Kabuto Hibachi & Sushi — Restaurant in Rockville

April 2023 update Came here for lunch on the weekend. We got a birthday coupon in the mail for the place (1 free hibachi entree with purchase of 2 hibachi entrees), so we decided to check out the hibachi. Note they offer 3 hour free parking with validation for the adjacent parking lot/garage. The validation machine is by the hostess stand at the front door.

The place is dimly lit and decently clean. When you enter, they separate the people who only want sushi from the people who want hibachi. Makes sense since hibachi is a performance experience here (the chefs make hibachi at the table). If you want hibachi, you can also order sushi.

They have a hibachi table for bigger groups, but most of the tables serve a max of 8 people. They also seat multiple smaller parties at one table. Our table had 2 parties of two and 1 party of three. The occupied hibachi tables have lights on under the counters where you eat.

Our waiter was friendly but was mostly not there. I noticed that the waiter stayed away when the chef was there (presumably to not interrupt the performance), and this was true for the other tables too. Even with that, the waiter only came by to take our orders, deliver ordered sushi, and after the chef was gone to ask if we needed anything. One of the parties drank a lot of water and had to wait a long time for a refill.

The hibachi chef was funny, engaging, and confident in his skills. The performance he put on was really good, and he answered all the questions we had for him. Since there were birthdays at the table, he made a birthday "cake" with stacked onion slices drenched in oil and then set on fire. It was a very flaming birthday song 🔥. He also made sure there were no seafood allergies before cooking the meat.

It was pretty interesting watching my hibachi plate "grow". First the noodles were served, then the rice, then the beef was done before the veggies. Then the salmon, shrimp, scallops, and chicken. When it comes to amount of meat for the price, I think salmon is the least. If only because it seems that the salmon is divded by fillet and everything else is based on weight and then the chef has to eyeball how to divide them evenly among those that ordered that specific meat.

For the actual cooking, I would say the meats were cooked a little overdone but still some juice. I do think a lot of things were too salty. The house salad was VERY salty, and the noodles and fried rice were a bit too salty too.

Overall, while it was an interesting and entertaining experience, I'm not sure if I would come back.

Original review (2019) Went there for the weekday lunch. We ordered the steak teriyaki bento with miso soup, house salad, and pork gyoza and the maki bento with suimono soup, California roll, salmon nigiri, and sunkissed salmon roll. The food was decent overall; house salad too salty, pork gyoza not worth it, sushi rice too wet, raw fish itself pretty good. The service could definitely be improved and also wasn't consistent: they got the steak wellness wrong and we saw another group given fortune cookies with the check. Overall, it was good, but wouldn't go...

I don’t think you want me to share the brutal details about this place but all I’m going to say is the manager needs to go totally disrespectful and I’ve spent seven birthdays going here bringing at least 15 people never again and as I’m looking at the response below, that’s the fastest I’ve seen anybody respond from that restaurant. They are so quick to defend themselves and make up lies the truth is we really liked one of the chefs and we’ve been asking for him for years since we’ve been going there and every year they tell us there is a rotation and he is not in our rotation, but you would think for people that bring a lot of service to this restaurant. They could make some kind of accommodations after all these years and instead they decided to go off on me not the other way around please note this is completely true, I have no reason to lie about this restaurant. They just overall have horrible absolutely dreadful attitudes and the food. Well, if you try it, you’ll figure out the next day how you feel we just liked the atmosphere to fit so many people at a table, but they even ruined that for us too, and on top of everything invited my guests that I brought to the restaurant to dine in with them as they told me I had to leave so you can tell they need the service/money they just want to pick on me. I’m sure the way they serve their awful drinks by rookie bartenders they have plenty of people that have acted out especially if they are treated poorly. That is the whole truth and their manager needs to be more on top of things like she was on this post. You don’t hire a 20-year-old to run a place like that. Also December 2023 is no special date so I don’t ever come there besides for my birthday like I mentioned in my review considering it’s August and my birthday is always in August I’m pretty sure you have your dates wrong at least be accurate when you fire back Kabuto author! Also I’m pretty sure putting somebody’s full name which I decided not to mention the name of the manager being a professional person that I am but like I said, pretty sure it doesn’t look very polite calling somebody out by their full name. You should always address people as Ms. or Mrs. no offense, but these people don’t know me, but do a good job at pretending like they know what they’re talking about enough...

I went to my office holiday party at Kabuto yesterday, and the food and service were so great that I brought my family back for dinner this evening.

I made reservations on Open Table, which was easy. Then the restaurant called to confirm and ask about food allergies and special requests about 2 hours before the reserved time. We showed up 30 minutes early because of other circumstances, and fortunately, the restaurant was able to accommodate us sooner than anticipated.

First, the people that work at Kabuto are exceptional. The hostess, waitress and bus staff are attentive and knowledgeable. The GM bends over backwards to ensure that guests are happy and informed. And the chefs are skilled and entertaining. The interior is really beautiful - someone put a lot of money into this restaurant. An added bonus is the parking - you can park in the garage and enter the restaurant without ever being outside - this is great for winter or any inclimate weather, or when you have young kids like we do.

Speaking of kids, Kabuto seems like it's trying for the 20- or 30- something business professional crowd, and the bar looks welcoming for that. But we were in the hibachi/teppanyaki room with a lot of families. Our kids were mesmerized by the cooking, and the chef was a master at engaging them and keeping them interested.

While we had hibachi, we all ordered apps (get the wasabi shumai - it does NOT disappoint) and sushi, and holy food! We had a ton of delicious leftovers that, for once, won't go to waste. The hibachi comes with rice (white or fried - your choice) and noodles, veggies, salad and soup. The protein portion is around 8oz at dinner, and it is gut busting. Considering we're readily getting two or three meals out of this one dining experience, the prices are very reasonable.

Fortunately, the kids saved room for dessert - vanilla ice cream, vanilla mochi and green tea mochi (the only things I remembered to photograph). Next time, I've made them swear they will try the tempura cheesecake though, as I've heard great things. Oh, and there WILL be a next time. We walked away with three kids all asking when we can go back.

A++ The food and service were both superlative. The restaurant is beautiful. And we're all looking forward to our...