DD wants to try Japan but parents arent' sure

[Disney loving Iowan]

Our DD15 really likes the Japanese culture. When we were in Epcot in the spring that is where she wanted to spend most of her time. For our next trip in January we were thinking about making an ADR at either Tokyo Dining or Tappen Edo so she could try the food. Only problem is that we, her parents, don't really care for Oriental food. So my 2 questions are 1-I know they have steak and chicken so could we find something there that we would like? 2-Which restaurant should we choose? I don't know much about either of them. Is the food different at each one?
Any help and info is greatly appreciated!

 

[disnut8]

If I'm not mistaken, Tappen Edo is the one where the food is cooked in front of you and you are arraigned in a half squared type table for eight people. That's the one I would recommend for you. The steak and chicken are really just chunks of meat grilled with some oriental flavoring. If you don't want the rice, you don't have to have any, just ask for the cook to put it on someone else's place or tell the server when you order that you don't want any. I find the Asian salad dressing to be really good so you might want to try a garden salad as well.

You would be dining with five other people but you don't really have to interact with them at all. It's nice to say hi and you can even say that you are there for your daughter.

I'm not a huge fan of Asian food either but I find these types of places to be great for my simple needs while appearing like I'm doing something different!

 

[ERMama]

our 7 yo loved it so much on our last trip he wanted to eat there every day (teppan edo). even our 3 yo was using the chopsticks for his tempura.

 

[tzeitel]

Teppan Edo is awesome! I am sure you and your DH will find something there - you could always check the menu section.

 

[2infinityandbeyond]

The food at Teppan Edo is not all that "exotic". The only thing that makes it quasi-Asian ("Oriental" is not a politically correct reference to people from Asia) is that it is cooked by an Asian chef and the food is cooked with some soy sauce. It's basically meat or seafood, onions, some veggies, sprouts with soy and butter, cooked on a flat top.

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

The food at Teppan Edo is not all that "exotic". The only thing that makes it quasi-Asian ("Oriental" is not a politically correct reference to people from Asia) is that it is cooked by an Asian chef and the food is cooked with some soy sauce. It's basically meat or seafood, onions, some veggies, sprouts with soy and butter, cooked on a flat top.

Ooops. Guess I'm not with it there. I even have friends and people in my family from Asian countries. Guess I should have known then.

Thanks for all the information! Sounds like Teppan Edo is everyones choice so far. I do think she would enjoy it there.

 

[SmallWorld71]

Here is a meal from Teppan Edo from August. I had the steak and shrimp combo which you can see on the back and left side of the plate. Everybody gets noodles with veggies and a bowl of white rice ( I had put sauce on mine and already eaten some in this pic). The flavors are fairly mild. Unless you have a strong aversion to soy sauce, you might find that you really enjoy it!

 

[jblrn2b]

Teppan Edo was one of our favorits from our April trip. It is not spicy. Enjoy!!!!

 

[disneyfan55]

Japan is the one place that we have eaten every time we have visted since EPCOT has opened!! It is great and really our favorite. You really should try it. Our children were actually 2 1/2 and almost 5 the first time and still love it many years later!

 

[keelyhealthnut]

Though Tokyo Dining is a bit more exotic they do still have basic grilled steak, chicken, salmon, etc. We plan to go to Tokyo Dining because they have much more intesting sushi and we can go to a Benihana style restaurant like Teppan Edo any time we want to. If y'all go to Teppan Edo and she wants to get a good taste of Japanese food then I would suggest that she not order anything off of the entree/main course section. Menu items like the miso soup, seaweed salad, tempura, edamame and sushi would give her a good Japanese meal. Enjoy!!

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

Though Tokyo Dining is a bit more exotic they do still have basic grilled steak, chicken, salmon, etc. We plan to go to Tokyo Dining because they have much more intesting sushi and we can go to a Benihana style restaurant like Teppan Edo any time we want to. If y'all go to Teppan Edo and she wants to get a good taste of Japanese food then I would suggest that she not order anything off of the entree/main course section. Menu items like the miso soup, seaweed salad, tempura, edamame and sushi would give her a good Japanese meal. Enjoy!!

She keeps talking about how she wants to try the miso soup! The one thing I'm wondering though is how that will work if we do the dining plan.

 

[JasonsPrincess]

sorry..not trying to get the thread OT of the original poster. But, I was looking into this restaurant too...here where I live we have Japanese steakhouses much like this where there they cook the food in front of you and you get an appetizer, small salad, and small bowl of soup along with your main meal choice (steak, shrimp, chicken..). Do you guys know if this is all included here on DDP or would I pay OOP for soup/salad?

