My happy childhood memories of eating dinner at Ukai with friends, crowded around tables while indulging in classic hibachi entrees, have been CRUSHED! Â
I made reservations a week in advance at the Okemos location, and when our party arrived, they said no reservations had been made (lie). Â Way to drop the ball, person who answered the phone and said the reservation had been confirmed. Â If Ukai can't get something so simple right, what else are they messing up on? Â Makes my imagination wander - do they wash their hands after using the restroom? Â Taking a reservation is so simple - as simple as washing your hands!! Â ..ugh.
Second complaint is that the woman I spoke to after we arrived and were told no accommodations could be made for our party was not at all apologetic for the screw-up. Â I'm pretty levelheaded, or so it may seem to an onlooker, but I lost my cool after realizing how hard I tried to give them business (support local!) and they really couldn't care less. Â
After freaking my freak, we headed to Troppo and had an amazing dinner - and dropped some serious cash. Â Everything worked out better than expected in the end (wine and steak/salmon? Â Yes, please!), no thanks to Ukai. Â
We'll head straight to Troppo during our next group outing!
This restaurant is under the same ownership as the Ukai incarnation on Lansing's west side and AI Fusion. It's my least favorite of the three, but since it's still PRETTY DARN GOOD, it's hard to feel like that means much!
I've never done the hibachi at this location, so this is a sushi-only review. If you don't want hibachi, make sure you tell the host as soon as you get in - they almost always lead you directly to the hibachi stations without asking. This has caused me to do a slightly awkward backwards conga-line more than once.
The emphasis here is definitely on the hibachi side, but there's a small bar area and a separate room for people who don't want dinner and a show. The small spaces make the atmosphere intimate, but unfortunately it can get a little crowded/noisy when busy. When it's not busy, it's a great, comfortable place to take a friend for a leisurely meal and some good conversation.
The rolls are EXCELLENT. The sauces are great and used sparingly enough that the flavor of the fish and veggies comes through, the textures are divine, and everything is beautifully presented. The menu is nice and descriptive too, with pictures of some of the the specialty rolls to tempt those of us from Clan Indecisive over to the expensive side of the page.
Normally I just LOVE my Ukai, and if I could kidnap Ukai and bring it to Columbus I would. HOWEVER, this last visit was less than to be desired.
So this last time in we got a new guy cooking food. They've more or less had the same crew for a while, so it was odd to see someone new, and as young as he was.
The meat was as expected, veggies as well. The only real bad part about the meal was the rice, and that's honestly one of my favorites about this place. He cooked the rice a bit long on the grille and didn't use by FAR enough sauce on them. The result was very dry, and bland rice. I also ordered a double order of the rice as I do so enjoy it, and received just a little more than the better half did. Bit of a gip this visit.
THE SUSHI IS AMMMMMMMMMMAZING. Dear lord it just melts in your mouth, like a sushi flavored hard candy. I have yet to find anything better  that what I've had here.
Went during the week.
It was very slow and we got our own grill and chef.
He was very good at what he does. Great show!
The food was also very good and not pricey as many similar restaurants are.
I had the strip steak which the chef sliced and dices just like I like.
Not a crumb left on my plate.
My coworkers enjoyed their dishes as well.
I had a couple pieces of nigiri and it looked and smelled fresh and tasted great.
I hope to return again before I leave Lansing.
The service was excellent as well. Friendly and attentive without being overbearing.
Good and entertaining setting. Â Special place to mix it up a bit from the same ole same ole eatng out experience, especially if you've never been to a Japanese Steak House. Â Cool for kids too. Â Just remember to warn them about the large explosion like ball of fire and scoot the back a bit or they may get scared.
Review Source:This is a fun restaurant with pretty good food. Â I love the Ukai roll and the caterpillar roll and my family usually gets beef, chicken and seafood in addition to that. Â The chefs put on a good show, which definitely passes the time while the food is being prepared. Â
I've had the beef, shrimp and lobster and it's all pretty good. Â The beef is fairly tender, although not melt-in-your-mouth tender. Â I'll eat lobster under almost any condition, although I'd rather have it prepared the usual way instead of on the grill. Â It's still tasty though.
