We went to the restaurant last month (October '07) as a party of three in the steakhouse section (the restaurant has three sections: (1) sushi bar, (2) conventional table seating, and (3) steakhouse section with a chef-and-knife show). \r
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I appreciate very much that they seated us for a show even though we arrived at least 20 minutes past our reservation time (late). The server was very nice about our late arrival and managed to seat us with another group that arrived a little before we did. They could have made this an embarrassing situation by refusing to seat us or by commenting about us being late etc.; but they worked to make us very comfortable. The atmosphere is good in the restaurant and the food tasted very good. It is a very nice place.\r
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My only criticism is that the chef did not put enough energy and personality into his show. It was somewhat boring. While he made a lot of noise by tapping his utensils together, he did not do any neat tricks and he did not tell any jokes as I remember. I remember better shows in places outside of Minnesota (Philadelphia, PA for example).\r
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I live about 30 minutes from this restaurant. I am taking two out-of-town guests to Ichiban's in Minneapolis this evening because I live about 15 minutes from Minneapolis. While the food was good at Osaka, I would like to treat my guests to a more impressive show if possible. I have NEVER been to the place in Minneapolis, so I do not know how this will compare to Osaka. I would recommend Osaka if you live nearby. Perhaps, the Chef did not put on his best show because he was having a bad day. Osaka is a good restaurant in my opinion based on this, my only visit.\r
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