When I was first invited to Hibachi dinner at Asianas in Pewaukee, I was not excited to say yes. I was expecting to have a long wait, then get forced into awkward small talk with strangers. Most Hibachi restaurants sell the experience, not the food. I wasn’t expecting this to be any different.

Walking in 15 minutes before our reservation, our group of four was allowed to go to our grill instead of being forced to wait in the lobby. While we were waiting for everyone else, the hostess helped make small talk with us and shared her opinions on the menu. 

I decided that I wanted to try the Hibachi chicken. While Hibachi is usually expensive, this order was only $24. Most of the items on the menu were in this $20-30 range, with a couple luxury items that were about $40. Every dish came with unlimited fried rice, yumyum sauce, and soup. At many Hibachi restaurants, this type of meal could cost $40-50. After seeing the prices, I was convinced that the food would be sub-par, but I was still excited for the experience.

The other group showed up just in time, and the grill master came over. He greeted us passionately and loudly.  He introduced himself and got right to cooking. He created a massive flame that attracted attention from the entire restaurant, then poured rice on the grill. He gave everyone a generous portion of rice to eat while we were waiting for our food. 

Once he started cooking our main dish, the real show started. He dumped the ingredients of everyone's meal in one pile, and started to get the customers involved. Reaching under the grill, he pulled out a bin of broccoli and chicken. He made sure we were ready, then launched them at our mouths with entertaining accuracy and speed. I wasn’t very good, but it was still fun to try to catch them. While the food was cooking, he was pouring some kind of oil on the grill that sparked another huge flame that stole our attention. After about 3 minutes of this, he remembered the orders of all 8 people at the grill without being reminded and gave us our food, with some free shrimp for everyone as well. He thanked us for watching, and left us to eat. My expectations for the first half of the meal were met. It was time to eat the food I had been dreading. I started with the soup. Inside the warm broth was a variety of vegetables and spices that created an attractive smell and appearance. Starting out slow, I picked out the vegetables. To my surprise, they were fantastic. Tasteless vegetables were given a slight spice and bland broth was made extraordinary. The rest of the soup was finished quickly, and I was excited to finish my meal.

Next was the massive portion of fried rice. It had cooled off a little too much, but still tasted fine.  It served as a good way to hold off hunger during the cooking process, but I didn’t eat much once I had gotten my meal.

Finally, I got to the main dish: chicken and shrimp. The person sitting next to me coerced me into trying the tan colored sauce, called yumyum sauce. After fumbling with chopsticks and needing to ask the hostess for a tutorial, I was ready to try the chicken. I was conservative with the sauce on my first piece because I was still skeptical. That conservatism did not last long. The chicken was perfectly cooked and the sauce complemented it well. The dull flavor that always comes with meat was taken over by the mildly sweet sauce. Even though the sauce wasn’t extremely powerful, that seemed like a choice. If more sweetness was added to it, the sauce could start to overpower the meat. 

Asiana’s exceeded my expectations. The restaurant was inviting, even for those who are introverts. The grill master was entertaining and the hostess was accommodating. But the food was what surprised me. I would have paid the $24 even if the experience was not included. I do feel like some of the menu items were overpriced. The least expensive option was basic tofu, at $20. However, the luxury experience paired with the incredible food ensures a great night with friends or a great location to go alone and meet people.