Coolidge Corner restaurant is a rare gem for the greater Boston area

By Laura Finaldi, News Staff

Tucked away on a side street in Coolidge Corner is a former Kabbalah temple that was recently refurbished and turned into one of the few Hibachi-style restaurants in the Boston area.

After two years of planning, the brains behind Northampton-based restaurant Osaka Japanese Sushi & Steak House opened up their second restaurant at 14 Green St. in Brookline on Saturday.

Hibachi, a Japanese cooking method where the chef comes directly to the table and serves up grilled steak, veggies, chicken and seafood saturated in Asian-style sauces right before the customer, is popular in many areas across the country. However, until Osaka’s opening, the area was substantially lacking in terms of these restaurants. The closest Hibachi restaurants to campus besides Osaka are in Revere and Cambridge.

Restaurant owner Mark Chen said he and his business partner were surprised a Hibachi-style restaurant hadn’t been opened in the area, which he said makes sense for Brookline and especially for the Boston area, because of the abundance of people who like to go out for their meals.

“It’s highly populated, people like eating out,” he said. “We all agree this is the biggest market in the area because there’s no Hibachi around.”

Chen said he thinks the lack of existing Hibachi restaurants in the area is because the large griddles and tables that come with Hibachi require high ceilings and a lot of space, something city real estate just can’t provide.

“Our [restaurant] is like a standalone building,” he said. “That’s why we’re able to have it in here. It’s difficult to get into the city because it uses a lot of space.”

The menu features 23 different Hibachi-style dishes, prepared at tables that can seat up to 20 people. Each dish comes with a house salad, fried rice and a variety of mixed vegetables cooked on the grill and served to each patron.

There is also a wide variety of sushi options. In an effort to cater to visitors who want to eat healthier, they can substitute the white rice sushi for healthier brown rice. This is just one example of how the restaurant is putting Asian fusion cuisine, something they’ve been practicing at the Northampton restaurant for years, into practice. Chen said his chef makes several special sauces each week for the sushi, so customers can choose to top off rolls with more than just soy sauce.

“We’re running a New York-style fusion Japanese restaurant,” Chen said. “For us, it’s not new, but in this area it is.”

There’s also a lounge area in the basement where people can mingle and sip cocktails while watching the Bruins play in the background. The full bar features Asian favorites such as Mai Tais, Asian pear margaritas and scorpion bowls, the latter of which Chen said have been extremely popular at the original location, especially among college students.

“In Northampton, during the weekends we can’t find the bowls to use,” he said. “One night we used 200 bowls and we were like, ‘where are the bowls?’ Those people had a fun time.”

Olivia Blake, a senior speech and language pathology major, said the delicious food, combined with dinner and a show, make going out for Hibachi fun.

“It’s a fun thing to do with friends,” she said. “It’s different – not your average sit down meal.”

Just hours before the restaurant opened, Chen said he felt good and ready to have the place finally open.

“Today (last Saturday) we already have reservations. People have already come in and made reservations. During construction, customers came in saying ‘when do you open?’ I can’t wait,” he said. “The crews are all here. We’re ready.”

For more information, call Osaka Japanese Sushi & Steak House at (617) 732-0088.