Teppanyaki Kyoto — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

Edit 8/11/23 - Dine In Finally getting in after COVID to have some table service. I'll say it's still a good Japanese restaurant and that hasn't changed. Still had the Tonkastsu. Still great. We also tried the karaage (fried chicken)and the sake shioyaki (salt grilled salmon).

The salmon was good, nice flavor and well cooked.

The karaage was tasty and super hot. Just crazy fresh and delicious. Even after sitting for about 5 minutes it was still burn your head off hot.

The only thing I want to mention is the service isn't what I'd want.

So, for things being ala carte you'll need to make your own meal. And every dish seems to come out as soon as it's ready. But the order on things was odd. Our pickled side dish came out first, then about 5 minutes later the rice came out. Surely both of these were ready before hand. And if the rice was still cooking, then there's no reason to bring out the gobo kinpira yet.

The salmon actually came out 4th after the pork, and salmon should cook faster.

Also the miso soup was inedible. It was so salty I couldn't eat it.

Finally, no one asked if we wanted any refills (which we needed with the salty soup).

I'm not going to change the review though. The soup might be my personal preference and maybe they were just having a bad night.

I tend to like my Japanese meals in the ichiju sansai style where you have your soup, three dishes of food and rice. I kept finding myself in a place where I was missing some part of the meal. I eventually asked for another bowl of rice but my main course was gone by the time it came out.

The next time we go, and we will go again, I'm getting a bento lunch so everything can come out at the same time - I hope.

Original Review

Despite being a long-time local favorite, I'd never had a chance to get to Teppanyaki Kyoto before.

With COVID restricting us to take out, I didn't order the okonomiyaki as I might otherwise have done... In my experience, the dish doesn't travel well. Best eaten immediately after cooking. Perhaps one day.

Instead we went with my go-to Tonkatsu. We also had an order of the kakiage vegetable tempura as well as a side dish of the shogoyaki.

The first thing to surprise me was the reasonable prices. Nothing jumped out as outrageous - certainly within a few dollars of what the items would cost in Japan.

If you're not sure what you'd want, you can do worse than a $10 bento.

As for the food itself, it was all very tasty. The Tonkatsu was a good thickness. Instead of having the standard Tonkatsu sauce, there was a special miso dressing on top of it. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked. Honestly, considering my borderline Tonkatsu sauce addiction, no small feat!

The tempura might have been the star of the show, though. I loved how deeply cooked it was. Rather than the pale tempura batter most places have, the food was allowed time to develop a lovely brown coating. Very similar to an onion ring in taste and texture, but with a lot more going on.

Finally the shogoyaki, ginger stewed pork... Absolutely delicious. A wonderful, comforting dish. The pork was perfectly seasoned, and none of the flavors...

I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed this food! I haven't been to too many Japanese restaurants, but I think this is one of the best I've tried. This was my first time trying everything I ordered. The menu has many unique options, but I decided to try the okonomiyaki (Japanese cabbage pancake, without any add one), kushi dango (sweet rice balls with red bean paste), dashi maki (Japanese omelette), and korokke (fried vegetable and potato patties). All of them were excellent.

The star of the show had to be the okonomiyaki. The price was quite reasonable for the portions (not too big, but not small either). It was bonded with a fair amount of eggs. There was some seaweed or something of that sort on top, alongside some Japanese Mayo or some similar sauce. The cabbage and vegetables were crunchy and overall, this was fantastic! I can't wait to try one again. Must get this if you come here.

The dashi maki was quite good as well. The texture was a bit unpleasant to me, but this could be because it doesn't travel well. Flavor-wise, it was on the sweeter side. Decent portion. They sprinkle some spicy flakes on top. Still, quite a good and light appetizer or snack.

The korokke was extremely tasty as well. They were large and crispy; a fair deal for the price, I think. There were little pieces of peas, corn, and other vegetables inside, but it was mostly mashed potatoes with some crispy coating and fried. They serve it with a delicious, slightly sweet sauce, which also has a little blob of Mayo. So good!

The dessert was unique and interesting. The rice balls (kushi dango) were chewy, but did not have much sweetness to them. The bean paste was what had most of the flavor, and it was very tasty. They come on a little skewer. For a very reasonable $3, why not give it (or one of their other desserts) a try? This is a good option for those that want dessert, but don't have a huge sweet tooth.

All in all, I am very happy with my order. I tried many unique items and appreciate having this option in Pittsburgh. The food is very high quality and the portions are quite decent....

A FOODIE’S GEM OF AUTHENTIC JAPANESE TEPPANYAKI🤩🤩🤩, none of that show off knife flinging in air so common in pseudo-teppan eateries serving mostly greasy stir fries.

It’s a a cozy Izakaya, i.e. modern bistro, based on the Kanji concept of “stay-drink-place” to dine-and-dine be comfortable the Japanese way😎😎😎.

The ambience is that of a relaxed, minimalist bistro with an open Teppan where cooks prepare foods made-to-order.👏👏👏

This is true Teppanyaki, foods are made-to-order all on a teppan. GOOD FOOD TAKES TIME TO COOK…so NO RUSHED DINING, not the gobble-and-run type.

The menu is very very short, as should be for a bistro especially for a Japanese one. ALL THE FOODS ARE SIMPLE, WITH SUBTLE COMPLEX FLAVORS and very textural.

RECOMMENDATIONS 🤩 Tako Karaage: tender and fried octopus

🤩 Yasai Kakiage: very elevated veggie tempura, crispy and balanced seasoning

🤩 Saba no Shioyaki: very subtly flavored Teppanyaki Mackerel fillet, the fish is the star

🤩 Kamo Negi: outstanding tender and juicy Teppanyaki Duck sautéed with leeks

🤩 Grilled Mixed Vegetables: very well seasoned, dipping sauce merely lifts up the natural flavors of the veggies

and

🤩 Katsu Kare: it’s tender juicy fried fillet of pork served with outstanding Japanese curry, aroma of curry but completely different flavor as only the Japanese can concoct🤩

🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩Kare is probably the most understated Japanese dish. It is heavenly!!!

• It is worth mentioning that curry was introduced to the Japanese culinary consciousness in the 1860s during the Meiji Era.

Japanese cooks literally re-invented curry🤩🤩🤩 by taming the sharp aromas of spices in curry pastes. They cleverly infused unique Japanese umami flavors (savory meaty flavors of dashi).*

For desserts: The mochis are excellent 👍 Sakura Mochi: lavender flavored (I believe) wrapped in edible cherry blossoms leaf

👍 Kashiwa Mochi: green tea flavored with red bean paste filling

Service is outstanding.

VERY HIGHLY...