Kobe Teppanyaki & Steak House

Kobe Teppanyaki & Steak House

Wausau, WI

Reviewed August 11th, 2005

Oak-framed mirrors and kitch-country wall trim mix with ikebana in this glaring example of the safe, subtle and often awkward introduction of eastern culture to the Midwest. At the cusp of feudal Japan in the late 1800's, Emperor Meiji wrestled with transforming an agrarian society into an industrialized and weaponized superpower. Similarly, Kobe - nestled next to restaurants with names like The Log Cabin and Ponderosa - seems to be struggling to bring Japanese/Chinese fusion food to a straight-up meat and potatoes crowd. Don't expect to be eating fugu here anytime soon.

Visiting Kobe, you may be treated amazing feats of teppanyaki-ship such as the slapping down of a slab of frozen salmon (I kid you not) onto the grill and then watching it slowly sizzle for 25 minutes. If you can stand to step away from the excitement of the open flame, the restrooms are located down a hall toward the back.. the men's being several feet further than the women's. Inside were adequate facilities for any Sapporo guzzling crowd of salarymen (curiously absent on this Thursday night and later attributed by the waitstaff to the occasion of a preseason Packers game).

RESTROOM RATING: 6
Send this review to a friend