Tokyo Grill

Tokyo Grill
4978 Park Avenue
901-761-7888

On Saturday we had two basketball games. When the second one ended it was after 2pm, and we were starved. Since we were in East Memphis, I suggested we try Tokyo Grill. It's one of those places that Warren will ask me about every time we pass, so I figured it was time to end the mystery.



The restaurant is located in a small strip mall. Inside it is cute. There's a very small sushi bar and about 8 tables. Judging from a quick Google search, it appears to be a chain.

Despite it being in the middle of the afternoon, there were several tables full of people when we arrived. I thought it might be take-out only or one of those order at the counter places, but we were shown to a table by a waitress.

The menu is pretty extensive and features sushi, udon, bento, donburi, katsu, fried rice, and pretty much anything else you might want. They even have sukiyaki.

Since the kids seemed overwhelmed by the choices, I directed them to the Hibachi Kids Meals. They love hibachi so it was an easy sell. The meals range from $3.95 (vegetable or chicken) to $6.95 ("seafood") and include fried rice and a fruit cup. Satchel (9), Jiro (7) and their friend, Will (11) all opted for the shrimp hibachi kids meal ($4.95). They all also wanted miso soup. Done!

Warren had a very easy time making up his mind, which is unusual. He decided on Katsu Don ($6.95), which is deep fried pork and egg over rice.

I knew I wanted sushi, but wasn't sure if I wanted to try a specialty roll or just go with the safe standbys. Warren pointed out that there was a picture by the door showing all of the specialty rolls, but I decided to go with the Three Roll Special ($8.95 w/soup).

The soup came out almost immediately. It was served in large plastic containers liked you'd typically get soup to go in.



I asked for clear soup instead of miso. It was good. It was a very large serving though. I almost felt too full to eat my sushi.

The kids' soup was pretty hot and before they could cool it down, their kids meals came out...in styrofoam clamshells. (That's when I looked at the other tables and realized that everything is pretty much served in to go containers.)



The kids seemed pleased and dug right in.



Will was a little more skilled with the chopsticks than Jiro.



Satchel scarfed his shrimp down immediately, and then started to pick at his fried rice. He didn't like the onions. (I usually order it without but forgot.) Jiro, meanwhile, was meticulously picking apart his shrimp even though the head and tails had been removed.

Warren's food came out next and he was very pleased. (Yes, that is a plastic bowl.)



He offered me a bite, but I passed. A few minutes later my sushi came out.



I went with the standard spicy tuna, spicy crawfish, and shrimp & avocado rolls. They weren't anything special, but they were very good, especially for the price.

Warren and I ate everything. Jiro only ate a few shrimp, and then gave most of his meal to Will, who had no trouble polishing off his. Satchel ate his soup and shrimp. We only had a few leftovers, but there was no need to ask for to go boxes since everything comes ready to go. I'm guessing this somehow saves them money, but I'm not a fan. (The only thing that wasn't in a to go container was Warren's tea. He actually had a ceramic cup for that.)

When our check came, I was shocked. $39 to feed five people at a Japanese restaurant is pretty amazing. With tip it was $46, but that's still less than $10 each. (We didn't get any soft drinks.) The kids constantly clamor for Japanese food, and as much as I love Sekisui, we can easily spend $75 or more when we go. I think we'll definitely consider Tokyo Grill again for a quick fix, especially for Saturday lunch. (Sekisui isn't open for lunch on Saturday.)

I visited the bathroom before we left. It was nice and clean. There's no changing table.