Fresh fare, teppan chefs put on a really good show

John Lehndorff, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 27, 2006 at midnight

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Generally speaking, main dishes that commence with a blazing curtain of flame and dancing spatulas get high style points from me but flunk when it comes to culinary substance.

A particularly unpleasant meal at a Benihana a decade ago probably explains why I've never reviewed a hibachi (or teppanyaki-style) restaurant. I like a meal with a show as much as the next person, but eating is still my primary motivation for dining.

However, a bevy of promising comments from readers about Aurora's recently opened Shinjuku Japanese Steak House convinced me it was finally time to have an entertaining dinner.

The exterior of the former Hops Grillhouse & Brewery has been completely redone. The inside is a slightly cavernous space that includes a bar, a cozy sushi bar, a set of teppan grills surrounded by high-set stools, and a private dining area. We could live without the green pseudo-stucco walls which do not remind us of the Tokyo district after which the eatery is named.

On our first visit we were seated around one of the grills with two other groups of diners. As we sipped Japanese beer and an excellent pearl sake in a martini glass, we chose from the refreshingly simple menu.

Basically, it's pick your protein, whether it's chicken breast ($16.95), New York strip ($19.95) and filet mignon ($23.95), or shrimp ($21.95), lobster ($34.95) and salmon ($22.95). Combinations include the top-of-the-line filet mignon and lobster ($34.95).

While we were waiting for the curtain to rise, we figured we might as well delve into the rest of the menu. Our first hint that Shinjuku was a much more intriguing restaurant than we anticipated was the deep roster of sushi ($3.25-$7), sashimi ($9-$25) and rolls ($4.95-$9.95).

The sushi chef is the real deal, delivering good-size pieces of truly fresh mackerel, yellowtail and fresh water eel. We were especially taken with the pretty, butter-soft super white tuna - yum!, exceptional house-made, rice-stuffed tamago (or sweet omelet "sushi") and a notable California roll.

Our eyebrows also rose (but in a good way) when we dug into a first-class seaweed salad ($4.95) and plump, pork-filled gyoza ($4.95). My fave was the agidashi tofu ($3.95), silky tofu fried with a thin, crunchy crust in a delicate broth.

Most memorable of all was the indelicately named monkey brain ($8.95). Actually, it was listed as monkey brian but who's quibbling when you delight in a halved, tempura-fried avocado, the warm and creamy green middled with spicy tuna and sided with delectable sauces.

As we were finishing our starters, we realized one glitch with the teppanyaki set-up: The show wasn't going to start until we had finished and some folks around the grill didn't get appetizers.

The Shinjuku meal always includes soup and then salad and they're not perfunctory. Instead of murky miso, a beautiful clear, rich broth was dotted with bits of mushroom and fried and green onion. The simple lettuce salad came with house-made thousand island dressing pumped up with fresh ginger.

The curtain rose with the arrival of our toque-topped teppan chef wheeling a cart loaded with ingredients and props. This smiling veteran performance artist engaged each guest, surveying which protein went where before dimming the overhead light. He lit a pool of oil and alcohol on the grill for a flaming introduction.

With our plates resting on the edge of the grill to stay warm, he began by making fried rice ($3 extra), cracking flying eggs on the edge of his spatula. The rice, like the sauteed broccoli, onion and zucchini that followed, and most of the proteins were seasoned with the same array of salt, pepper, sesame seeds, oil, soy sauce and butter coupled with dancing, comedy and percussion produced by peppermills and knives.

The only drawback is that most of the dishes tasted very much alike. Diners with dietary or allergic issues should be aware that everything is cooked on the same grill.

After portioning out the rice and veggies - you can start eating at that point - he laid out the meat and fish. In the process, he did some of the certain ritual teppan tricks like tossing bits of broccoli into our mouths and shrimp tails into his hat. One side effect of this theatricality is that families have fun and kids end up eating vegetables that would make them gag at home.

My New York strip was high-quality beef, cooked to order and perfectly juicy despite being cut up in chopstickable, bite-size tastes. The filet was extremely tender. All of the fresh seafood was exceptionally tasty.

Two dipping sauces - mustard for the meats and ginger for seafood - added extra oomph, although we thought that the lobster suffered from being cooked a little too much and would have been tastier with a butter sauce.

Our star chef that weekend night deserved the round of applause he got from all of us.

When we returned on a weeknight we further explored the sushi menu and also enjoyed well-made calamari tempura ($7.95), squid steak slices with sweet, dark and clove-spiced sauce.

However, the proceedings were a little rushed as our waiter delivered our sushi and appetizers at the same time and then immediately brought out the soup and salad. We were still munching while the chef was starting to cook the fried rice and sautéed vegetables. It wasn't as relaxed as we had hoped, and where our waiter the first night was funny and food-savvy, the server the second night was merely efficient.

Our chef this night was quieter though still friendly. He worked at a more rapid pace with fewer tricks. However, he did give each of us free sauteed shrimp appetizers and built a "volcano" out of a deconstructed white onion. He filled it full of alcohol, lit it and steam and flames poured out. Wow!

Shinjuku offers sushi, appetizers and teppanyaki that are all well-prepared. They get a standing ovation from me for also putting on a really good show.

Shinjuku Japanese Steakhouse

• Address: 14045 E. Evans Ave., Aurora

• Hours: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. Mon.-Thurs.; till 10:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat.; noon-9 p.m. Sunday

• Food: Japanese

• How much: $3.25-$11.95 sushi; $3.95-$15.95 starters; $14.95-$35.95 hibachi entrees

• Reservations: Yes

• How loud: Moderate

lehndorffj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5103

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