March 27, 2017

Japanese Hibachi Dinner at Shogun

Two weeks ago, Uncle Cakes turned 70, and to celebrate, the family decided to head to Shogun Restaurant. It is a Japanese restaurant not too far from home, and they have different offerings from sushi to hibachi grill food. Cakes had never been to a Hibachi restaurant before, so I thought it would be a nice treat for him.

FUN FACT: My sister and her hubby got engaged one night after having dinner there. I think.

Shall we dive into a little bit of history? Yay, learning is fun, innit? So... what is hibachi? What I knew as hibachi is the American version, not the Japanese version. In Japan, Hibachi is actually an open-topped container traditionally used as a heater! There ARE Hibachi barbecue grills, but these are open-grate grills that use coal or gas flames. What we know as Hibachi in America is actually a Teppan (iron hot plate), and the style of food is Teppanyaki. Are we all caught up?
The first restaurant claiming to serve this kind of cuisine was Misono in 1945 in Japan. They noticed though that foreigners seemed to enjoy the experience (and the food) more than the locals. So they decided to focus on the performance aspect of their chefs, which are a delight to watch. Scroll all the way down at the end to see my Snapchat story from that night.

At Shogun the food comes with soup (basically broth) and a salad (basically chopped salad with LOTS of ginger dressing). Honestly, they're both quite underwhelming, but they give you something to do while waiting for the food to be ready.

We all sat around the grill, and the chef came by and started his "performance" and cooking for us.




We all ordered different meats from chicken to salmon to steak to lobster and shrimp and scallops. Cakes and I ordered different combinations, so we could share from each others' plates.
By the time all the meats were cooked, we were all famished and eagerly dove into our food. Some people ate till they couldn't even blink, and others saved half of their food to take home and eat the other half there (this is a good trick for portion control, by the way).
This was my plate with scallops, shrimp, lobster, chicken, steak and shrimp. Yes, I finished it all. Yes, I felt miserable and overstuffed by the time I got home. Hmm, maybe that's why I didn't sleep well that night.







For those of you in Lagos who haven't tried this kinda cuisine, check out Sakura - it's been reviewed by EatDrinkLagos and Yewande of She Loves The Finer Things. I know there are other restaurants that have Japanese food, but I'm not sure if they have the teppanyaki grills.


Anyways, it was a fun outing. Thanks again for all your nice wishes to Cakes on here and Instagram and Facebook. Y'all are TOO MUSH!

P.S. My birthday is in exactly 2 months - May 29th (Democracy Day in Nigeria, Memorial Day in Hamrika, and some Bank Holiday in the UK). But I'm going to be kinda all by my lonely. I'm taking suggestions for what I should do - book a spa day for myself, or go and chill in a hotel somewhere and get pampered?

P.P.S Y'all should follow Tuke's Food Photography page on Instagram. But don't blame me for being hungry afterwards. Blame her.

18 comments:

  1. Awwww, Thanks for the Shout out Berry, You Rock!!!!

    Tuke's Quest

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  2. WOW The food looks really mouthwatering. The restaurant reminds me of Tepanyaki here in the UK. Never been but I like the idea of food being cooked right in front of me. It looks like you had an amazing time.

    www.stephylately.com

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    1. The food was very nice. A small issue is if you're in a large group, your food might get cold while the cooking process is being done.

      But it's always a fun experience.

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  3. Are you sure the food was the reason you didn't get a good night's sleep. *wink wink. *smirk smirk.

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    Replies
    1. LOL, you've forgotten Uncle Cakes' snoring has pursued me from our bedroom :p

      Delete
  4. You look so beautiful Berry! And I just saw the throwback with you and Cakes on Insta! Thank God for where He's brought you. <3

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Alheri. Making this girl blush here. Thank God for His faithfulness!

      Delete
  5. Aww love your hair Berry. The food looks mouthwatering, you should definitely book a pamper session for your birthday! xx
    Coco Bella Blog

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Demilade! I'm really trying to figure out where to book my spa day. Imma turn off my phone and just chillax!

      Delete
  6. At first glance I thought it was Jollof rice and dodo" then I looked again. Everything looks really sumptuous, thanks for the Sakura tip.

    5 Interesting Things That Happened When I Stopped Wearing Makeup

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    Replies
    1. BUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I can tell my fellow plantain-lovers!

      Delete
  7. For some reason, your experience here reminds me of Korean Grill where the customers have to cook the meat themselves over an open fire in the middle of their tables. It's a pretty interesting experience. Well, your pictures are very nice!

    http://jamilakyari.com/

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    1. Ah yes, I've had that once before in Canada! I really liked the experience, but my younger siblings haven't been able to convince everyone else here that we should go.

      Thanks!

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  8. 1. Happy 70th again Uncle Cakes
    2. He cut his 'fro?????
    3. You share a birthday with one of my dearest friends!!!!
    4. Definitely a spa day!

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    Replies
    1. 1. Thank you
      2. Yes o. People were freaking out on my snapchat!
      3. Yaaaaaaaaaaay, only the dearest people are born May 29th
      4. Woot woot!

      Delete
  9. First time commenting on your blog, after following your blog since your initial move to Lagos.

    Happy Belated birthday to Cakes!

    Your birthday is a day after mine, yeah for May babies! Just want to commend you on getting back to the flow of putting up more blog posts, from your past blog posts and vlogs,I know the process has not always been easy, but please know that the best is yet to come, God has something big in store for you, and it's just around the corner, keep holding on and pushing through!

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    1. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to the May-ness!

      Thanks a lot for the encouragement. I was kinda flailing there for a while, and wasn't sure how to get back on track, but thank God! My creative juices have been flowing! I actually have the whole of April's blog posts ready and have started writing May's posts too.

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