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Ate: January 8, 2006 Published: January 15, 2006 $$ This week, we decided to do a lunchtime review. Dinner and lunch are two completely different meals, usually with two completely different sets of desires and goals. I had an hour lunch break during an all-day training session and the clock was ticking when my sweetie picked me up. This meant we needed something quick and in the neighborhood, which in this case was Highway 17 Bypass around 38th Avenue. We decided to check out the new Jimmy's Japanese Hibachi in the Bi-Lo shopping center. A few years ago, there was a sudden explosion of small express Japanese restaurants up and down the beach. Most of them are decent, yet remarkably similar. Jimmy's Japanese Hibachi, however, is the original. They were open and serving hibachi-style quick-serve meals on King's Highway long before those other places were open. They've recently relocated from King's Highway to the bypass and this was our first visit to their new home. As you would expect, the atmosphere at Jimmy's is decidedly casual. The place was clean, smelled good and was decorated a touch nicer than the other places. One thing we liked was that the booths and tables didn't seem to be crammed in as tight as possible, so there was a little bit of elbow room between you and the next group. The friendly young lady behind the counter was patient with us as we decided what to get and then placed our order. Jimmy's is an express diner, which means you have to get your own drink. But unlike all the other express Japanese places, you don't have to pour your own sauces into little cups or tear napkins off of a big Roll O' Napkins. Each table has three different bottles of sauce, including a big one of the ginger sauce that some restaurants keep behind the counter. Also, there is no number on your receipt that you wait for them to call out, nor are there any Styrofoam trays. Instead, someone brings your food out to you on real plates. We had ordered one of their starters and, to our pleasant surprise, it came out before the rest of our order. Our crab shumai dumplings were fried to a rich golden brown. They were served with a small empty sauce bowl - you've got the sauce bottles, so you get to choose which sauce you want. We kept it simple and went with soy sauce, which perfectly matched the flavor of the dumplings. They were just enough to whet our appetites and get us ready for our meal. Jimmy's takes a little longer to prepare your food than the other places. The main reason is because they don't have anything ready-cooked. They don't cook anything until you order it. This gave us a few minutes to enjoy the atmosphere and do a little people watching. Our food arrived hot, fresh and, as I mentioned before, on real plates. Since it was lunchtime, we had decided to go with the smaller lunch plates. My wife was a little more health conscious than I was, and she ordered her steak plate with steamed rice instead of the usual fried rice. Her chunks of steak were seared to a medium well, just the way she had requested. Normally, I like my steak a little more rare, but there was nothing wrong with the bites I tried off her plate. Instead of steak, I had ordered Jimmy's shrimp plate. Unlike a few higher-priced restaurants the two of us have been to in the past month, these shrimp were completely shelled! In addition to being completely peeled, they were hot, juicy and seasoned nicely. Along with my meat came the requisite fried rice and grilled zucchini and onions. The vegetables are usually treated as filler, but the cook at Jimmy's gave them as much care as they gave the meat. The onions and zucchini on both my wife's plate and mine were crisp and light. One bite was all we needed to tell that they hadn't been soaking in oil. The clock was still ticking, so we didn't have the time to hang around and get dessert. That was a shame, because the description of their "cheesecake spring roll" sounded really good. If we weren't pressed for time, we probably would have gotten one and split it. Even without a dessert, we left Jimmy's full and very satisfied. Our lunch tab was on par with what we would have spent at a fast-food restaurant and far less than what a casual dining restaurant would have cost. Their dinner menu is a bit more expensive, but the prices are still very reasonable. Jimmy's Japanese Hibachi is the restaurant that all of the other Japanese express places wish they were. Whether you're here on vacation or you're an executive getting away from the office for a quick lunch, Jimmy's is worth a visit. |
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