Sawa Hibachi Steakhouse & Sushi Bar, Eatontown, NJ

This past Saturday night, my husband and I went out to dinner at Sawa Hibachi Steakhouse & Sushi Bar in Eatontown, NJ.  We had an 8PM reservation for hibachi.  When we arrived at the restaurant a couple minutes earlier, we were immediately seated.  Throughout the entire night, we received great service.  Our water and wine glasses never went empty.  The hibachi chef who prepared our food was friendly.  He was skilled with the hibachi tricks (onion volcano, big flames, etc).  When he realized on his own that he had given away the shrimp portion of my dinner to another diner, he quickly summoned a waiter to bring him another portion.  I did not have the chance to miss it.  The manager came over to our table to check on us, and when we left at the end of dinner, he was there to say "Thank You" and "Goodbye."

The service was great, but without good food, that would all have been mute.  The meal at Sawa did not disappoint though.  With each meal came soup and salad.  The soup had a nice flavor to it, and the salad was fresh.  The dressing was the standard ginger dressing.  I also had a salmon roll which had very fresh clean fish.  For dinner, my husband had the "Filet Mignon & 8oz Brazilian Lobster Tail," and I enjoyed the "Shrimp & Scallop."  We passed on the complimentary fried rice and had plain white rice instead.  Our entrees were both delicious with good seasoning.  The two sauces that came on the side of the dishes were not even necessary, since the flavors used on the meat and fish themselves were very nice.  The vegetable side was also well flavored with a good variation.  To drink, my husband had a Sapporo and I had a nice glass of Savignon Blanc (I can't remember the exact name).  We skipped dessert this night.  The overall price for our meal was definitely acceptable for the quality of food and drink.  From the service to the food, we greatly enjoyed our dinner and definitely plan to return.

As always with hibachi style dining, we had "interesting" fellow diners.  It definitely contributes to the experience and makes the evening even more entertaining.  This night in particular, we were seated with a group of three high school boys and a couple on what seemed to be a third date with the man's son in tow.  The high school boys were fairly calm and were seated across the table so we did not hear their conversation.  The couple on a date were very entertaining.  The woman kept trying to relate with the man's son often referencing her daughter who was working that night.  The man spent the night balancing his time making sure his son was happy and his date was enjoying herself.  The highlight has to have been at the beginning of the night when the waitress was taking drink orders.  The woman order watered but then became obsessed with making sure to get a particular brand of water that came in a "beautiful blue bottle."  She insisted that the waitress bring out the different bottles they had so she could find the right one.

In all, my husband and I had a very enjoyable evening with delicious food.