If you come to Ukai for the hibachi, know that it's more about the show than it is about the food. Maybe I should have expected that, but I'd like to think you can get both. That said, our particular chef did have a nice set of hibachi grill tricks up his sleeve (and in his hat) and it made the experience enjoyable.
The food itself is all right. When I went, I ordered the sukiyaki dinner and my dining companion got the Ukai special (steak and shrimp). The shrimp appetizer that's a part of all the dinners will get you less than a handful of very small shrimp, so if you want actual shrimp, you should get it as part of your combo. I would also highly recommend springing the extra couple of bucks for the fried rice instead of white rice, though I have to say it bothers me that it's an extra cost and not included. Overall, the food's a little pricey for not being anything special in terms of either taste or quality, but the entertainment will put you in good spirits. Oh, and the actual good spirits (mmm hot sake) don't hurt, either.
Final verdict: I might come back if I were entertaining guests in East Lansing or if I decided to try the sushi bar, but the one-time visit was otherwise adequate.
I love Japanese steakhouses, and was excited to visit Ukai in Okemos. Â I can only give 3 stars to Ukai because of the experience with our chef.
He seemed a bit old and tired. Â I'm used to having an energetic person at the grill, but this guy didn't bring it. Â He didn't bring much showmanship to the grill, and was slow cooking our food. Â I usually like to eat my meal after all items have been placed on my plate (rice, meat, and vegetables). Â However, he prepared the rice, and then it seemed about 5 minutes later we got our meat, and then 5 minutes later we got our vegetables. Â By the time my plate was full, my meat was only warm to cold. Â This has not been my experiences at other Japanese steakhouses.
That being said - even my cold food was pretty tasty. Â If it could have been served up a bit warmer, I would have no problem giving this place 4 stars.
$17 a plate seems pretty reasonable for this sort of restaurant, especially since it includes soup, salad, the entree (hibachi steak), and a small cup of ice cream for desert.
I'd definitely go again, as I think this one visit was probably a fluke.
My absolute first experience with nigiri was here at the Ukai, and I have to admit; it has ruined me for pretty much any other sushi restaurant with the exception of Tokyo in Beaverton, OR. Â The chef, an extremely amiable fellow, was very kind in helping me during my neophyte days to cobble together a solid starter plate of maguro, sake, ebi (I would not discover the immense joys of ama ebi until years later) and saba. Â
Then, after an extremely impressive display of hibachi acrobatics that have yet to be rivaled anywhere else (yes, Benihana included) I had one Shogun Special in front of me that consisted of the most melt-in-your-mouth Fillet Mignon and succulent lobster I have ever had the honor and privilege to place lovingly into my mouth, let alone to completely consume!
My days at MSU were pretty much limited to the Ukai...I am only half-ashamed to admit that a large portion of my grant money went in to eating here, so amazing was the experience. Â To top it all off, the waitresses are some of the nicest and most attentive in the discipline - never once did I wish that my drink were refreshed, or that I had another sushi menu - everything was spot on. Â
No whimsy or amusing anecdotes, just the cold hard facts: the Ukai is THE force to be reckoned with in the world of hibachi. Â I cannot possibly offer enough words of praise for this place.
I'm going to compare this place with Benihana because its basically the same thing. Â Overall this place is on par with benihana. Â Actually, our chef was better than most benihana chefs i've had! Â The food tasted decent and my girlfriend said her roll was good (I passed on the bait). Â A big plus in comparison with bh was this place was a bit cheaper!
Review Source:Arrived a bit late on a saturday night, luckily it was not, ummm, too busy. Correction there were only 2 other tables with some people at them.
Our party of 4 sat at our own table to enjoy hibatchi style cooking (cooking LIVE).
The suchi we ordered was fresh & yummy so it's safe to go raw here ;) I could have done without the steak I ordered b.c it was a little hard but the chicken & veggies were good. Â The price was OK for the experience - oh yeah our chef was actually Asian... it just adds to the 'experience' =)
Service isn't great here, so I would suggest sitting at the sushi bar itself. Plus, it's always way too warm in here.
But the food is pretty good; overall, there isn't much on the menu that isn't good. They make really good rolls here, if that's your thing.
The larger side of the restaurant is your typical Benihana experience, if you remember the '70s. It's not bad, but it also sometimes depends on your table company. Avoid sitting near kids here!
