Many assume that everything from Japan that’s not Godzilla or Pokemon originated a thousand years ago. Surely, one thinks, during, say, the Kenmu Restoration, a beleaguered samurai lit a fire under his shield and roasted cuts of mutton for his fellow soldiers.
Wrong. So wrong. According to the delightful ‘About Us’ section on the Misono Restaurant Group website, teppanyaki was invented when “Young Shigeji Fujioka entrusted his dream to an iron plate in Kobe.” Post-World War II, he opened his restaurant, Misono, “by using an iron plate from the local dockyard as a grill plate.” His business “quickly became very popular among dancers and officers of the occupation army.” We’re going to side-eye the word “dancer” there real hard.
The point is, like baseball and Sailor Moon’s uniform, teppanyaki exists at the meeting point of Japanese and Western cultures. For much of its early history, teppanyaki was considered a style of cooking for US soldiers, expats and tourists.
Marco’s Teppan also exists at the juncture of Western and Eastern culture. And we mean that physically: The restaurant is located in Caochang Plaza, which is across from the US Embassy and home to French restaurant Bistro 108 and Italian La Villa Trattoria. While the ground floor of the complex is a a diverse array of Western restaurants, the second floor is all izakayas, giving one the feel of being in some kind of bizarro Japanese embassy district. Or just Lucky Street, if it were smaller and squished onto the second floor of a building.
For most of us, teppanyaki is experienced at a chain restaurant where a man who is probably not Japanese chops up meat and vegetables on a large hot iron table and tosses shrimp into his hat. This is not what we’ll be reviewing here today. Because once inside Marco’s Teppan, we are greeted by a chorus of Irasshaimase! and asked to choose seats at the teppanyaki table, the yakitori bar, or one of two tatami rooms. We choose tatami, because duh. The decor is the standard traditional Japanese design look. Wood and shōji abound.
Oh, there are also a lot of aquariums. And the music is kind of a confusing mix of American pop songs with occasional Japanese interludes. It’s a vibe.
Once seated, we’re presented with a near overwhelming array of foods. Teppanyaki, sashimi, small fried dishes, and noodle and rice dishes are all on the docket here. Our Iberico pork shoulder, Chicken Skin Wrapped Quail Egg and Beef Tongue Minced Chicken Stick are all excellent. Alongside the grilled items are several teppanyaki-adjacent dishes. We try the salmon and tuna sashimi – which are plenty tasty, but overpriced, given they’re not the stars of the menu. The edamame are slightly bland, but hey – it’s edamame. The crispy fish skins with mayonnaise are addictive and the perfect accompaniment to cold Asahis.
Don’t think this will be a cheap night, though. Skewers start at around RMB15 and get up to around RMB50. We left having paid around 500/person and were satiated but not stuffed.
Obviously Marco offers a full sake menu, but we opt for the more prosaic beer and highball options (teppanyaki’s all about East-meets-West, remember?). Highballs come in two varieties, regular and strong. Go strong and have yourself a night.
See a listing for Marco's Teppan & Charcoal and read more Beijing Bar & Restaurant Reviews
0 User Comments