Birthdays are always special, so we decided to try a new restaurant in O'fallon, Illinois to celebrate my husband's birthday. There were ten of us sitting around a Teppan Table at The Japanese Garden Restaurant located conveniently off highway 50 in Regency Park while the chef entertained us while cooking our delicious dinner.
The waitress was pleasant and smiled a lot while taking our order. She introduced herself to us by name and joked a bit with us. She brought us warm wet cloths to cleanse our hands before dinner. Once she took our drink order she returned with soup and salad for everyone. The salad was lettuce with a ginger dressing, and the soup was a broth.
We studied the menu for a few minutes and decided to order the House Special which is Shrimp and a very nice cut of Strip Steak. There were several entrées to select from on the menu including Steaks, Seafood, Chicken, and Vegetables ranging in price from $11.95 to $32.95.
Our chef arrived at our table with all the goodies to be cooked and introduced himself. He was pleasant and spoke to each one individually. The first display of entertainment was when he started to prepare the fried rice. He would toss the eggs in the air and catch them on his spatula. This was amazing. He was very good and displayed a lot of enthusiasm.
The fried rice was delicious. Next, he cooked the shrimp with many different sauces and seasonings flipping the shrimp as he prepared them. I could have ate just the shrimp and been very satisfied.....Along comes the veggies and then the steak and chicken.
Entertainment was not lacking from this eventful dinner, nor was the taste of this delicious meal...... At the end of our meal all of the servers arrived to our table with sherbet for everyone, and a decorated pineapple for the birthday man..... Everyone in the restaurant clapped as the servers sang "Happy Birthday" to my husband in Japanese.
This was a great evening of fine dining and entertainment, with a relaxed environment. We enjoyed our dining experience and will definitely go back.
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