Musashi Japanese Steakhouse

Not really what I had expected considering all the rav reviews.  For starters, the teppanyaki area was a bit dingy, especially compared to Benihana.  One would expect the inside of the restaurant to be a bit more nice looking, considering the price of the meals and the fact that they serve the holy grail of steaks–Kobe beef.  In fact, it was the Kobe beef that saved it from a 2-star rating.  Although the chef’s, as well as the owner’s, show was more entertaining and more daring (They actually play with fire!) than those at Benihana, their cooking was just the same.  Gone are the days when the chefs (especially the Japanese ones) would serve you a sizzling meal cooked on a high-heated iron grill!

Came here with my family on our trip to Vegas. The food was actually pretty good, but I give it one star less because our waiter didn’t seem to know very much about the things on the menu. He had to keep leaving us to ask the chef in the back.

The different kinds of rolls were unique & creative. I tried one with a green soy wrap with salmon, hamachi, & imitation crab. It was pretty good. I wish these places used real crab in their rolls. I also tried a handroll which had uni, unagi, cream cheese, & masago inside. That was different, but I think the cream cheese takes away the taste from the uni. The beef takaki they used thick slices of beef & I thought it was a little overdone. I’m used to thin peices of raw beef.

My parents had the sukiyaki which they seemed to like.

The prices were very reasonable. I would probably come back again if it was convenient (not very cuz it’s off the strip).

One general rule for restaurants should be: Don’t place a collection of Yankee Candles on your hostess stand. From the moment we entered, all I could smell and taste was an overpowering potpourri that reminded me of the cheapest commercial grade bathroom cleaner. As we were leaving, I located the culprit, 2 giant Yankee Candles blazing away. I am not sure why the candles were necessary, but the scent severely undermined my dining experience.

I thought the interior was shabby. I can’t explain it, perhaps it all goes back to the scent, but I just got a bad vibe from the surroundings. I requested a wine list, and it had stains. All the little details just added up to a less than amazing impression.

As for the food, I think the main attraction here is the “Kobe,” but I was not in the mood for meat, so I opted for the vegetarian entree, which was surprisingly $2 more than the chicken. It did include tofu, a surprising find. I am sure that the food differs greatly from chef to chef, but everything was overseasoned with white pepper. I can handle a small dash of white pepper, but in large quantities, I do not care for the taste. Every item had a heavy dousing of white pepper, so I did not love anything. The chef did create a series of special sauces with sesame seeds, and they were pretty tasty, but the white pepper flavor was there too!

Our chef was nice, but I am not a fan of sexual innuendos while dining. Call me a prude! Our chef only made the occasional innuendo, but one was directed at me… gross! And, I saw the chef at the adjacent table shape the fried rice into a giant penis and sprinkle “hair” on top. This might be hilarious for some people, but I just think it is odd. Yeah, I am that girl that doesn’t appreciate penis jokes. However, I accept that some people find them clever.

This is a generous 3 stars simply because my husband enjoyed his salmon, and our waiter was nice. He brought me a new glass of wine when I thought the first one was spoiled. Plus, the white pepper thing may be a personal preference. There is also the possibility that the sushi is good, and they are open until 4am, which is worth at least one star.

Went here about a month ago for my cousin’s birthday.  I didn’t eat anything, so this isn’t a full review.  I ordered a lychee saketini.  I don’t like sake, but I love lychees.  It was a little sweet but enjoyable.  Based on the drink and what I saw of other people’s dishes, I give this place 3 stars.  I’ll have to update if I ever actually eat here.  However, with so many great sushi places around Vegas, that’s probably not likely.

Based on Yelp ratings, “Meh I’ve experienced better,” fits this place to a T.  It gets an extra star for it’s service.

Note, this is not the tapenyaki part of the restaurant, but rather the other side…

Meager portions in the agedashi tofu, the Hamachi Kama, was fishy.
The filet mignon was nothing to write home about to be frank about it.

But I will say the servers were very friendly and prompt.

My girlfriend and I went here a couple of months ago for dinner. I really wanted to like this place because it isn’t Benihana and I thought I would get a great experience from an independent tepanyaki place.
Also, I saw this place on the Travel Channel and thought it would be a good idea to give it a try.

Our chef was the owner, (the one they showed on the Travel Channel episode) who I have to say was very entertaining with his wit and tricks, BUT the food was not that great.

