Edogawa Teppanyaki

With its highly Harajuku-friendly theme, we thought we’d get a decent Japanese meal here. How wrong we were. While the menu had a good variety, with many options for teppanyaki, sushi and sashimi—as well as tempura a la cartes and sets, the actual meal was poorly executed. Only the teppanyaki codfish ($18.80) was good—crispy on the outside and flaky on the inside. Our main course, the eel don ($16.80), greeted our nostrils with a nasty, overpoweringly fishy smell before the dish even landed on our table. We hazarded a spoonful, and were not surprised to discover that it was ladled all over with teriyaki sauce, which seemed like a futile attempt to cover up the unpleasant smell. The dessert was, without exaggeration, unpalatable. Our konnyaku jelly ($5.50) consisted of miserable bits of green-colored (supposedly matcha-flavored) jelly soaked with mixed fruit and its accompanying sugar syrup straight from the can—rendering a totally slimy, distasteful concoction. Although the decor looked like a quaint Japanese teahouse and the service was passable, we won’t be back.