Kabuki Steak & Sushi: a good option for dinner and a show
by Greg | February 26, 2009 | 14 Comments
(3.75 with 4 votes) 
Loading ...Kabuki Steak & Sushi is located at 3300 S. Broadway in Edmond (map). They are open from 11 to 2 and 5 to 10 Monday through Friday (until 11 on Friday). Saturdays they are open from 12 to 11 and Sundays 12 to 10. You can reach them by phone at 405.359.5881.
If you asked me my three favorite foods, in no particular order, two of the three would be satisfied right there in the title of Kabuki Steak & Sushi. I am of the belief that, while some steaks and some sushi are far superior to others, a decent steak and some decent sushi are better than 90 percent of what you’ll get elsewhere.
I visited Kabuki on a Sunday night and found the wait for a teppanyaki table — those big grill tables where they put on a show — to be nil. In fact, had my brother and his wife been there 5 minutes earlier, I think we would have walked right in and sat right down.
The teppanyaki table is a favorite for almost anybody, but I liken it to seeing a great movie. The first time I watched “Casablanca,” I was enthralled. I couldn’t wait to see it again. The second time, it was still good, though a little of the luster had faded. If I saw it again within a month or even a year, I might get bored.
Well, teppanyaki tables are fun the first time, kind of fun the second time, but if you don’t give it a rest for a while — maybe a year or so — the show gets boring. No offense to the chef, who does things with knives and forks I only wish I could muster, but it’s old hat. Spinning egg? Check. Whirling spatula? Check. Onion volcano? Check.
This is a great treat for a kid and for anybody who hasn’t been to a Japanese steakhouse before, but if you’re more interested in food, I’d find a table that doesn’t double as a grill. That said, the chef we had at Kabuki is one of the few who can do a medium-rare steak teppanyaki style. The chicken was flavorful. The shrimp were a bit overdone, but still delicious. My wife got the fried rice and raved about it.
There are a few point deductions for the salad, however. I know it’s traditional to serve wet iceberg lettuce with that pink / orange dressing, but I don’t know a person who enjoys it. I really wish they had taken the time to do something different, even if that’s a standard romaine mix.
Soup, salad, rice and your entree are one price on the teppanyaki. My wife and I opted for the Dinner for Two ($42) which included steak, shrimp and chicken. If you want to upgrade your white rice to fried rice, it costs an additional $2.95. We both ate well for the price.
The cheapest you can go on the grill is $13.95 for the teppanyaki chicken. For the food and the show, that’s a decent price.
The sushi was good, though there was a language problem with one waitress, who didn’t take down my sister-in-law’s nigiri order. I got the Sunset Roll ($9) which was filled with fried salmon, crab and cucumber. Pretty tasty and a nice, big roll. My brother got the Hot Night Roll ($12) filled with spicy tuna and salmon, topped with a spicy sauce and spicy crab meat. For all that spicy, it didn’t seem all that hot (then again, I willingly ate the Lucifer’s Folly roll at Buddha Tao, so I’m clinically insane). If anything, the Hot Night Roll looked like the love child of sushi and an enchilada plate.
Basically, the sushi was OK, but didn’t blow me away. I didn’t try any sashimi, so I can’t tell you where that falls on the sliding scale of fish.
What I will say is that Kabuki is a well-appointed restaurant with good teppenyaki and a pretty nice selection of sushi. It’s similar to Sumo, which is just up the road, but seems a little more inviting. If you’re looking for dinner and a show, this is my recommendation. If all you want is sushi, this isn’t a bad choice, but there are lots of options in the area to get the same or better.
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March 3rd, 2009 at 2:05 am
Thanks! Sounds great and I can’t wait to try it out. However, I have to say that the salad with ginger dressing is one of my favorite parts of any teppanyaki dining experience. Some places even sell the dressing, which is awesome. I hope it never goes away!
April 29th, 2009 at 7:30 am
Agreed. I wanted this place to be much better than it actually was.
July 9th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
I was at Advances in Dentistry having a tooth fixed and I overheard Dr. Rhodes say this was a great place. I asked him about it and he gave me some menu suggestions. It was really good, they have some of the best Sushi.
July 12th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Why bother with this place when there are so many other north side restaurants to choose from?
They really do take many shortcuts at Kabuki.
The server will try their best to prevent the customer from speaking to the owner or manager so good luck trying to get decent customer service.
July 29th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
We didn’t do the grill but opted for a table instead.
I usually love the ginger salad dressing but their dressing was mayo based which I didn’t care for.
I had the bento box which was fun, cheap and wide variety of food. The tempura was great-light tasting and not greasy. Okay as light as fried food can taste.
October 8th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
I love this restaurant. I’ve been here several times and each time I’ve been the food, service, and atmosphere are all excellent. The steak in the bento box is some of the best I’ve had in a long time and their sushi rolls are also great (try the spicey Cowboy for a nice kick). And I really can’t say enough about the service. Servers are always friendly and eager to offer suggestions if you ask about the menu. I tell everyone who’s looking for some great food about this place, would recommend to anyone in an instant!
November 10th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Our party tried Kabuki in Edmond, OK last night for the second time. The first time was right after it opened and while the food and prices were good, the service was horrible. Okay – I gave it a second chance and had the same problem. We ate on the table side, and I believe our waitress was also our cook. Our orders came out individually at different times and we finally cancelled an order as everyone else was finished eating and it hadn’t arrived yet. We will not return for a third try.
November 15th, 2009 at 2:10 am
BAD business practices! Better Business Bureau rating is an F! Poor management, rude waitresses, mediocre sushi for high prices.
My husband and I used to eat at Kabuki at least once a month and have spent several hundreds of dollars there. However, we noticed the food’s quality began to take a dive in spring 2009. They raised prices for sushi while also using smaller portions of fish in their rolls. We started eating there less often, because the quality was getting worse while the prices were rising.
