2763

I’m just talking about restaurants with teriyaki in the name. A brief local list of places within a 5-10 minute drive from where I’m at:

  • Toshio’s Teriyaki
  • Shodai Teriyaki
  • Yoshino Teriyaki
  • Okinawa Teriyaki
  • I Love Teniyaki
  • Teriyaki Bowl
  • Teriyaki Madness
  • Seattle’s Best Teriyaki
  • Teriyaki 1st
  • Kyoto Teriyaki
  • Yasuko’s Teriyaki
  • Toshi’s Teriyaki
  • Nikko Teriyaki
  • Teriyaki & Wok
  • Teriyaki Bowl (different location)
  • Teriyaki Seven

And that’s excluding places where Teriyaki is named but secondary like “____ Sushi & Teriyaki” or “____ Pho & Teriyaki”

2764

I saw an ad once for a Seattle-style teriyaki place opening up in Austin (I live in Portland, not sure I was served the ad, but whatever).

I thought it was funny, I never thought of “Seattle style” as a thing, but I totally see it now. I’d say California teriyaki is pretty similar. Regardless, it is all really more reminiscent of the Hawaiian plate lunch than anything Japanese, but whatever, it’s tasty.

Oh and @Nesrie, if you want good Korean BBQ, you can always come up to Portland. There are a few good joints up here.

2765

Ya, it’s definitely got a Hawaiian feel to it, in that it’s a bunch of meat and rice that fills you up.

2766

Pretty sure every Japanese restaurant has it here, some of the Chinese ones do too and those weirdo fusion places too. We are still the Pacific NW though, so the origin being basically Hawaii, it makes sense it is all along the coast.

Yeah I don’t see that much around here. They call it Bento, for the most part, but they’re not often selling anything I would call a Bento box. And what do Bento places almost always have on the menu… teriyaki.

I found in Teriyaki in two places in Japan the entire time I was there… one of those locations was McDonald’s.

I might try to spend some time in Portland after this over. I usually just drive past it to Seattle where my dad’s family is but… they don’t do new. While they’ve been talking about I think it was Five Coins Chinese restaurants for it feels like 30 years now, the mere suggestion of grilling at the table, seems to weird them out. We have a couple of teppanyaki place here, but there’s still a cook, and you don’t get to do it yourself. They just make a show out of it so nothing on your plate is ever hot at the same time.

2767

The article linked above goes into the numbers:

Nothing seems to stop the exponential growth of teriyaki shops in Seattle and its surrounding environs, including market saturation. To wit, the Washington Restaurant Association recently generated a list of all the restaurants in its master database with “teriyaki” in the name, listed by date of entry. As of 1984, the database contained 19 (that is, restaurants still in business). That number doubled by 1987. In the mid-1990s, 20 to 40 teriyaki joints appear to have been opening every year, and the database now contains 519 listings statewide (there are more than 100 teriyaki shops within Seattle’s city limits alone)—which doesn’t include restaurants that favor “Bento,” “Wok,” or “Deli” over “Teriyaki” in their titles.

Just to put this city’s hundred-plus teriyaki restaurants in perspective, there are 12 McDonald’s in Seattle proper, 15 Jack in the Boxes, six Burger Kings, and 12 Taco Times.

And that’s far from the extent of the dish’s omnipresence. Pho shops pad their menus with chicken teriyaki. Asian-operated burger joints like Herfy’s, Stan’s and Dome Burger all feature teriyaki dishes. A Somali cafe down in Tukwila that I reviewed last month offered halal chicken teriyaki; not to mention sushi restaurants, even ultratraditional ones, which offer teriyaki chicken and beef on their menus—something (surprise) you’d never see in Japan.

2768

From my understanding, Seattle teriyaki only has a very tangential connection to Hawaii, and is largely attributed by Japanese immigrants.

2769

Used to go to a Japanese place on 45th Street in NYC. This was the kind of place that the majority of the clientele were Japanese. The gyoza were amazing. The teriyaki was sublime, beef or chicken, tender and flavorful. Sounds like a lot of people here have had a different experience.

2770

I think you’re right. If I recall, it was just made by this one dude who started a stand… I was just saying that it FEELS similar to food I’ve had in hawaii.

2771

Yep, the original Toshi–Toshihiro Kasahara. And I meant my reply more as a general clarification, so apologies if it came across as anything confrontational.

2772

Well teriyaki the cooking style is absolutely Japanese. But in the USA and it sounds like Canada too, when someone says teriyaki they really mean that sauce, that sweet sauce.

I like it when it’s flavorful and not… gooey, like thick globs of ick is just not okay. Otherwise if it’s not swimming in it, it’s okay. I’ve never been a big sauce person though. I don’t dip good tempura or sushi or sashimi in anything.

2773

2774

That is the type I am used to going to. There is also a gigantic ventilation hood over the table.

2775

Yep that’s what I want. Both my nephews are at a phase in their lives where they will try new things. It’s time to get them to try and that seafood pancake which I think was also Korean and found at similar grills. That was fun too!

2776

Okonomiyaki?

2777

You can buy that dough and fry at home.

2778

Okonomiyaki is Japanese, but there is a similar Korean dish. Something pajeon.

EDIT: Haemul Pajeon for the seafood version. Base pajeon is scallion pancake with lots of variations.

2779

Uh oh. Now I am not sure which one I hate. I guess I’ll have to make both. That and crepes. Going to a crepe store was like what it used to feel like when baskin robbins had more than a dozen flavors in it.

Man this brings back memories.

I don’t miss natto though. That should not be eaten by anyone, ever. I wonder if even Seattle has the guts to serve that in any restaurant.

2780

Oh man, crepes. I loved getting a turkey and swiss cheese crepe and then an apple crepe with chocolate syrup.

2781

Okonomiyaki is generally cabbage based, while pajeon is more scallion based. But, of course there are definitely variations of both which might blur the lines (especially pulling from memory).

2782

The one I had definitely did not have whole green onion in it, but I think it had some. I want to say it was probably cabbage, but I just remember the fun of pouring it and cooking it and then there was some sort of sauce drizzled on it, but I didn’t mind that too much.

I want to go back one day, explore some more now that I am not a poor 20 something and see what that changes. There was plenty I would not eat there though, no whale and no dolphins either.