Teppan Edo dining review

Location:
Epcot - World Showcase

Cuisine:
Japanese - Teppanyaki

Overall Rating:

High Hopes
Simply put – we were really looking forward to this meal! My wife and I first dined at this restaurant back in 2006 when we were still dating, as sort of a “celebration” for our 6-month anniversary together, in fact. At the time it was technically still called the Teppanyaki Dining Room, but whatever the name – we had a great time! The food was great, the chef was funny as he entertained us with “smoking Space Mountain” and “Mickey Space Mountain,” and we vowed to come back again soon.

Sometime in 2007, it ended up closing for a major refurbishment, and between now and then we ended up trying a variety of other dining options instead, but eventually the stars aligned once again and we were able to return, with Teppan Edo as our choice for this year’s Candlelight Processional dinner package…

Friendly Faces
In a word, the service was excellent. We actually showed up a little early and had no problems getting seated right away; everything was brought out quick and of course, the food coming right off the grill was plenty hot! All of the cast members who we met seemed to be exceedingly friendly and enthusiastic, and if it weren’t for one particularly important thing, it would’ve been a textbook experience…

The Food

• (appetizer) Assorted Tempura
• (appetizer) Gyo no Negi-maki
• (appetizer) Spicy Tuna Sushi Roll
• (appetizer) Tuna Salmon Sensation
• (entree) Filet Mignon
• (entree) Swordfish Steak – “Kajiki Maguro”
• (entree) Cold Water Sea Scallops – “Hotate”
• *note: all entrees served with  seasonal vegetables, udon noodles & white rice
• (dessert) Soft Served Ice Cream (vanilla/chocolate swirl)
• (dessert) Green Tea Pudding
• (dessert) Chocolate Ginger Cake

Bland. Uninspired. Boring. Should I go on?

It just didn’t taste like anything had any flavor to it – the appetizers, including my sister-in-law’s sushi, were pretty uneventful; the veggies and noodles were just so-so and even the sauces didn’t really help, despite having loved their soy sauce the last time we were there; and the meats … were lackadaisical, to say the least. My fish was incredibly chewy, which I wasn’t sure about at the time because I’ve never had swordfish before, but now I’ve read that it can also either be a sign of low quality or bad cooking. Dessert crept half a step back up, mainly because the Chocolate Ginger Cake was decent, but the ice cream looked like the kind out of a rundown state park’s ice cream machine and the Green Tea Pudding was, in a word, yucky.

Final Thoughts
This was honestly a tough one to rate because as much as we absolutely loved this place 5 years ago, I just couldn’t justify bumping it from 2- to 3-stars based on how terrible the food was. Also keep in mind that as part of the Candlelight Processional dinner package, the cost was $65 per person, so while even though I don’t always expect gourmet food when I sit down to eat in a theme park, for a bill that topped $200 between 3 people, I do expect to leave happy. The concept at Teppan Edo is solid and the people are charming, but first and foremost, we go to restaurants for the purpose of eating and that’s where Teppan Edo squarely missed the mark for me.

Review based on dining experiences from October 2006 & 2011.