This review is for the Sushi Bar only. See my previous awesome review for the Hibatchi Restaurant :) Since I have a burning desire to try every sushi place in the lansing area, I coasted in here the other day. The place is small, but the service was good and the sushi chef was well trained. First plus in my book... they serve Kirin beer. My fav Japanese beer. Good selection of sushi, same-ish menu that AI Fushion has since they are owned by the same people. The basic rolls were good. The crab salad roll had tons of filling. The TNT roll was as always, very good. I will move this place into the top 5 in my sushi list for sure. No glamour in the setting here, but good food + good service always wins in my book.
Review Source:Ahhhhh Ukai...the total Japanese steakhouse experience.
This has been a standard for many years but I just went recently and it was delectable as always!!
We started in the Sushi bar where they have been known to serve the freshest and more creative sushi around, but in the wake of more and more sushi places popping up, Ukai has certainly stepped up to the sushi plate and hit a homerun. They have all the standard pieces, rolls etc but have recently added some newer and kick-assier (yes its a word) selections. Tasty and beautiful to look at. I recommend the "Buffalo Roll" It will Spice up your life.
We then moved to the Teppanaki table to eat a finely flavored and cooked meal. I went with the filet which is amazing and tender and the vegetables and sauces that accompany it are uniquely impressive.
The Chefs (we got a veteran of Teppanaki  cooking for us that night luckily) are well trained and experienced in the full monty of flips, slices and moves indeed worthy of applause and gratuity.
Of course they have a full bar to fill in the cracks, and I mean cracks there being no shortage of portion. And call me old fashioned but I always enjoy a Cold Sopporo, a Mai Tai or the ever favorite Hot Sake.
Make reservations on the weekends and bring a large group, the modest sized family, or that special someone to the communal table. (Or of course bring the "I hope he/she will be the special someone" to Ukai, it will probably help your chances..and if they dont like it, you will know they arent a keeper)
So head to Ukai if at least just for the Halibut..oooohhh noooo I didnt just say that did I???
Konichiwa
*UPDATE*
I went to Ukai recently and I have to say they've made some very good changes. Â They have added very good visual sushi menu which is useful for picking out what roll you want. Â Also I think their sushi chef has GREATLY improved. Â Everyone's rolls (no matter what kind they were) were uniform and the perfect size to be eaten in one bite, though they still were a bit loose. Â
This is probably one of my favorite sushi place in the Lansing area, but their sushi pales in comparison to the sushi in Detroit, Ann Arbor, or Brighton. Â
___________________
Original Review:
Like many Japanese Steakhouses you come for the hibachi and not the Sushi. Â The hibachi has always been good and the waitstaff friendly. Â The sushi tends to lean towards the americanized fried foods or mayo covered rolls. Â They also tend to be very large so you can't eat them in one bite. Â Â Every roll I had was so loose that when I attempted to eat the palm sized pieces they fell apart.
That said I've always enjoyed the food I've gotten here (other than trying to figure out how to eat sushi pieces that are the size of my palm). Â Everything has seemed fresh and because they have "cooked" food it is great place to go if only some people in the group like sushi. Â
If you have a choice between Ukai and the Katana (in Royal Oak, MI) I'd choose the Katana every time, but if you are in the Okemos area this is one of the best places to eat.
I've only been here twice, but I think I'll make it my favorite "take me out" spot. Â My 6 year old son loves it -- I think it's the whole "fire on the table" factor. Â The chicken teriyaki is the best I've had since I lived in Cleveland. Â Steak, shrimp & lobster is pretty good too, although I will recommend getting an extra side order of shrimp, because you will only get 3 pieces with the combinations. Even the starter soup & salad is good and they don't keep you waiting for it for too long, so it's okay if you've gone all day with out eating in preparation.
Service while not outstanding is still simply wonderful, as are the uniforms and decorations. Â The chefs do some tricks but not many compared to other Japanese restaurants - or so I've heard. Â The meals are not too high priced and they could probably stand to expand the restaurant to seat more people and enlarge the restroom, but food wise I have nothing to complain about. Â Drinks are right on the money too, though I haven't had the nerve to try the Sake yet (or the sushi bar). Â There really isn't a dress code, dress up or down and you'll still feel comfortable.
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