I had gone with my friend Tammy to Sakanaya for my company Christmas party.  It was the first time I had been there and was not really aware of its existence before hand.  I surprised myself since Japanese food is one of my favorites and I am a teppanyaki freak. 

The first thing I noticed as I walked in the door was the beautiful coy pond and waterfall surrounded by traditional Japanese sculpture and live bamboo plants. You can sit down on the ledge of the pond, so if you do have to wait, it's probably really soothing.  However, we didn't have to wait at all even though it was a bustling Thursday night. As we were taken to the back of the house we passed the dinner area, (for those not having teppanyaki) and the sushi bar, which was small, but very attractive as the decor was all carved maple and glass.  We were seated at our table in the front teppanyaki room; there are two teppanyaki rooms seperated by an archway. The teppanyaki room looked like any other, except everything was brand new with some lovely artwork, so it looked very elegant.

The waitresses were dressed in Kimonos- a very nice touch, and I think every employee is actually from Japan - well, at least the one's I talked to because they all had the accent.  They had the usual selection of sushi appetizers, but what stood out was their Fresno roll which is shrimp and tempura yams (yes, all completely cooked) in seaweed and rice and it was absolutely delicious. So good, in fact that I want to come back just so I can have the Fresno Roll again.

Being a bit conservative at new restaurants I ordered the New York steak.  Now every teppanyaki place has the same routine, with a few variations here and there.  First your waitress brings you miso soup, then salad (with that delicious orange dressing that every Japanese Restaurant seems to have) The chef then serves you fried rice, then your entree, then zucchini and onions, and finally bean sprouts all while performing an intricate ballet of dancing spatulas and knives.

But the difference with Sakanaya is everything is better.  A whole lot better.  The miso soup is wonderfully flavored and not greasy, like everywhere else (I can confidently say this because I have eaten Teppanyaki at every place in Fresno), the salad dressing maintains the same delicious flavor, but seems lighter in general, The steak was tender and I detected a hint of a marinade even before I dipped it in their ginger sauce, which is the best ginger sauce i've tasted yet.  The vegetables were all done perfectly, not to soft and not too al dente.Our chef put on an excellent performance and was extremely courteous.

He did all the regular tricks, like the onion volcano and the bowl flipping and such, but he did a new one I hadn't seen, before, at least not successfully.  He took an egg - not hard boiled and started spinning it on the grill faster and faster, then flipped it up with his spatula high into the air then it came down on the edge of the spatula splitting it neatly in half.  It was rad.  We ordered sake, which came out steaming hot, and had a fantastic time (not very hard to do, when you imbibe as much hot sake as we did). 

The only negative thing I can say, is that the service left something to be desired,  Initially it started off pretty well, but we had to re-order our drinks a couple of times and then had to wait for them forever.  Also, while we were in the middle of our meal our waitress tried to bring us our check; we told here we were fine for the moment, but then the hostess/manager came out 10 minutes later with the check in hand and we were not close to being done.  We felt rushed and somewhat annoyed.  I must note however that the place is still pretty new, and sometimes it takes a while to work out the kinks, so I have to give them the benefit of the doubt.  I am sure the service will improve.

Sakanaya is located at 9447 N. Fort Washington Road, Fresno, CA 93720, just off of Friant Road in the Riverview Shopping Centre.  For Reservations call 559.433.6607