 

[keelyhealthnut]

She keeps talking about how she wants to try the miso soup! The one thing I'm wondering though is how that will work if we do the dining plan.

I'm sorry, I didn't even think about being on the DDP! Maybe they could piece something together for her and count it as an entree for the DDP? Some places are willing to do this and others aren't so I don't know if that would work there. If all else fails then maybe you could just pay OOP for the miso soup and she could order a regular entree. The entees don't convey "Japan" to me, but I'm sure are still quite tasty!

 

[disney1990]

There's a nice counter service restaurant in Japan. Perhaps your daughter would like to eat there. Then anybody that didn't want Japanese food, could get something to eat from someplace else.

 

[CU82]

If you decide to eat at Teppen Edo, please try the chocolate ginger cake. I can't make any claim to the authenticity of it as Jaspanese, but it was hands down the best thing I ate in WDW.

 

[bumbershoot]

("Oriental" is not a politically correct reference to people from Asia)

Might not be PC, but it's how my Korean husband refers to himself, his mom's countrymen, and all other Asians!

She keeps talking about how she wants to try the miso soup! The one thing I'm wondering though is how that will work if we do the dining plan.

Yum, miso soup! You know, since this is special to her, maybe make this a meal where she can order whatever she wants, and if you have to pay extra you just pay extra.

Although I"m not allowed to talk about it now b/c hubby is Korean (and the Korean people were just a tad bit abused in the past by the countrypeople that we're talking about here), when I was young I had a HUGE fascination with Japan. Saw Shogun, wanted to be Mariko, overlooked all the nasty stuff from the movie (from history) and focused on the beautiful parts of the culture, and even took Japanese in HS and first year of college.

I would have LOVED to have such a special part of a trip based on my interests. In fact my mom did take me a few times to Japantown in San Jose (or was it San Francisco? suddenly not remembering where the big Japantown near us was) CA, just to indulge me.

 

[belleatheart]

I would recommend Tokyo Dining actually. You can get basic steak and chicken there isn't too exotic, not really exotic at all. You also have a bit more control over your meal I think, so if there is something you want changed there is more capability of that there. There is also more options for Japanese food for you daughter, like sushi etc. I woulds say trying something like a baked salmon, shrimp tempura, or cali roll would be awesome to try. It isn't raw stuff and so your DH might even like to try them. They do not have an asian taste really. Especially the cali roll, if you like crab, avocado, and cucumber then you will enjoy a cali roll. My mom thought she would hate sushi, and it turns out I started her on a cali roll, and have built it up from there and now she likes almost all, now the super raw stuff, or unagi, nope that is not flying. Well unagi doesn't really fly for me either, but that is another story.

 

[sarcasticblonde]

I just ate at Teppan Edo last week. Read about it in my dining review:

http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=28115064&postcount=46

 

[Mickey country]

Teppan Edo is really yummy. We ate there in Sept. for the first time, and loved it! You can pick and choose what you would like to have, and the chocolate ginger cake is good.

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

I'm sorry, I didn't even think about being on the DDP! Maybe they could piece something together for her and count it as an entree for the DDP? Some places are willing to do this and others aren't so I don't know if that would work there. If all else fails then maybe you could just pay OOP for the miso soup and she could order a regular entree. The entees don't convey "Japan" to me, but I'm sure are still quite tasty!

I think that's what we would do!

There's a nice counter service restaurant in Japan. Perhaps your daughter would like to eat there. Then anybody that didn't want Japanese food, could get something to eat from someplace else.

This was something we considered but we thought she might like to do the table restaurant for the atmosphere. We are willing to try it for her.

If you decide to eat at Teppen Edo, please try the chocolate ginger cake. I can't make any claim to the authenticity of it as Jaspanese, but it was hands down the best thing I ate in WDW.

I heard somewhere else that it is really good!

Might not be PC, but it's how my Korean husband refers to himself, his mom's countrymen, and all other Asians!



Yum, miso soup! You know, since this is special to her, maybe make this a meal where she can order whatever she wants, and if you have to pay extra you just pay extra.

Although I"m not allowed to talk about it now b/c hubby is Korean (and the Korean people were just a tad bit abused in the past by the countrypeople that we're talking about here), when I was young I had a HUGE fascination with Japan. Saw Shogun, wanted to be Mariko, overlooked all the nasty stuff from the movie (from history) and focused on the beautiful parts of the culture, and even took Japanese in HS and first year of college.

I would have LOVED to have such a special part of a trip based on my interests. In fact my mom did take me a few times to Japantown in San Jose (or was it San Francisco? suddenly not remembering where the big Japantown near us was) CA, just to indulge me.

That's great that your mom did that for you.

Thank you to everyone for your advice. I really appreciate all of it! It really helps us with our decision!