Dining out: Hibachi House

LEHI — Hibachi House is a catchy name that effectively communicates the fact that there's Japanese food on offer inside this unassuming storefront, part of a big shopping area east of I-15 in Lehi.

And I know that, technically, "hibachi" covers a lot of territory in America. However, I can't help but think of those little Japanese-style barbecue grills — which were nowhere to be seen when my family and I visited Hibachi House on a recent weekend evening.

Instead, the cooking area behind the counter was dominated by a big teppanyaki-style griddle — not that there's anything wrong with that!

Hibachi House has sort of democratized and streamlined the teppanyaki experience: You get that quick-seared flavor but none of the expense or theatrics of Utah's higher-end restaurants of the same type.

Hibachi House has walk-up counter ordering, and food is brought to diners in takeout containers when it's ready. This no-frills approach seems to work, allowing the restaurant to offer decent-quality food at prices close to fast food.

We started with the gyoza and yakitori, as well as a big order of vegetable tempura. The gyoza, steamed rather than fried with a brown sear on the bottom, tasted fine but were not very hot when they arrived at our table. The yakitori, skewers of tangy-sauced chicken, pineapple and green peppers, reminded me of something I'd eat in Hawaii — again, not a bad thing by any means.

Several of us also tried the miso, a lighter and subtler version than most with scads of tofu and seaweed to liven it up.

The tempura veggies were excellent, crispy with moist interiors and a great variety: mushrooms, onions, carrots, sweet potatoes, zucchini.

Hibachi House offers several sauces, from traditional teriyaki and ginger to tangy mustard sauce and a creamy white sauce. All were nice for tempura dipping.

My youngest daughter and I also had the unagi sushi roll, with eel, cucumber and avocado, which was weirdly bland despite a drizzle of eel sauce.

We had plenty of entrées and ended up sharing them among ourselves: my husband's nicely seared and juicy hibachi steak, my beautifully browned little hibachi shrimp, my middle daughter's simple, straightforward teriyaki of grilled chicken pieces and a light sauce over rice.

Our oldest daughter ordered the pineapple chicken, breaded chicken pieces with pineapple in a tangy sauce. She loved its medley of flavors, though I found the breading a little too firm.