Japanese Hibachi restaurants (Knoxville, Kingston: school, price, sushi)

[NJDevil]

Hi, I know there are a bunch of cook-in-front-of-you Japanese restaurants in Knoxville. I've heard Wasabi is very good. Questions...
- do any of them offer a dessert with the combo dinners?
- do any of them offer a salad that has more than just iceberg lettuce in it?
- do any offer lomein w/ dinner instead of rice?
- who has the best ginger sauce? (i.e. doesn't look like brown water)

thanks for any input!

[airwair]

I don't have any answers to your specific questions, but Wasabi (the one on Bearden Hill) is excellent. Miyabi used to be the best, but it closed and was replaced with some other place that I currently can't remember the name of. It's on Kingston Pike close to Gallaher View.

[Kitties of Domination]

Kanpai of Tokyo has crappy ginger sauce. I'm pretty sure nobody offers dessert with the meal. Honestly, I haven't been to many of those places recently. I've been in an Indian phase. From what I remember, Wasabi has good ginger sauce. There are several ones that are sketchy, including the former Miyabi place. Honestly, Wasabi is your best bet.

[jibanez]

If you're looking for good food without the tableside show, Shono's off of Peters Road is fantastic! It's got great shrimp sauce and good ginger dressing for the salads. And it's reasonably priced! No dessert or lo mein substitutions, though.

It's a fairly small hole in the wall, so if your question is more about a night out than just looking for good grub, then Shono's isn't your place. And I haven't tried any of the other options to offer any advice on them. So, there's my two cents....

[NJDevil]

Appreciate it! I really like the hibachi style - that flavor - it doesn't have to be cooked in front of me. Are there any Japanese restaurants with buffets of any kind (even if it's just the salad)?

[Ariakkas]

the "sketchy" place you guys are referring to is Misaki, and while ive never eaten their hibachi, their sushi is excellent. i go there weekly almost.
ill grant you the parking lot doesnt help the aesthetics of the place.

ive never had dessert with hibachi, and i dont eat the ginger sauce so cant comment on that,

[Buffalo Lake]

Adding to the list of excellent 'non-show' places, I'd suggest Kasumi off of Campbell Station.

The hibachi is great and the sushi might be the best in Knoxville for the price.

And the staff is uber-friendly

[TedTLPN]

Let me start with this:

I went to school with Kevin Aoki about a billion years ago. I grew up going to the Benihana on 79th St on the Bay in Miami at LEAST once a year since I was about 16 till about 24. I LOVE This style of eating VERY much!!

That being said, Wasabi on Lovell road is a BEAUTIFUL replacement!! The sushi is VERY good, the 'to order' Shrimp is excellent, and the portion size is out of control! No, desserts are NOT included with meals as I remember. The salad is marginal, but honestly if you are going to a place like this for the salad I have to question your motivation for going. I have no clue about the lomein, but I can't see the staff making their best effort to accommodate you (call ahead or get there before the rush). I'm not into Ginger sauce, so I can't give you a fair evaluation of that.

When it comes to Kanpai of Tokyo, I went there ONCE for dinner, and ONCE for lunch because my workmates at the time were going. I'm not planning on returning there again.