Mikata never disappoints

Mikata Japanese Steakhouse is one of my favorite local restaurants.

The food’s great, the service is always good and the showmanship of the cooks rarely fails to impress.

My guests, one of which was a 2-year-old, and I visited the restaurant Saturday night.

Fast service has always been a hallmark of the Mikata experience, and Saturday was no exception. We were quickly greeted and seated, and the wait staff also promptly took our drink orders. Soon afterward the server took our orders.

Our chef then promptly arrived and began cooking up our order. My guests and I had the Mikata Emporer dinner for two, which includes steak, shrimp, chicken, fried rice, vegetables, salad and soup.

The chef used the standard Japanese steakhouse bag of tricks to entertain us. Big flames. Volcano. Choo-choo. He could have been a little more entertaining, but the food was good so that makes up for any other shortcomings.

As usual, the food at Mikata didn’t disappoint. The steak was cooked to the textbook definition of medium rare, the chicken was excellent, the shrimp was ... shrimpy and my guest assured me that the rabbit food was pretty good too.

It’s pretty interesting to take young children to Mikata because of their reaction to the show the chefs put on. I was a little afraid that the flame bursts would scare the little guy, but judging from his expression, the chef’s performance impressed him at least as much as the latest doings of Spider-Man. (This is good. No matter how hard I try, the best I can get up to on a good day is Thomas the Train, pretty lame.)

The fried rice was, as always, excellent. Not too crisp, not too soggy. Just right. And Mikata’s seafood sauce always adds a great extra kick to the rice.

Another unique feature of Mikata is the seating arrangement. At Mikata, the tables surround large hibachi grills, making it easy to get to know your neighbors. I’m a little reserved by nature, but I have to admit that I find the arrangement congenial. Our fellow diners were amused at the Kid’s reactions to what was going on, and his apparent need to throw every spoon in the restaurant on the floor. Offers to allow our fellow diners to baby-sit fell on deaf ears, however.

While Mikata is one of my favorite local restaurants, my wallet isn’t exactly a fan. Our dinner came to $65.72 plus a $10 tip. However, the large portions Mikata serves guarantees that you’ll have plenty to take home with you, taking a little out of the wallet pinch.
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Mikata Japanese Steakhouse
Location: 4600 Montgomery Highway, Dothan
Phone: 673-9966
Hours: Sunday-Thursday, 5-9:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5-10:30 p.m.
Alcohol: Yes
Smoking: No
Vegetarian options: Yes
Recent health score: 93
Rating: Four stars out of four