Samurai Sushi Hibachi Steakhouse — Restaurant in Strongsville

We have been to the Hibachi in Independence and Highland Heights several times and they have quickly become my daughters favorite place. So when we saw the Groupon for the Strongsville location we jumped all over it. This was also perfect timing because it was my daughters 9th birthday and she picked hibachi for her birthday dinner. My wife called a head to find out if they did anything special for a birthday either discount, sing etc.. And we were told no, only to find 3 other tables with birthdays and the staff singing happy birthday to them. But since my daughter is shy this was not a problem and we got the impression we were bothering the staff by asking about it. When the chef came he started as usual all though nothing special about his show. The food was by far the worst we have ever had at a hibachi. As I said we frequent this type of restaurant several time a year probably 5 times. Both my wife and I got swordfish that smelled and tasted old and fishy. My children had steak, chicken and shrimp all of which were fine just very bland. The noodles, rice and vegetables all were undercooked and lacked flavor very bland and boring.

As far as the service it was sub-standard. The waitress was curt and rude and seemed annoyed that we asked for anything. For example when we asked for chopsticks and a spoon you would have thought she was doing us a favor. Not to mention why did we have to ask for them, I would have expected that they would be part of the table setting. In addition when she took our plates my wife was still eating and she just snatched her yum-yum sauce right up and was gone before we could stop her. After eating just a few bites of my noddles, rice vegetables and swordfish I asked for a to-go box. I decided to take it home and try to add some flavor to it so I could eat my $23 diner. Minus the swordfish it is uneatable. One positive is a different waitress saw that I had a to-go and offered to get me a bag and helped me put the box in the bag and seemed very pleasant about it.

Lastly we were at a table with another group that also had the Groupon coupon. They were a party of 4 and there was some confusion as to how may coupons they could use. A man came over, I am assuming he was the manager based on his dress and duties I had seem him preform around the restaurant. The people were really not understanding the coupon and instead of trying to help them the man said and I quote “ It is what it is, do what ever you want” in a vary snarky tone and walked away.

For a family of 5 on a budget we choose our special meals out very carefully and try to get the best experience for our money. We will not be coming back to this location. The funny thing is both my wife and I saw the Groupon. She purchased 1 and I bought the 2 we used last night. We will be throwing our the 3rd unused coupon and just accept the $12.50 loss.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and all though our experience was unpleasant maybe my feedback will help the...

Disappointed. Huge waste of money. We have been to hibachi restaurants many times in our life with family and friends. It has always been fun and the food has been great. This time it was just the two of us. We weren't going for the hibachi experience, just a quiet dinner for two. We love sushi and love Japanese food. We thought we would order some sushi and dinners off the menu. I ordered tempura shrimp and my husband had teriyaki chicken. I have never ordered tempura "anything" as a meal in my life so I thought I would try it one time considering I do love me some breaded shrimp. I was surprised when my plate came with four breaded shrimp approximately 5" long, one piece of breaded broccoli, one breaded mushroom, one breaded onion ring, one breaded piece of squash, one breaded piece of zucchini, and a bowl of white rice. The first inch of each shrimp was empty. After a couple of bites of the first one I had to start peeling the breading off, and the so-called shrimp inside was thinner than a pencil. I'm not sure what kind of shrimp that could have been? Was it actually shrimp? There really was no shrimp tail either. I had no idea I could ever have too much breading/tempura! My husband's chicken teriyaki was mediocre at best and the white rice wasn't good either. My husband said, maybe the rice was the best part, but then we thought about it for a second and said, nope! It was dry and just not good. I used the teriyaki as a dipping sauce for the shrimp and rice, but that improved nothing. The fancy sushi roll was also nothing to write home about. We've been going to House of Human in Medina Square for 30 years and have never, ever been disappointed! Not once! We had family here from Europe last fall and took them to House of Hunan for sushi and they said it was the best sushi they had ever had or seen in their lives. We said, we know, nothing compares! We are wondering if this Samurai restaurant is a chain?? If it is, that would sum up the low quality. I will say, the typical salad (head lettuce with the orange dressing) that you always get in a hibachi restaurant was good, and the miso soup was good and the server was outstanding, and the people there are very nice. Nothing wrong in that department. We decided the best part was the hot sake and not having to cook dinner tonight. We very rarely go out to a restaurant because we eat extremely clean and organic at home. Chain restaurants are all toxic garbage. Fast food joints, we would never touch. When we do go to a restaurant it's typically something very special, and very selective. Lesson learned again. We came home and my husband said I don't understand why you wanted to go out willy, nilly to a restaurant tonight? Well, silly me, just to go out, just for the atmosphere, haha. At least we had each other and some good conversation. We can count on that no...

I never write reviews, but this place deserves one.

Preface: I have dined at 5-star sushi establishments and adore sushi!

This is by far my favorite place in Ohio to go. They have the BEST decor and environment of any restaurant I've been too (it is extremely diverse, with five different decoration styles throughout the restaurant and spectacular interior lighting). They have a full bar, and excellent sake menu.

As for the sushi, it is always excellent. I have been here no less than 15 times and would give at lest 12 of those times a 4-star rating (for the value). Occasionally I've have a 3-star experience, but that happens from time to time with sushi simply because it looses it's freshness very quickly.

The BEST thing about this place is Tuesdays AND Thursdays. On both of these days they have half off their general sushi, sashimi, and nigori menu (specialty rolls are excluded). You can literally get a plate of 5 rolls, and 10 pieces of sashimi for under $20 (even at dinner time). Almost always, the tuna and salmon have been utterly fantastic, thick, and mouth watering. I'd eat here over a quality steak house any day.

It isn't a 5-star establishment and isn't meant to be the best on the planet, but it is by far the second best sushi restaurant I have been to. And for the extremely reasonable prices (Hibachi is a little pricey as always), it is absolutely worth every penny.

You get what you pay for typically, but here I'd say you get something more. The service isn't always at your beck and call, so if you're going out to eat to be pampered and waited on head and foot, don't pick here. But if you're looking for an EXCELLENT sushi experience and and absurdly low and reasonable price, come here on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you know sushi, you won't be...