The main issue I had was that the majority of the food was over cooked. The shrimp that he made look like little bunnies, sat on the grill for way too long and actually started to darken and toughen up.

The fried rice had hard pieces in it because it sat on the grill too long as well.
We both ordered the filet for our entrees and it was overcooked from how we requested it.

I was pleased that he offered a variety of sauces but that didn’t take away from the over cooking of the main dishes.

Aside from the chef being more entertaining, I would have been happy to have gone to a Benihana instead. I don’t know if this was a fluke or not and I may give this place another chance but based on my one experience, I would be hard pressed to not go somewhere else.

The food was good, quail eggs wrapped in bacon and the Shaggy Dog roll are what I had. The service could be WAY better. Basically if you aren’t shelling out cash for teppanyaki they take a little bit longer to pay attention to you.

slightly overrated.

three friends from San Francisco go in search of the 3rd best steak restaurant in the country (according to the Travel Channel’s “Food Paradise.”) so how did Musashi stand up?

the good — the food. a big reason to go to a teppanyaki restaurant is for the prized Kobe beef, right? unfortunately, our trio took a nasty hit at the blackjack tables earlier that day, and so we weren’t feeling as flexible with our spending. i decided to settle for the more affordable filet mignon and shrimp combination, the Hosokawa clan special,  which came with miso, salad, fried rice, and assorted veggies. the shrimp was ridiculously fresh and the accompanying sauces were outstanding. the filet? i felt it was more medium than medium rare, but then again you aren’t dealing with massive slices of red porterhouse you would get at a Texas-style beefhouse. the wasabi-mustard sauce was THE standout and none of us were severely burned from the “flaming onion volcano.” all in all, the food was good. not great, not outstanding, but good.

the ok — the service. we sat down for drinks in their lounge and asked about sake and beer selections for the group. our host/server was a little elusive in their answer, until we asked about house favorites to which the reply was: “well, i don’t really like sake or beer. i only drink hard liquor.” my immediate thoughts were: “come on. at least TRY and humor us or ask someone else in the joint for their opinion. not suitable.” ok, so maybe she was having an off night and it didn’t really reflect the service from the rest of the staff. but in the end, our sake/beer questions remained unanswered by the restaurant. thank god for iPhones.

the really not-so-good — the wait. i normally attribute abnormally lengthy waits as anomalies, but this one bordered on the absurd and essentially killed the experience. we scheduled 8:00pm reservations (after being denied a 7:30pm and an 8:30pm timeslot) and arrived around 7:58pm. after the hostess told us it would be about a 30 minute delay for the chef to finish up with another group, we were ushered in to the lounge (see “the ok”) where we proceeded to wait about 45 minutes. after drinks, we were escorted to the grill where i was under the impression things would be heating up. alas, i hovered my hand over the grill only to find it ice-cold. after about a 15 minute wait we were informed that the chef needed 6 more people to join us before he could start cooking and the next party was due to arrive at 9:30pm. it was around 9:45pm before our grill was finally fired up. sure, the staff was genuinely polite through our wait, but that didn’t help the fact that i had been running solely on an Encore Cafe Caesar salad and about five Sapporos since 1pm.

the verdict: it didn’t excatly bust our budget and the food was good, but the collective feeling of our party (led by yours truly) was that Musashi is a slightly overhyped experience. maybe next time i’ll try the Kobe beef.

I’ve been here three times and every time the place has been empty and we can never figure out why.  We asked and apparently they are open really late and cater to the casino crowd getting off at midnight.

Anyways the first two times were excellent – unlike the other reviewers we didn’t do teppenyaki and instead sat in the adjacent dining room.  They have a full fare menu from steaks to izakaya.   We ordered numerous dishes and almost everything was delicious.  This comes at a price of 30-50 a person keep in mind so it better be tasty.

The third time we went we brought some family and the service was really bad – which is really crazy since the waitress even knew someone in our party.  It is a massive pet peeve of mine when service is poor and the restaurant is straight up empty.  This put a damper on the night, since a dish or two had to go back and it got painful.  *sigh*.  It woulda been 4 stars.  Why can’t we find somewhere as good as Ichiza without a 45 minute wait!

Ok so the food was good but the service was horrible!!! They were understaffed and took for ever to even come over and take Down our drinks. The steak was a ripe off., their rolls and sashimi were delicious  but nothing different or special, Probably won’t be back :/    I was told that waiting for the table grill was better than their kitchen but was a 2 hour wait