Rokbonki Japanese Steak House - (847) 506-1212

This is my favorite eating place. I have been to many of the Japanese Steak houses and this IS THE BEST111 Always good food, good entertainment. Serves is great. Love it.

This was, for most of us our first time, and we were a group of 12. The atmosphere is cordial, but nothing out of the ordinary. The wait staff were courteous attentive. They places at one table (not a double) and it was a bit cramped. The order taking process was a tad confusing and with the Japanese accent and the noise (mind you, their English is light-years better than my Japanese) it was difficult to understand exactly what you were getting (and at what price ? more latter). Dinners come with a soup, a small salad, rice, entree and a small bowl of ice cream or sherbet. Typical price for single entree were $11 for vegetarian (only one selection ? well I guess they warn you in the name --- Steak House) and in the $25-30 area for a combination. There was also an upgrade on the steak entree to Filet for $2 more. While the portion sizes were adequate, given the material costs they were not generous, given the price. If you are a soda drinker ? be warned.. There are no free refills and the kindly wait staff didn?t tell us (nor did we ask) therefore our bill had an extra $20 for refills. With the vegetarian entree there is included shrimp ? when those who ordered it said they didn?t want shrimp we were informed that it would be prepared and provided to the others as an appetizer. Also if you are interested in the calamari, it is a cuddle fish type; a 4 x 6 inch flat oval, not what I had expected. With such a large group in a single chef table the dinner took a while to prepare. While everything I sampled was tasty, and our chef entertaining, my impression was that the portions were smallish and the prices high?. This was not a good value for the money but it was an entertaining, though cramped evening ? I suspect that I would have enjoyed this outing more ( then my comments more complimentary) if I had not felt a bit taken advantage of (seating, soda, portion size). I would not recommend this establishment on the basis of this one visit.

My friend invited me to dinner and I had NEVER had Japanese. I was very nervous and hungry! It was quite busy for a Thursday night which is a good sign. We ordered appetizers which was amazing and the chef (Alex was his name) that prepared the food infront of us was hilarious! What a fun time! Plus the amount of food they serve was huge!!! I recommend it to everyone!