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OUT & ABOUT
2B I Thursday, November 16, 2006 | The Red & Black
Eat Hibachi serves
speedy Japanese fare
DANIELLE HUTLAS | The Red 4 Black
A Mari Nishio (left), a junior women’s studies major from
Japan, and Andrew Brasher (right), a senior Japanese
major from Snellville, dine at Eat Hibachi, a new Japanese
restaurant located at the bottom of University Towers.
By MATTHEW GRAYSON
mgrayson@randb.com
Don’t expect any onions to
erupt with flames or stray
shrimp to end up in your
shirt pocket at downtown
Athens’ newest business, Eat
Hibachi.
Though the restaurant’s
name may conjure fond
childhood memories for
some, the term “hibachi”
actually refers not to the the
atrical style of cooking found
in Japanese steakhouses
across the country (that
would be “teppanyaki”) but
rather to the large cast-iron
hotplates on which the food
is prepared.
Located at the bottom of
University Towers and across
the breezeway from Taste of
India, Eat Hibachi is the lat
est undertaking of brothers
Aaron and David Kim, who
already own and operate two
restaurants in the Atlanta
area.
Freshly painted walls,
dark wood tables and chic
light fixtures make for a hip
but somewhat sterile atmos
phere. A rectangular window
next to the register reveals
the cooks hard at work in a
stark white kitchen with two
expansive hibachi grills, one
for cooking meats and the
other for veggies. Overhead is
a billboard-style menu that’s
brightly colored and easy to
read, at once pleasing to
both my weak eyes and my
grumbling stomach. After
several minutes spent debat
ing what to order, I wished
for captions to explain the
more ethnically titled dishes,
whose pretty pictures give
little insight into the actual
ingredients they contain.
All told, Eat Hibachi offers
13 numbered entrees as well
as egg rolls ($.69), miso soup
($.99) and Japanese pot
stickers called kyoza ($1.99)
for those who are less (or in
my case, more) hungry.
Teriyaki lovers can choose
from six different combina
tions of chicken, beef, salmon
and shrimp ranging from
$4.99 to $6.39, all of which
include grilled veggies and a
choice of white or fried rice.
Those more adventurous din
ers can try one of the truly
ethnic specials like Yakisoba
(literally “fried noodles”) for
$5.99 or Bul-Go-Gi (a Korean
beef dish) for $6.49.
I started with an egg roll
and then downed a plate of
KOBI Fried Rice, which cost
$6.49 and included chicken,
beef, shrimp and a side of
miso soup.
Bland and somehow off-
putting, the soup was filled
with little tofu blocks that
added nothing to its gingery
taste and could almost be
mistaken for sugar cubes.
Likewise, my egg roll was a
disappointment. The veggies
inside were held together by
a thin gel that made for a
funny cold taste within what
should have been hot. I say
that because mine arrived
lukewarm and was cold by
the time I got through with
it, whereas my friend’s egg
roll was too hot to handle at
first. Though its skin was
crispy fried and tasted great
after a minute of cool-down
time, the inside left much to
be desired.
Soup and egg roll aside,
the rest of my meal was a
welcome surprise. My plate
of fried rice, cooked fresh and
within sight on Eat Hibachi’s
signature grills, was ready
within minutes and didn’t
skimp on the trio of meats,
leaving me full and happy.
The rice itself was plentiful
and peppered with mush-
EAT HIBACHI
Grade: B
Verdict: The entrees were both
plentiful and tasty, while the sides
were hit or miss, usually the latter.
rooms, green peas and the
occasional corn kernel, mak
ing for a colorful blend of
healthy and hearty.
Though my friend’s chick
en teriyaki took closer to 10
minutes to prepare, the
result was well worth the
wait. The chicken itself was
very flavorful and the dish
had a lot of food for $4.99.
The dish as a whole, however,
offered too much meat and
not enough veggies, and the
sticky fried rice was neither
good nor bad, only there.
