Do you Ichiban?

While up in the New York last week, my sister and her family, my parents and Dominic and I had a wonderful hibachi dinner at Ichiban Japanese Steak House in Liverpool.

Do had reserved us a hibachi table so we could see the live-action of Japanese cooking. We had a great hibachi cook -- he was friendly, professional and quite personable. And he made a mean fried rice! Seriously. The fried rice was the best I've ever had. It even beats the fried rice from the Egg Roll House in Columbia, SC (and that is saying something).

I ordered the steak and scallops. I upgraded to filet mignon for an extra dollar; well worth it. SO good. We got so much food. Soup (not miso but noodle which is weird for Japanese but it was tasty), salad, shrimp, hibachi vegetables, your entree, and tea. We also ordered a tuna roll for an appetizer -- hello Yum! So good. Did I already say that?

Additionally, Dominic is allergic to shellfish which I let them know upfront. Not only did they write it and highlight it on the order sheet, but the waitress asked about it. They cooked his chicken and rice in a separate part of the kitchen to eliminate cross-contamination. That is something that I seriously worry about in Asian restaurants because of the predominance of seafood. No issues whatsoever. I was thrilled.

Our chef took to Dominic and tried to get him involved in the cooking. The fire scared Dominic a bit so the chef kept trying tricks. This one involved hitting a lemon on the spatula and catching it in his hat. Too funny. He was lots of fun.

Dominic even tried the chopsticks. The waitress gave him a chopstick helper so he could actually use them. He did great with the chicken and the rice.

All in all, it was a very good meal. Good company, good food, good experience. If you ever get to Syracuse, New York try Ichiban. It's worth the trip.