Bamboo Steakhouse & Sushi Bar

Habachi grills and sushi bars seems to be a dime a dozen these days.  It's hard to distinguish one from another.  For Bamboo Steakhouse & Sushi Bar, it's all about location, location, location. The restaurant sits right on a lake and can provide quite a view.  Unfortunately, it was too cold to eat outside on this trip so we settled for eating at the habachi grill.

Habachi Scallops $12

I love having scallops cooked on a habachi grill.  It's something about the intense heat that not only give the scallop a good sear but also keeps it tender.  I had the lunch portion and it came with 4 huge sea scallops. The fried rice and grilled vegetables were just ok.  All were flavored well and cooked right, but the highlight of the meal was definitely the sea scallops.  I found it odd that the chef decided he should give me my scallops whole though.  I had to ask him to cut it up for me, because my silverware didn't come with a knife.  Also, I don't know if the chef was ready to go on his break but we didn't get much of a show either.  It was definitely all business for this chef.  He did talk a little about football but that was the extent of his interaction with us.

Bama Roll and Volcano Roll $9 each

My brother had two rolls for lunch; the bama roll and the volcano roll.  As always, I horned in on his food and tasted both.  The bama roll is salmon, cream cheese, avacodo and crabstick dipped in a tempera batter and fried.  I do not like the batter used for this.  It was a little greasy and not crunchy enough.  The inside of the roll was also a little oily but the salmon tasted good.  The volcano roll was a better, but the krab mixture on top wasn't very warm.  It made the sauce thicker; which made it seem more rich and you can easily get tired of it.  The prices were very decent though.  It's under $10 at Bamboo where I've seen the same rolls go from $10 to $13 everywhere else.

Bamboo also has a wide variety of dishes that comes straight from the kitchen.  There's everything from a pad thai to general Tso's chicken.  There are also some "power lunch" items that look interesting.  All very well priced as well.  I didn't see anything over $16 for lunch and most are under that mark.  If you want to check out what Bamboo has to offer click here for the menu.  I am planning on coming back to Bamboo to try out some of their other dishes.


Bamboo would be great for family dinners or a date night.  The restaurant itself is huge even without the extra seating on the deck.  I think there are 6 habachi grills which seats about 12 per grill then there are several booths that separates the habachi area from the rest of the restaurant. Between the booths and the bar are several four tops.  There's plenty of room for high chairs and such.  Service has gotten better each time I've gone to Bamboo so I have not given up hope it will be excellent one day. Aside from being on a lake, I love that Bamboo is away from the hustle and bustle of Airport Boulevard yet still very accessible.  If you're going to Bamboo beware it does close down between lunch and dinner service.  I'm sure that's to give the servers and chefs a break, but I'm forgotten before and went there only to find the doors locked.  It's was a little disappointing but I got over it and came again.