A Matter of Taste
TOKYO DINER
5202 Simpson Ferry Road, Suite 108
Windsor Park Shopping Center, Mechanicsburg
697-7305
by Sue Barry
 We had to ask our group when making reservations if they wanted to be entertained or if they wanted to entertain themselves. Why? Because the options are open at the newest Tokyo Diner Japanese Seafood & Steak House in the Windsor Park Shopping Center, Mechanicsburg.
Behind the stodgy semblance of a suburb strip mall, a sunken sushi bar seats swarms of diners who like to watch a skilled sushi chef’s show.
In another section of the restaurant light wood surrounds three grand iron grills and these hibachi tables seat eighteen people each. Underneath the massive stainless steel range hoods, chunks of beef and seafood — shrimp, scallops, salmon, tuna — join vegetables, that jump, dive and sizzle to the chef’s own clever beat. Groups of strangers can interact and watch the majestic iron (grill) chefs manipulate cleavers in ways Eddie Haskel never could. (You remember Eddie trying to manipulate the Cleaver family, don’t you?)
But, another even more interesting dining experience — especially for a group of sagacious friends — takes place behind bamboo curtains in private tatami rooms where diners make their own entertainment and let loose to enjoy an assortment of Japanese menu pleasures at their own pace. These tatami rooms contain modular screens that can be made cozy enough for four people or large enough to handle twenty-two for a full blown party. Unlike what you might expect, visitors keep their shoes on and sit at standard sized tables and chairs, not on the floor.
Shortly after asking our waitress to prepare the sake we brought (Tokyo Diner is a BYOB establishment), she brought out a sake set with the decanters filled with the warm rice wine that we poured for one another. (In Japan, you never pour your own sake.)
It was time to check off our choice of soup, appetizers and sushi from the list provided. Before ordering, we wanted to make sure we had the right utensils. There were no chopsticks …we had to ask.
Miso Soup ($1.50) is a standard at traditional Japanese restaurants in America and at Tokyo Diner it is a good prototype. Heavenly is the soy-based broth with tiny cubes of bean curd and nori (seaweed). Drunk in the traditional way from the bowl, using chopsticks to eat the tofu, somehow enhances the flavor even more. As an alternative, the Onion Soup ($1.50) was also delicious having deep flavor, with bits of onion swimming with mushrooms and
nori.
We placed our order for appetizers stating that we would be sharing. When we were ready to dive in to the starters, there were no plates … we had to ask.
 Once we got our plates, we enjoyed the Green Mussel appetizer ($4.95), featuring four green-lipped mussels embellished in a spicy sauce, baked in their shell, then garnished with pimento and green onion. Having had Japanese seaweed salad on other occasions, I was not wanting to try another mediocre version of it again. But, a member of our party, whose experience was with another Tokyo Diner’s Seaweed Salad ($3.25) was convincing in placing the order. It took no convincing to find our table raving over this heady sesame oil dressed seaweed. Another excellent appetizer was Gyoza ($3.95), or Japanese-style dumplings stuffed with shrimp, steaming hot and flavorful served with a soy-based dipping sauce. Originally a Chinese dish, we came to understand why it has become so popular in Japan.
The selections of sushi at Tokyo Diner are massive. Just from the Sushi ala Carte selections, you could choose from over a hundred different sushi, sashimi, maki and temaki servings ($2.00 - $6.50). And, then there are sushi appetizers ($6.00 - $8.95), sushi rolls ($2.00 - $4.75), special rolls ($4.95 - $8.95), sushi entrees ($11.00 - $35.00 for two), and combination platters ($17.95 - $35.00 for two). Just stay focused and you will not get overwhelmed.
Mixing and matching maki rolls is always fun with a group. These rolls that consist of fish or vegetables rolled with rice and nori, then cut into a number of slices are perfect for sharing. The group-pleasing, ever-popular California Roll ($3.75) was chosen from the Sushi Roll list, and the Spider Roll ($5.25) was chosen from the Special Roll list.
We were preparing to eat our rolls, when we discovered there were no individual saucers with which to mix the wasabi paste with soy sauce … we had to ask. After the bowls arrived, we were able to enjoy the flavors of crab stick, avocado and cucumber, gracing the California Roll, with the enhancement of plunging the pieces of maki in our soy mixture.
The Spider Roll arrived with its artful presentation. The legs of a fried softshell crab form random spikes that stick out from the end pieces of the roll. Not getting enough of the spider roll, one member of our party ended up ordering another one to sustain the enjoyment of the soft shell crab, fish roe, cucumber, and spicy sauce.
A couple of the rolls (and entrées) are served with the chef’s special sauce. When asked of our waitress what the special sauce consisted of, she meekly explained that, “It is special; I can not explain it.”
From the Sushi ala Carte selections, three (3) Hamachi Yellowtail sashimi pieces ($5.25) came out pure, fresh, and delicate. Try Unagi smoked eel ($4.50) as a hand-rolled cone style temaki ($4.25) or Spicy Squid ($3.75) topped hand-shaped, vinegared, glutenous rice.
Are you ready for dinner? And if you have had too much of a good thing up to this point — why not just share a dinner? But, make sure you get extra plates … we had to ask. When the plates arrived, they were dirty … so we had to ask … for clean plates!
Shrimp, Tuna and Scallop Hibachi ($21.95), Steak, Chicken, Shrimp Hibachi ($19.95), Steak and Chicken Hibachi ($15.95). They are all pretty much homogeneous. We didn’t need the show, though, to enjoy our grilled meat, seafood, and vegetable hibachi combos in the tatami room. Hibachi dinners are served with the aforementioned onion soup, a side salad of iceberg lettuce with thinly shredded cucumbers, white rice, and ginger and mustard sauces on the side.
After all of this devouring, and soon to be the last ones to leave, we just wanted our check. Guess what … we had to ask.
NOTE: Chinese selections are found on the Tokyo Diner menu but not currently offered because they no longer employ a Chinese chef. If the owners can find a good Chinese chef, the Chinese dishes will return.
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