Musashi Japanese Steakhouse — Restaurant in Paradise

A Tale of Two Grills: The Hibachi Hunger Games

Ah, hibachi. The land of sizzling meats, flying shrimp, and questionable volcano onion structures. My group of 14 hungry souls rolled into this restaurant ready for a night of food, fire, and fun. What we got instead… was a lesson in patience, time management, and the perils of group dining.

The Great Grill Divide

Now, we had two grills, which I assumed meant synchronized cooking, a seamless culinary ballet where we’d all eat together like a beautifully orchestrated Japanese steakhouse symphony. Oh, how naive I was.

One chef fired up his grill while the other one? Still mentally clocked out. Some of us were happily devouring filet mignon while others were watching their raw chicken sit on the counter, wondering if they had made some terrible life choices. At one point, it felt like a real-time social experiment in jealousy and hunger management.

To be fair, we did have a few late arrivals (fashionably late? debatably). But you’d think they’d coordinate the cooking so that half of us weren’t eyeing the other half’s steak like starving wolves.

The Staff: Efficiency or Rushing Us to the Exit?

Look, I get it. A large party can be a headache, and we were those people. But there’s a fine line between “attentive service” and “we need this table back in 30 minutes, so chew faster.” The staff had Usain Bolt-level urgency, and while I respect their hustle, I would have liked at least a moment to emotionally bond with my teriyaki chicken before inhaling it.

Mitchell: The Man, The Myth, The… Okay-ish Hibachi Showman

Our chef, Mitchell, was solid. The food? Fantastic. The show? Meh. You know when you go to a hibachi place and the chef’s flipping utensils, tossing shrimp into people’s mouths, and cracking jokes like he moonlights as a stand-up comedian? Yeah… that wasn’t exactly the case here.

Mitchell was a pro at cooking, no doubt. But the “show” aspect was a little underwhelming. No fiery infernos, no egg-spinning tricks—just pure, practical grilling. If you came for the flavors, you’d be happy. If you came for dinner and a show? You’d leave feeling like you just attended a very quiet cooking class.

Ambience: A Library With Grills

Speaking of quiet… why was there no music? Seriously. The restaurant’s vibe was less “fun hibachi dinner” and more “first date at a funeral home.”

The only sounds? The sizzle of meat on the grill. Our awkward conversations filling the dead air. That one guy in the back who CLEARLY had too much sake and was carrying the energy of the entire restaurant on his back.

The Final Verdict

The food? Good. The prices? Reasonable. The experience? Room for improvement. Would I return? Yeah, but only if they promise to either synchronize the grills, turn on some music, or let Mitchell take a hibachi hype-man training course.

3.5...

ZERO STARS... I called and made a reservation at 5pm when the restaurant opens for 12am for two people: The host JAMES removed me from my table while I was sitting there to seat 4 people WHO DID NOT HAVE A RESERVATION in my seats. They were previously arguing with James at the front desk because they did not have a reservation and wanted to be seated even though our table was full. James COWARDLY allowed them in and told me and my party that we needed to move. He sat us at an over packed table with 6 other people. The max capacity according to COVID guidelines is 6 people at a table. With myself and my significant other sitting there made it 8 people at the table. Being a regular customer at musashi we felt treated very poorly and this was very unprofessional. They told me I could order my food to go and pay full price. When I was removed from my seat, and could not enjoy the meal I reserved. I waited an hour and a half to speak to the owner of the restaurant, when he was finished cooking I asked the busser where the owner was at to speak to him and he told me he ran out the back door and had already left. (After he was well aware I wanted to speak with him). THIS WAS A NIGHTMARE. I was not paying full price for the meal after I was treated so poorly and ended up leaving after almost 2 hours of waiting HUNGRY with no food... I waited all evening to eat here, this was supposed to be my late night dinner. This place is GHETTO and very unprofessional. They made it a HORRIBLE experience. I am completely disappointed and disgusted with their service. The food is good here but I won’t be back after this experience. UNPROFESSIONAL. Overpacked and overbooked. Not following the COVID guidelines of 6 per table 6 ft...

I watched the TV Show called the TRAVEL CHANNEL. They rated this restaurant as one of the world's or contry's or what ever it was, top restaurant to eat at. My family and I love Teppan style dining and we do it very frequently. As a matter of fact for most all birthday's and other special occasions. My husband and I decided to offically get the married in Las Vegas after 17yrs. We invited nearly 15 of our friends and family to participate and because of the rating on the TRAVEL CHANNEL and our love for Teppan style dining we chose to host our wedding dinner for everyone at Musashi. Although the food was as expected, GREAT, the entertainment while the cheif cooked was less than promised on the tv show. Additionally, it took them nearly an hour to start cooking eventhough we had reservations and the chief took so long cooking (without entertainment) that we finished our sides long before he started the main dish, steak, chicken, shrimp or what ever it was. My youngest daughter (4yrs old) became uncontrolable because she wanted her main course. This was at about 2 hours into the dinner. My entire dinner party was bored and tired. This is a good place for great food but the entertainment sucked and service was out of your mind slow. So far nothing beats our regular restaurant on entertainment, great food, and exceptional service. GO WABI SABI in Rancho Cucamonga,...