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Nijo Castle (Japanese cuisine) $$$$

9.17
JaT Rating

39888 Balentine Drive, Newark, 94560 (Directions)

510.657.NIJO

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Fancy Japanese restaurant located in Newark off 880.
Reviewer: Jason Total Reviews: 1005 Reviewed: 6/13/2004 Rating: 9.5 My photo gallery	Nijo Castle celebrates 100th with jatbar!! Specializing in Teppan dining and emptying your wallets. Average plates will run you 30-50 a person but each plate comes with a pyrotechno show. The dinner experience at Nijo Castle will be remembered for awhile. If you've never experienced a Teppan Grill, you sit in front of a steel grill and watch the chefs slice, dice, and cook your meal right in front of your very eyes. DID I MENTION FIRE!!! Yes, every dining experience should have fire involved. The Volcano and Firewall trick was amazing. You have to see the firewall picture, it was sooo big that my wide angled lens could not even capture the 3-4 foot flame. Im astonished the fire alarms didnt go off. Nijo Castle food is about a 9...I mean whenever you mix seafood with garlic butter, oil, salt, pepper, and more butter, you cant go wrong. I ordered the filet mignon (which melted in my mouth), scallops, shrimp, and dancing shrimp sushi roll. Thats a long list on my order but hell...this is a special occasion...its our 100th review. I ate to the point of almost sickness...I CONQUERED and left my leftovers. With excellent buttered seafood, chefs displaying precise cutlery skill, and FIRE FIRE FIRE, I'm pleased to present Nijo Caslte a 9.5 for a dining experience well done.

Reviewer: Terry Total Reviews: 735 Reviewed: 6/15/2004 Rating: 9.5 My photo gallery	For the Jatbar 100th review, we had to find someplace special, someplace that we knew would deliver. And sure enough that choice would have to be Nijo Castle in Newark. I have only been to the Teppan room here so can only comment on that experience. Its a highly classy place and the prices definitely reflect that. An entree in the Teppan room varies in price from about $22 up to $48. This is the kind of place to go for a special occasion when you want to spend the big bucks to impress. I ordered my usual, the Lobster entree with fried rice. The fried rice in the teppan room is a MUST try. It is my favorite fried rice EVER. Probably because they use lops of butter in it as well as fresh eggs. Then the guy makes the prawn appetizers. These things are huge and very tasty. The vegetables are also made on the grill in front of you. The vegetables are quite tasty and will be devoured by even those that don't like vegetables. (must be the butter) haha Then depending on the meat (steak, chicken, various seafood) your chef will make that next. Usually about this time, you'll be treated to all kinds of cutlery tricks and displays of amazing fire. (see pictures). Quite the experience! I have tried the sushi here as well. (California rolls). While it is quite good, I don't think its a must-have here. Save your appetite for the teppan food...

	RETURN VISIT for Terry! 2/23/2007 - 8.5 Rating: I have been here a couple times in the past year and I think they have dropped a bit. They still are really good, but their menu is not as large as it used to be. The teppan dinner doesn't give you as much food, but the food quality is still up there. It just feels a bit less special. I don't mind returning here, and would do so for any special occasion, its just not a place I can recommend someone drive across the bay to experience. There a lot of good places in the bay area (though few are better at Teppan) and Nijo has dropped a rung from the glory days.

Reviewer: warriors Total Reviews: 6 Reviewed: 10/8/2006 Rating: 9 My photo gallery	I pretty much have the same assessment as Jason and Terry. On a Saturday night, they had 5 chefs. Chef Jose was the most talkative one and displayed the most cutlery tricks. We were lucky that he came to our table.But if you want better and more tricks for the show, Benihana is a better place where the chefs would flip the shrimp shells into the top of their hats. An entree in the Teppan room from $16 and up. This is a very good place to go with a group of people. I suggest no less then 4 or they might make you share the same table with other small groups. I ordered SHOGUN with New York Steak. Even though I wanted it well done, it was still very tender and juicy. YES, the fried rice in the teppan room is a MUST try. And YES, he put a lot of butter :) I also order a Dragon roll. It's worth having. The sauce is pretty good. Price: $$$ Jatbar Style Rating: 9 My own rating: Food (1-5): 4 Service (1-3): 3 -- good show Price (1-2): 2 -- Worth every penny My Rating: 9


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