I accepted a position in a cool, entirely new (to me) industry! To mark this happy event, L and I went out to celebrate. I wanted to go somewhere fun and boisterous to unleash my glee with gay abandon. I immediately thought of OMO Teppan & Kitchen. For this post, let’s listen to “Worth It” by Fifth Harmony.
OMO specializes in teppanyaki, a cooking style involving a chef who cooks your food on the grill, along with some entertaining displays of fire and knife skills. In Calgary, there are three teppanyaki restaurants, Japanese Village, OMO Teppan and Kitchen and Tobe Teppanyaki Lounge. Japanese Village is the oldest, with a reputation for curt servers and being rushed to finish your meal. Tobe is the newest, located in Deerfoot City. OMO has been around for about five years and has over a thousand glowing Google reviews raving about the fun entertainment.
As we walked in, the most delicious smells wrapped around us. I was surprised that at 5:30 pm, the restaurant was already full of families. Robots zoomed in the background, bringing chefs meats and vegetables. Periodically, a recording of a birthday song would pop up in the background noise. While we sat and waited for our table, we watched a chef delight small kids with tricks and shouts of “party, party!”.
Our server Ari asked our table if we were celebrating a special occasion. I mentioned I accepted a new job. Another person was celebrating a birthday. The other four were a family, and even though they didn’t say so, it looked like they were meeting the daughter’s boyfriend for the first time.
We ordered a Sake Bomb ($9), Asahi ($9), Wagyu Gyoza 5 pcs ($10), Japanese Wagyu Sushi (2 pcs, $25), Brant Lake Wagyu Sushi (2 pcs, $12), New York Steak 6oz ($40) and Rib Eye 10 oz ($58). All the teppanyaki meals include a shrimp appetizer, soup, salad, grilled vegetables, rice and ice cream.
The Wagyu gyoza is worth ordering again. Be careful, as these dumplings are messy. Hot juices would squirt onto the table when I bit into the plump gyoza. The beef tasted rich and intensely flavoured. L noted the liberal amount of spicy chili oil in the meat filling.
The Brandt Lake wagyu nigiri was leaner and had a cleaner flavour profile than Japanese wagyu. Of the two, I prefer Japanese wagyu for its tender, silky texture and deeper flavour. Next time, I would opt for OMO’s number one-selling sushi, the Flying Dragon Roll ($23).
When Chef Kenny arrived at our table, I knew we were in for a treat. First, his sharp eyes cooly assessed our table, taking everything in. Next, he carefully stretched out his muscular, tattooed arms and kindly greeted everyone, customers and staff. Then, he started the show.
Chef Kenny exhibited impressive juggling skills with sharp objects and fire. He fired broccoli pieces into our mouths, flinging each piece with his spatula like a missile. Birthday Boy and his spouse caught it. What a power couple. Even though Chef Kenny had a great aim, both L and I missed; somehow, the broccoli bounced off my mouth. I told L we needed to practice our food-catching skills at home.
Watching Chef Kenny cook the rest of our food was a delight. Birthday Boy was so excited when Chef Kenny generously squirted his beef with a sauce he shouted in encouragement, “Yeahhhh! Yeahhhh!” Wow, he sure likes his sauce! The Father ordered fried rice, and it was neat to see Chef Kenny crack an egg and then toss it back and forth through the air like a hacky sack.
Chef Kenny nailed our food. The vegetables were hot and crunchy from the grill and well seasoned with fresh pepper. L doesn’t like mushrooms, and he even ate them. Part of the magical flavour of the food is the amount of garlic butter Chef Kenny used. He caught my expression when he put a huge chunk of butter on my steak; he reassured me and joked, “Don’t worry – it’s good cholesterol.”
My ribeye was rich and buttery in texture, a perfect medium rare. The New York is less moist and rich than ribeye, but it has a beefier flavour and more of a chew to it. I enjoyed the “magic sauce” side, which tasted like a yummy blend of sesame oil, soy, mustard and mayonnaise. I would get the ribeye and NY steak again, though I might try the filet mignon on my next visit.
Birthday Boy at our table got cake and a song. Ari asked me if I wanted a cake and apologetically informed me that they didn’t have a song to sing for a new job. Instead, Ari offered to take our picture to remember the night.
Throughout the evening, I observed all the staff working as a team to ensure customers were happy and entertained, particularly the children. We also had a genuinely good time and enjoyed the food. Hitting the Sauce gives OMO, Chef Kenny and Ari two phat thumbs up.
Hitting the Sauce 