Shogun Steak & Seafood - @@@

On Wednesday, March 30 we had an informal team dinner at Shogun, a hibachi-style restaurant down by the airport.  It was informal in the sense that we were working late and everyone just seemed to be hungry at the same time and we decided to go out.  Shogun was an interesting choice since we were all hungry and it was not that close to work.  However some wanted sushi so this was suggested.

I feel that if you have been to one hibachi restaurant, you have been to them all.  Case in point with Shogun.  One interesting "feature" was that the building literally looked like someone's house on the outside, definitely not like a restaurant much less a Japanese one.  But once inside you could see the familiar hibachi grills (there were about 8) with a bar in the back.

I ordered the steak and chicken combo which you may know comes with soup, salad, vegetables, fried rice, and shrimp appetizer.  Soup was a basic miso soup which is always ok.  The salad is pretty straightforward iceberg lettuce, tomato, cabbage and a ginger-orange dressing (I think).  I am not a huge fan of the vegetables just due to the type they use as opposed to how they cook them.  The fried rice is pretty normal as well, however here it was rather moist, which is kind of odd for fried rice.  It was at a hibachi grill though that I learned to add both butter and sesame seeds to mine for added texture and flavor.  Shrimp is what you expect when put on a flat-top.  The steak was a strip steak that they sear off and then cut into cubes.  They also mix in butter to create an extra richness.  It was alright, but since it was cut into cubes, it was cooked more medium than medium-rare.  The chicken was seared and cubed again and cooked off.  It was average in terms of flavor (slight seasoning with salt/pepper and garlic with more butter).

There was also sushi ordered which I tried (spicy tuna plus some other crazy concoctions).  I figured why not try it while it as there.  I notice I take like one bite max so the amount of fish that I taste is minimized.  Is that how you are supposed to eat sushi??  Fried dumplings (goyza) were also ordered as an appetizer which were pretty good.

All told, the experience here was pretty good.  It is always interesting watching the chef in front of you, however there were no key learnings like with the fried rice.  The food was average tasting so I would give this a 3 of 5.  I would go back, but would also want to try other offerings first.  I would also recommend this type of place with a group of people as it is always more comfortable sitting at a table with a bunch of people you know as opposed to half strangers.

76 Jefferson Blvd
Warwick, RI  02888