I have been passing in front of Japan Inn in Doral for a bit and now it is finally open for business! The exterior and name caught my attention every time I drove by it – I was not sure if it was a hotel or a restaurant and it does not architecturally look like other establishments in Miami.

Japan Inn was established in 1990 when its founders opened their first location in Plantation, FL. Other than the recently opened location in Doral, there is also a location in Weston, FL.

We decided to give the Japanese restaurant specializing in hibachi & sushi a try for my cousin’s birthday dinner. We went on a Saturday around 9PM and only had to wait 5 minutes to be seated at our own hibachi table (there were 8 people in our party). Japan Inn’s interior, though crowded at this time of the night, was just as eye catching as its exterior.

To drink, I had an iced green tea in hopes that the caffeine would keep me awake long enough to watch Kit Harington’s SNL episode (it did, yay!).

For dinner, I had the Hibachi Chicken. All the hibachi entrees are served with a 2 piece shrimp appetizer, soup, salad with ginger dressing, fried rice, hibachi vegetables, and signature sauces.

This hibachi dinner was not the best nor the worst. From experience, I have found that they all have their pros and cons. At Japan Inn, the chicken was bland and lacking flavor; the rice was good but also not all that flavorful; the veggies were solid and so were the shrimp; and the soup and salad were both great. If you like your food high on salt and seasoning, you may like to ask for some salt or ask the chef to add more salt to the food.

Overall, the hibachi chef put on a good show and we had a great time. I was too full for dessert but my sister had the Thai Donuts (bigger than expected) and my cousin had the Banana Tempura.

Next time I go, I would like to go and try some sushi rolls or maybe go for happy hour.

XO,

Caylin