OSAKA JAPANESE STEAKHOUSE
On two visits, Osaka’s sushi and sushimi were fresh and artfully presented. Sushi lovers should look to the Nigiri & Sashimi Combination ($13.95 at lunch) that includes four pieces of sushi, six pieces of sashimi and a California Roll. An excellent Spicy Tuna Roll is available individually ($5.50) or as part of a combination lunch with teriyaki , soup, and rice ($10.95).
Osaka offers several choices for its Hibachi dinners, and it does an especially fine job with beef. Although the beef is cut into a fairly small dice, servers still ask diners how they like the meat prepared, and a Hibachi steak ordered medium rare was cooked perfectly. The vegetable blend of zucchini, onions and mushrooms was seared perfectly, with a slight char.
From the seafood side of the hibachi menu, the shrimp cooked just to done is a far better choice than the nearly flavorless scallops.
Fried rice — all too often an afterthought at many other Asian restaurants — is particularly well made.
Osaka Japanese Steakhouse
WHERE: 2476 Commons Blvd., Suite G, just south of the Mall at Fairfield Commons in a location that formerly housed a Fuddrucker’s restaurant
WHEN: Monday through Friday, lunch 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., dinner 4:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturday 1 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday noon to 9:30 p.m.
DISHES TO TRY: Nigiri & Sashimi Combination ($13.95 lunch); Hibachi Steak/NY Strip ($9.95 lunch, $20.95 dinner); Hibachi Shrimp ($9.95/$19.95)
MORE INFORMATION: (937) 320-1188
Cherry House Cafe 'off to an impressive start'
Bill and Annette Mangan have quite a resume of restaurant experience, operating One-Eyed Jacks, a sports bar and restaurant in Fairborn, and before that running the Oasis Cafe in Xenia from 1997 to 2005 and the Peasant Stock cafes in the Dayton Mall and Salem Mall from 1987 to 1997.
The Mangans’ latest venture serves breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week, and it’s off to an impressive start.
The Cherry House Cafe’s Cherry Apricot Chicken Sandwich ($5.95) is a signature dish of sorts, and it’s excellent, served on a fresh croissant with lettuce and tomato, with the dried cherries adding an intriguing bite and a bit of texture to the creamy, well-made chicken salad. A “Smokey Mountain Burger” tops the beef with provolone, bacon, chopped red onion, barbecue sauce, lettuce and tomato, a generous dish that requires extra napkins. Order either sandwich as a “Value Basket” for an additional $1 and get a side dish such as the Broccoli Cherry Nut Salad with tiny redskin peanuts, plus one of the rich house-made cookies.
The restaurant is doing a brisk business, and it also has a carryout window, so the kitchen and the servers can be overwhelmed at times. Your patience, though, will be rewarded.
Cherry House Cafe>
WHERE: 1241 Meadowbridge Drive, Beavercreek (just off Dayton-Xenia Road, east of North Fairfield Road, near the new Kroger)
WHEN: Monday through Friday 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sunday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
DISHES TO TRY: Cherry Apricot Chicken Salad Sandwich ($5.95), Broccoli Cherry Nut Salad ($2.25)
MORE INFO: (937) 320-6200
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