my mother, sister, nephew and brother-in-law were eating at the Pumphouse restaurant a block or so away. Now, it could have been the long lineup to get in that continued out the door and almost half a block away, but I left them standing in that line-up to go to this restaurant and when I was finished and met up with them afterward they were still eating. Maybe the fact that this was a Friday night had something to do with it, I dunno.

Anyway, as you can see, my overall impression of the Osaka Hibachi restaurant were very positive. Though as I mentioned at the beginning of this review, my impression was very partial. Feel free to take it with a "Grain Of Salt" (pun intended) but if you are in Moncton, New Brunswick, and you love Japanese food - or even if you are looking for a new culinary experience - I highly recommend this restaurant.

Thanks...

My fiancee and I decided to finally try Osaka's for the fist time since I discovered it 2 years ago, needless to say without a doubt the best experience we have ever had...The waiter and waitress we the most polite and helpful people we have ever met in a restaurant setting, they catered to our every need and were always just a moments notice away, the waiter took the time to explain each and every different piece on the dish, what was in it and described the others for my fiancee so she knew which ones were spicy or not which my fiancee very much appreciated..The waitress got us everything we ask for that was extra and did so with a very generous smile and even interacted with us a bit about our weekend and were we were from and check on us regularly to make sure we were enjoying our experience...Even the Chefs were very polite and entertaining, answered all of my questions without even the slightest hint of annoyance, all 3 of the Chefs were very entertained as I tried the real Wasabi root for my very first time as I coughed and try to catch my breath from the shock of the spice and aromatics of the root..The meal was top notch, by far the best sushi and rolls we have ever tried, the fish was fresh and very nice, the rice was cooked perfectly and our favority part of the dish was the Monkey Bomb and would recommend it to anyone to try ...The prices were definitely on point for the amount of food which we got and we had plenty of left over for a bit of late night snack after we won a little bit at the Casino...If If we could give the Osaka 10 stars I would but 5 is all in can give and that just doesn't seem like enough, we will definitely be going back and recommend everyone try it...Looking forward to our next...

My boyfriend and I were visiting New Brunswick for our anniversary weekend and were pleasantly surprised by this wonderful location. We were welcomed with a cheerful "irasshaimase ('welcome' in Japanese) by multiple staff upon entering. We had the same waitress both times we went over the weekend and she was excellent. The cocktails we ordered were delicious, and the food was expertly prepared.

Portion sizes were a good value for the price. My boyfriend got the Osaka Steak both times we went and it was cooked just as he requested it, with beautiful grill marks and a tasty teriyaki sauce. He asked for no veggies the first time and our waitress remembered his order the second time we went! They certainly didn't skimp on quality as our food was all delicious.

I also loved the decor -- modern with Asian influence, nice windows looking out at the city, comfy booths. Music to set the mood.

The sushi chefs here really pay attention to the small details. So many times I have been to restaurants where they add more rice than necessary to their sushi to fill you up on rice. The ratio of rice to fish here is perfect, and they chop the pickled ginger up into little slivers much easier to eat than the usual large pieces. A very small detail to be sure but much appreciated!

If we are ever back in this neck of the woods we will be sure to stop by again. 5/5...