We decided to go there again a few nights ago and see if things had improved. When our four sushi rolls came out, we were sad to see how badly two rolls were made. We had ordered the Red Snapper roll, which is our favorite, but it had very little fish and was coated with thick tempura. I literally choked to swallow my first bite. We decided to send the two deep-fried rolls back. Our waiter apologized and said he would take the charges for both rolls off the bill. We were happy with how he handled the situation and continued to eat the two remaining rolls, which were both good quality.
Ten minutes later the restaurant’s manager came over and said she refused to take both rolls off the bill. She said, “You ordered the rolls, and we can’t sell them to anyone else, so you have to pay for them.” Though I tried to explain that we’d eaten at Kabuki many times–and brought our friends and family there as well–the manager was rude and adamant that we had to pay for the sushi we sent back. It didn’t matter that our waiter had kindly pledged to take both rolls off our bill.
As we discussed the situation with the manager, a tall college-aged waitress walked by and called in a loud voice: “If you don’t like it, then don’t come eat here again. God, I hate people like you.” The waitress was not involved in the situation, yet she felt the need to make a scene in front of other customers. This just further demonstrates the lack of professionalism at Kabuki.
My husband and I had no cash or check, so we had to pay the entire bill with our credit card. It would have been wrong to skip on the bill, no matter how unjust the manager was. The staff ignored us and did not come to collect our credit card, so we had to walk to the counter. When we did, the manager criticized us for not leaving the waiter a tip. I stated that she should take the extra money she charged us and pay the waiter, who was a good man.
We went to a dinner party not long after this experience. Several people told us that they, too, had bad experiences with Kabuki. We also discovered that the restaurant’s Better Business Bureau rating is an F, due in part to previous customer complaints that were not resolved by the restaurant.
The sushi is not worth the price. The poor management, poor quality in food, inflated prices, and rude individuals make this a terrible place to eat! Don’t waste your hard-earned cash here!
November 15th, 2009 at 7:52 am
Wow! I haven’t been there in a while, but the recent reviews look awful. Maybe it’s time for a re-review. Thanks for your comments!
November 24th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Agreed. This restuarant was TERRIBLE! I like to give a place two chances, and both times were failures. The first was the teppanyaki, which was okay, but really, you need to go to Yamato’s if that’s what you’re into. The sushi (on the second go around) was just awful. Sushi is my favorite food, but I’d rather eat a burger than go here again, even if I’m NOT paying.
February 1st, 2010 at 9:21 pm
I had a great experince at Kabuki lastnight for both me and my wife. This place is very inviting and the food was great. Our serivce was very good and even the manager came by to ask how our experince was with them. Wow that dosent happen at other places we got to and we spend a few dollars when we go out!I would recommend this place to anyone who loves fresh seafood!
April 7th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
this place was great! tried them last night they have really inproved and our faster and friendlier!
October 14th, 2010 at 8:08 pm
Okay… so I was reading these reviews… and I just wanted to say a few things.
I worked at Kabuki when it first opened… and things were a bit hectic. Some of the servers that were hired weren’t trained properly, and they didn’t feel like putting forth any effort…
One policy we have, is that after we take out 10% of our tips for the kitchen, we split the rest with the chefs, and then all the servers split the remainder evenly. People don’t fully realize this, and they tip the hibachi chefs on the side, and then leave 10% for the server. The server then has to give away 6% of that tip.
I quit because it was obvious that my service, tips, and efforts far surpassed those I was sharing my hard-earned money with.
I recently started working there again. Since I’ve been back, we have made a LOT of changes.
1) Recent change in management. Thanh (pronounced “Tawn”) is the new restaurant manager. He is an amazing, personable character… he also used to be a hibachi chef at Kabuki.
– Also, the general managers drive in from Dallas on the weekends.
2) I’ve worked in multiple fine dining restaurants, and since I started working again; I have been working on educating the other servers as well as creating a better environment overall for the restaurant and the patrons.
3) The sushi has stepped its game up magnificently. In the past 2 weeks alone, I can quote 4 different groups/couples saying it is some of the best sushi they have ever had. One couple said it was the best sushi they’ve had in the US. The sushi chef Chris is also an amazing, stand up character.
4) The MaYO based ginger dressing was also changed over the past month. The first dressing was kind of chunky and ‘awkward’ for lack of a better word. The second dressing was so ranchy/mayo tasting that it was delicious, but tasted so unauthentic.
– Our revamped ginger dressing is now more authentic. It no longer has the mayo/ranch flavor. It is more like the first attempt, and more authentic; and a better recipe.
– Some people have said they really miss the ranchy ginger dressing, but every single one of them complemented the new dressing.
5) To the guy who said “how can you run a food business with only one waiter” ?
– Okay, to an extent I can agree with you and sympathize with that. However, I have worked multiple dinners by myself without messing up once or getting a single complaint or feeling that I left a table lacking in service.
6) To the person regarding the tall college aged waitress with a big mouth. She doesn’t work here anymore. Neither does that manager who tried to make you pay for the rolls you did not like.
To everyone who had an unpleasent experience at Kabuki… I ask that you come try us again. I ask that you give me, ADAM, a chance to be your server, if I’m available. I also will openly accept and actually would prefer for your blunt, honest opinions or critiques if you do come in.
We are working hard to create a more customer driven environment. We are working hard to grasp the full potential of the restaurant. And I’m glad to be a part of it.
October 15th, 2010 at 11:03 am
Adam, thanks so much for taking the time to share all of this. It is great to see there are some positive things happening and I hope that your comment will inspire others to give Kabuki another shot and see what’s new. Thanks for the kindness and honesty in your reply.
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