Mandolin Sushi & Japanese steak house — Restaurant in Tacoma

Pre-pandemic, this was my favorite habachi/teppanyaki grill restaurant from Everett to Olympia. I stopped by there again on a whim, I was craving teppanyaki filet mignon and that sacred yum-yum sauce. This time, though, everything lacked the polish that I had came to enjoy here.

I started with escolar (sushi), usually this is the softest sushi since it is very oily, (eating too much can give you digestion.........benefits?) however this time the escolar had stringy bits so you couldn't easily bite it in half. Very weird, I've never experienced this before.

Thinking this could be a one-off, I continued with some hot sake and put my order in for habachi filet mignon and salmon. The sake arrived, and it tasted very different then the usual hot sake. Granted it is just a cheap sake they heat up, but whatever brand they used must have switched because it tasted off. There was almost a sour jolly rancher aftertaste, not something you should taste from sake.

When the dinner came, the initial show was impressive, great flair and skill from the chef. After the egg-in-hat and other tricks the fried rice began. The eggs were chopped, then the rice overturned, loaded with juices, but when the eggs were flipped, they were blackened. The blackened scrambled eggs made it to the fried rice.

The filet and salmon were wonderful. I waited until all the food was done cooking before starting to eat, and I started with the protien and fish since everything else could be related easily. By the time I got to the rice, I noticed it was dramatically bland. This is the first time I've ever wanted more seasoning at a teppanyaki restaurant. I dumped the yum-yum sauce on the rice hoping for salvation, but it took lots of soy sauce to get the seasoning right, but then it just taste like soy sauce. Add to that the charred eggs, it was a failure of fried rice.

Finally I tried the veg. They were all undercooked. To the point the squash/cucumber had a crunch to it still.

Look, I want to leave a fair review. This was literally my favorite place in the state (yes I have also had teppanyaki in Vancouver, tri cities, and Spokane, this place WAS the best) and I used to recommend it to everyone, but for a Saturday night, with not having too packed tables, it was a disappointing experience.

I don't know if they are under new management, if they're cutting corners now, or if they just had a really bad night, but for now, I would suggest...

I had driven by the establishment many times over since they opened. I decided to take my lady friend there for a date night. I first noticed that the parking lot, or should I say lack of a parking lot with parking spaces to close small and to small . That was the first impression. Second was I had to part two blocks away in front of a home that the neighbors did not appreciate. My date and I had to endure dark street lighting along with uneven pavement to eventually arrive at the entrance to the establishment. We had to wait for 10 to fiftheen minutes before being seated even though they were not busy. Upon being seated for the cook in front of you experience, the wait staff took more than 10 minutes to bring us a menu, and we felt rushed to order while the server turned on the grill at the station. I ordered a ice tea with lemons. After another 10 minutes I was told that they were out and it would take an hour to make another batch. We asked for water with extra lemons only to receive four thinly sliced lemons for the both of us in a extra large glass of water. The soup came and it was not hot at all, it was dam near cold with not enough substance to mention. We were not treated as guest that should enjoy there first experience. Me and my date felt insulted by the wait staff. The only joy of our evening was the fun provided by the chef who gave us a great food experience, he was charismatic and made us smile. When the bill came the wait staff did not give me change so I could decide on the tip amount. the bill was $79.82 or something like that I put a $100.00 bill in the wrap and they gave me a $20.00 back. After the worst service I have ever had that they wanted the rest of my money. I left all the change and as we exited the restaurant the server smiled at me knowing they did not provide service worthy of the tip she earned. I will tell my influencing friends not to support this...

We went on a Saturday evening about 6 and it was very busy so lots of people like this place however I did not have a great experience but my first time there. It's not just one bad thing but many slightly annoying things that add up. To start parking is limited and mostly across the street, not that big of a deal. There is really no waiting area so you just stand in the way as you wait. The bathroom was pretty gross. When we sat down the poor waitress spilled the tray of water which I understand happens but I think she was so embarrassed she didn't want to come back so random people helped us after that. We ordered appetizers and then waited forever to actually order. Our appetizers didn't come until the hibachi chef came and they were cold except the sushi that didn't come until we were leaving and ended up being to go and full price. We rarely saw any type of wait staff. The chef didn't engage at all, no laughing or interaction which is part of the reason for going, he just cooked in quiet. Food was alright but not that great, at least it was hot. My daughter ordered sweet and sour chicken thinking it's about the safest bet but nope it was filled with some hot peppers. Then trying to leave and get out of the restaurant was a process since there's just people waiting in the way. Overall I don't think I would go back on purpose. All the little things add up to not a good experience and the food was not that good. If you want a good Japanese steakhouse go to Sapporo in University Place it's way better. On a side note that I thought was amusing, my daughter takes Japanese and is supposed to go to a Japanese restaurant and speak Japanese to the staff but out of the 5 or 6 people she asked not a single person did speak Japanese. Everything but Japanese. Pretty...