Osaka — Restaurant in Helena

Tried out the new Osaka Japanese sushi and steakhouse in Helena, AL for the first time this weekend.

We had been to the old BBQ restaurant at that location and the interior was completely revamped and looked very nice.

We were seated quickly and greeted promptly. But what caught me off guard was the lack of a hibachi grill. Which is a staple for a hibachi Japanese restaurant.

Typical “Americanized” Japanese menu with hibachi and teriyaki choices as well as a large sushi menu. We did not try the sushi so I cannot give it an honest review.

We ordered steak hibachi and shrimp hibachi. The beef/onion soup was bland and under seasoned. The salad with ginger dressing was smothered in dressing which lacked any ginger flavor at all and was overall just “blah”.

Our meals came out within 5 minutes of ordering which made me think that the majority of the meal was not “made to order.”

Steak was cooked to a nice medium, as ordered, but it was also under seasoned. Shrimp was warm, not hot and under seasoned and bland as well.

Vegetables were soft and mushy, very overcooked. And unfortunately…bland.

Fried rice, which should be the star of the show at any Japanese restaurant was the big disappointment. Very little egg involved and absolutely no veggies mixed in with the fried rice. No sauce or seasoning was palatable either. So sad!

Prices were what you would expect at an upper scale Japanese restaurant. Way over priced for what you get.

So if you like bland undercooked hibachi then this place is for you. Otherwise, make it a hard pass!

I did give it two stars, instead of one, because it was very clean and the wait staff was very prompt and attentive.

I hope they take this review as constructive criticism and make improvements on the food quality. They have a nice restaurant at an underserved location and could do very well with some...

Note: this is for the hibachi side of things - I did not order any sushi.

First time visiting today. I've been a litle excited to try it since there's always a lot of cars outside of it when I pass by.

It's not the best hibachi, but it's not the worst. We ordered takeout. I ordered a chicken / steak lunch combination and my girlfriend ordered the steak / salmo combination. I had soup and she got the salad. We also ordered cheese wontons.

The teriyaki sauce for the chicken and the rice were really good. The steak was super bland without any seasoning at all; same went with the chicken (without the sauce). The vegetables were okay. Rice and vegetables were heavy handed on the pepper which I prefer but girlfriend did not.

Wontons tasted good but had too much cheese filling, but that's not something to complain about. I just squeezed out the cheese so it was a little easier / less heavy for me to eat.

Salad tasted like your run-of-the-mill hibachi salad. Soup tasted like beef broth, nothing to write home about.

Overall, I'd give them food a 3.5 / 5. If they'd seasoned their meats a little better, then this would be higher.

My problem with this place is the price / portions. I should not be paying $15 to $20 for a lunch special. If I'm paying that much, it needs to be for a dinner with much bigger portions and I'd prefer there needs to be with a hibachi chefdoing cool stuff with his culinary tools. I can go up to Otoro in Hoover and get the same price for double the food (fyi, Otoro's food is better) without the hibachi chef.

I immediately dropped a star because of this and debated on whether to go to 2 / 5 stars or 3/5 stars. Since it's Helena, and they don't have any Japanese places, I opted for 3/5 stars.

I'm not sure if I'll come back. The sushi could tempt me but I have to be craving sushi and that usually takes a...

Closest food to Japanese food I've tasted in years. I have tried all of them in this area looking for what I miss from Japan. Do u know where I can get a Japanese sweet roll like they sell all over Japan? Food was a good portion and taste absolutely wonderful! I ordered the Bento box lunch Chicken Teriyaki and husband got a Helena roll. It was ready and waiting in 10 minutes. Everyone was very professional and the restaurant looked clean. My husband doesn't really like Japanese food but he liked yours which shocked me. I've always had to drag him into Japanese restaurants. We will definitely be back! May even order again tonight. Keep up the good work....