Restaurant Review
Review Date: 07/28/2006
SAITOS JAPANESE STEAKHOUSE,
10240 Forest Hill Blvd., #140 (in the Pointe at Wellington Green plaza near the Mall at Wellington Green)
(561) 296-8888
The atmostphere: Bustling, yet strangely calming. On a recent mid-week summer visit, the restaurant was jampacked (so can you imagine how crowded it gets during season?). And since it's a Japanese grill (or teppanyaki) eatery a la Benihana, there's a constant clatter of chefs dicing and slicing away. But the dining sooms are so tastefully decoreated with Japanese art work, and so clean and well-organized, that you can actually feel relaxed.
The food: There are no surprises on the grill side of the menu, which features steak, chicken, lobster, shrimp and a few other standbys. Our party tried the lobster and calamari combo ($28.95) and filet mognon ($20.55) dinners, which come with plenty of extras (soup, salad, shrimp appetizer, vegetables and steam rice; fried rice is a $2.25 surcharge, but well worth the expense). But the chefs do everything justice, preparing your food exactly to order. (I asked for my lobster withour butter and it came out perfectly.) The real surprise, though, is how good the rest of the menu is. There's aplentiful assortment of appetizer - if you're daring enough, try the youkke ($6.50), a delicious dish of spiced raw beef. And the sushi selections include a number of creatively conceived rolls, including the Saitos Roll ($10.50), with eel, shrimp tempura, spicy tune, scallion, cucumber and avocado. Nice assortment of specialty cocktails, too.
The service: Prompt and efficient. The wait staff makes sure to take care of all your beverage and appetizer needs before the grilling festivities begin. (One of the dining rooms is without grilling stations, so if you're coming jsut for sushi, you're still more than welcome.)
The bottom line: Japanese grill restaurants might be increasingly common, but Saito's is still a cut -pardon the pun - above. If anything, the eatery has gotten better since our last visit two years ago.
Grades: Food _ B+, Service _ A-.
10240 Forest Hill Blvd., #140 (in the Pointe at Wellington Green plaza near the Mall at Wellington Green)
(561) 296-8888
The atmostphere: Bustling, yet strangely calming. On a recent mid-week summer visit, the restaurant was jampacked (so can you imagine how crowded it gets during season?). And since it's a Japanese grill (or teppanyaki) eatery a la Benihana, there's a constant clatter of chefs dicing and slicing away. But the dining sooms are so tastefully decoreated with Japanese art work, and so clean and well-organized, that you can actually feel relaxed.
The food: There are no surprises on the grill side of the menu, which features steak, chicken, lobster, shrimp and a few other standbys. Our party tried the lobster and calamari combo ($28.95) and filet mognon ($20.55) dinners, which come with plenty of extras (soup, salad, shrimp appetizer, vegetables and steam rice; fried rice is a $2.25 surcharge, but well worth the expense). But the chefs do everything justice, preparing your food exactly to order. (I asked for my lobster withour butter and it came out perfectly.) The real surprise, though, is how good the rest of the menu is. There's aplentiful assortment of appetizer - if you're daring enough, try the youkke ($6.50), a delicious dish of spiced raw beef. And the sushi selections include a number of creatively conceived rolls, including the Saitos Roll ($10.50), with eel, shrimp tempura, spicy tune, scallion, cucumber and avocado. Nice assortment of specialty cocktails, too.
The service: Prompt and efficient. The wait staff makes sure to take care of all your beverage and appetizer needs before the grilling festivities begin. (One of the dining rooms is without grilling stations, so if you're coming jsut for sushi, you're still more than welcome.)
The bottom line: Japanese grill restaurants might be increasingly common, but Saito's is still a cut -pardon the pun - above. If anything, the eatery has gotten better since our last visit two years ago.
Grades: Food _ B+, Service _ A-.