One can confidently say that State College is a haven for those who love Asian cuisine. With restaurants catering to this type of food on every corner, there is quite the array of places to choose from.

Personally, I like to stay in the know when it comes to the topic of downtown State College dining, so naturally when I saw the sign for a new Hibachi restaurant I jumped at the chance to try it. Myself and the some other members of the Onward State staff decided to put it to the test.

Tokyo Sushi & Hibachi is located slightly off of the corner of Garner Street and College Ave. The restaurant is tucked away next to Big Bowl, directly underneath what used to be Levels Nightclub (RIP). The location is a little rough since you can’t see the storefront at all from the street, so this place had high expectations to become a Penn State hidden gem.

After hearing the word “Hibachi” we walked in expecting the full Benihana experience. Thinking we were going to see men in tall chef hats flipping around onions and lighting shit on fire on the stove top in front of us, we were a little let down when we saw standard restaurant seating.

However, we were surprised to see how extensive this menu actually is. Not only does it have Hibachi-style entrées, it carries over 70 different types of sushi rolls, as well as the basics such as fried rice and different Japanese soups. Ordering one of the Hibachi entrées will run you about $12, but you get more than what you pay for. The people over at Tokyo Sushi & Hibachi provided us with mountains of fried rice and noodles, along with enough soup and salad to fill us up quickly.

While we went traditional with hibachi chicken and steak, the restaurant also had some less traditional foods, like something called “Money Bags” — or small wontons — on the appetizer menu. After we finished, the waitress even gave us a complimentary dessert of fried bananas, which tasted so good, we had no choice but to make room for them. The menu was as diverse as they come, and left us interested in coming back.

The manager even came out to greet us. We were impressed considering this place had only been up and running for three whole days. Plus the serving sizes were so large, we had plenty of to take back. The food also had a ton of flavor.

Tokyo Sushi & Hibachi officially received the Onward State stamp of approval. With its reasonable pricing and surplus of food, we predict it will soon be a tough competitor against the other Asian restaurants in town.