Editor’s Note:
Wes Hennings never met a meal he walked away from and is an opinionated eater! Each Thursday he shares the results of a business lunch he’s had with a colleague as a way to advise our business community on the good, bad, and tasty across the CSRA. He doesn’t let ABD or the restaurant know where he is going and his opinions are his own. He grades the restaurants he visits on a 1-5 scale with “5” being outstanding. We call this our “Real Business Lunch Review”.
Food Quality: 3
Service: 4
Business Meeting: 4
Value: 3
Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5
When driving to lunch this week, I couldn’t for the life of me remember the name of the restaurant we were going to. I just knew it was that Japanese restaurant by Kroger on Washington Road.
Sadly, the name (Miyako) was not the only forgettable element of this meal. While not a bad experience at all, this is a lunch you could find at almost any Japanese restaurant in any strip mall in any city in America.
I was a bit scared at first as the foyer had a weird smell of chemical cleaning agents and a very dirty fish tank. But once you enter the restaurant, there is a nice but fairly dark atmosphere. There were a number of diners around and we were quickly seated and greeted by a server.
So in terms of a business meeting spot, the atmosphere and service level are winners.
Where we start to miss a bit is with the actual food, which is why I suppose we all go to restaurants anyway. We had a good lunch but compared to the other spots in town where you can get the meat cooked on an open grill with a side of veggies and fried rice, nothing stood out. The chicken was juicy and tasty, but the rice was lacking some seasoning, as well as not having many add-ins at all. The result was a miss on the flavor.
While my companion went with the hibachi (cooked in the kitchen and not at our table), I decided to try the sushi rolls – tuna avocado and shrimp tempura. The tuna seemed to be good quality, but the avocado overwhelmed it a bit. And the shrimp tempura was nicely presented but lacked compared to the versions of the same roll I’ve had elsewhere.
So while Miyako is not the first Japanese restaurant in town I would recommend, it’s also not a meal I would have you completely steer away from either.
However, the lunch specials can be what differentiates some of these restaurants, and Miyako values its lunch a bit higher than its competitors. While many other similar venues will start lunch hibachi meals around 8 or 9 bucks, these started from $11-12, and the bento box was featured and priced at $16. However, it did include a hibachi dish and a choice of more deluxe sushi rolls than other bento boxes offer.
With a meal that’s not a standout but a bit pricey, I would say Miyako is just a generic Asian lunch at a restaurant whose name and lunch just aren’t memorable.
Miyako Sushi and Steakhouse
2801 Washington Rd
miyakoofaugusta.com