Open until 10 every night
of the week, downtown
Athens’ newest eatery offers
a clean atmosphere and a
cheap meal, ideal for a quick
lunch or a late-night pick-
me-up. Though its food may
not match the flavor nor the
fun of a traditional teppanya
ki restaurant, Eat Hibachi
also won’t cost you $20 —
and won’t seat you with a
blind double date and an
unhappily married couple
whose conversations
inevitably drown out your
own.
Listen Up
The Who, “Endless Wire”
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards be warned - you have more members for
your geriatric rock club.
With their first studio album since the early 1980s, The Who’s ageless rock
ers find success again or at least half of them do.
Only Roger Daltry and Pete Townshend remain from one of rock’s greatest
supergroups.
Original drummer Keith Moon died three decades ago, followed by thunder
bassist John Entwistle in 2002.
“Endless Wire” was recorded at Townshend’s home studio and thus has
guitar tones similar to many of his side projects.
These tones complement the album as a whole, as they allow space and
airy textures when the full band is supporting and leave a haunting nakedness
to the stripped-down ballads of the album.
Tracks range from dreamlike, operatic, “Tommy”-esque tunes to ballads
concerned with modern issues.
— Alec Wooden
Judah Johnson, “Be Where I Be”
Despite its great production quality and soothing layers of sonic chill (sure
to give listeners the impression of sailing calmly through the stratosphere while
sipping themselves into a coma on top-shelf vodka), Judah Johnson’s “Be
Where I Be” is just that - an incessantly lethargic, quasi-techno-rock sound
track to go along with an equally unfulfilling in-flight meal.
The album is not quite rock enough to be exciting, too weak lyrically to be
moving or memorable and not upbeat enough to be danceable. It lacks any
discernable sense of place or purpose in terms of where, why and by whom
such music would be listened to (besides the aforementioned, hypothetical
scenario).
It’s always a dangerous game to drop A-list names as a means of describ
ing lesser-known acts because it often gives the latter too much credit by draw
ing false parallels and creating false hopes.
So please be wary when I say that Judah Johnson sounds, at times, like a
half-ass Brandon Boyd singing over Dredg (life), only with much less variety
and talent and hardly a speck of the energy of either reference.
One of the few tracks that pops out as being potentially memorable is “Star
Struck,” which initially kicks in like Audioslave's “Gasoline” but, like most of the
songs on the album, collapses into twinkling weakness instead of rising into cli
mactic rock glory.
The same occurs on “Tommi (Tears in a Bottle),” which almost sounds like
operatic Nine Inch Nails, but fails to build to anything noteworthy.
- PT Umphress
Tenacious D, “The Pick of Destiny”
Though it's been five years since the last and only full studio album from
vulgar rock duo Tenacious D, you would hardly realize it, because the absence
has been padded by the release of various singles and a 2003 DVD.
“The Pick of Destiny” serves as the soundtrack of the movie by the same
name that chronicles the rise of this self-proclaimed “greatest band in the
world.”
The problem here is not necessarily the music - both the humor and the
instrumentation are vintage Tenacious D, covering all the usual off-the-wall
bases.
The problem is that there is simply not enough of it (15 tracks span just 33
minutes) to make it worth the money paid for this collection without also buying
the movie, creating a dangerous risk of polarization of fans when the group ties
the success (and, as always, potential failure) of the album and movie so dan
gerously close to each other.
One of the greatest strengths of past songs has been their ability to allow
listeners a connection to the storytelling.
These tracks simply lack the substance to create the same story-like effect
without a heavy crutch on the movie.
Seven tracks (almost half the album) fall under two minutes, serving as filler
for movie scenes, and only two tracks break the three-minute barrier.
These filler scenes, while sure to be funny to those who love the movie, will
not stand as acceptable tracks to listeners of the album.
Grade: B+
Verdict: They’re back to capture a
new generation.
Grade: C-
Verdict: For vapid nappy-time tunes,
Judah Johnson just might be your
round-trip, synth-rock ticket to
Trancelvania.
Grade: C+
Verdict: Not a worthy buy until the
movie proves successful.
- Alec Wooden
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