Have you ever been so impressed by the design and atmosphere of a restaurant only to have the actual meal not live up to the quality of the surrounding experience? This was my ultimate impression after visiting Ichigo Ichie (pronounced ITCH-EEE-GO ITCH-EEE-A), a high end Japanese Steakhouse recently opened in Seekonk, MA.

Hopes are high from the get go upon entering the restaurant, so much so that you may feel as if you’ve been transported away from southern Mass and straight into downtown Boston.

A darkened entryway with a star lit ceiling and large waterfall leads to the reception area. This front area leads out to a very spacious and beautiful rectangular bar. The decor feels very Feng Shui, is top notch and leaves no question of its quality. Kind of like modern Japanese design with future\minimalist dark stone, wood, glass and lots of great lighting.

Fans of the movie Blade Runner may appreciate the awesome looking sushi bar with the chefs working in front of a sharp blue toned lighting piece that looks straight out of the movie! Quality runs throughout from the bathrooms to the perfectly cailbrated Plasma\LCD sets showing HD broadcasts (something only AV dorks like me would notice!)

My wife and I went on a saturday night for a Hibachi table (the chef stands and cooks live in front of you) and folks who have been to these types of restaurants before know to expect a long wait. Unfortunately, it was an hour and twenty minutes (with reservation!), longer than I had ever waited for any Hibachi table before. The place was definitely bustling, but it appeared to be more of a poor seating decision than lack of spaces at tables.

After being initially impressed with the quality decor of the restaurant, deliciously potent drinks at the bar and overall happy atmosphere (we could constantly hear people laughing and having a grand old time from the Hibachi room), things took a turn for the surprisingly average with the actual meal.

We both ordered the Filet and Lobster Tail meal along with Tuna and Yellowtail sashimi (just the fish, no rice ball underneath) and a Lobster Tempura roll.

First came the sushi. The Lobster Tempura roll was excellently crispy, with perfect sushi rice and a delicious savory, sweet sauce. Strangely, I can’t understand why the chef left a piece of the lobster cartilage on one of the tempura ends. Why not make the entire piece edible? My only guess was to make the dish look larger. My wife also had to reach in and remove a piece of the lobster shell from her mouth between bites. Never a pleasant experience, but I would order this roll again, sans cartilage and lobster shell bits.

The Tuna and Yellowtail sashimi were fresh and probably not frozen, but nothing special. I felt I have had better at less elegant sushi joints.

Next came a fresh salad with ginger dressing. The greens, tomato and dressing were fresh and appeared house made, but the dressing lacked… something. It was slightly tangy, but the ginger was muted in a way that was noticeabley ho-hum.

Before you’ve even had two forkfuls of salad, a “mushroom” soup is placed in front of you. This was one of the worst items of the night. The insufficiently savory mushroom soup tasted vaguely of hot water, a couple of onions and no where near enough mushrooms. I counted 3 mushrooms, 1 and a half bean sprouts and two pieces of scallion in my bowl. I had three halting spoonfuls and put it aside.

Once it was time for the main event, our Hibachi chef (Jack), arrived and seemed really tired. He apologized and explained that his voice was hoarse from the nights activities. We completely understood and even though knife wielding, onion flaming hijinks is what you expect from this kind of place, I was more interested in the Hibachi food.

Grilled shrimp were up first. They were good. Fresh, albeit slightly squeaky bite from being almost overcooked. Seasoned with a soy, coriander sauce that would be much better if it wasnt used on EVERYTHING that touches the grill surface. The flavor stayed with us as an unpleasant aftertaste through until the next day!

Next came the fried rice which was not very good. The rice had no bite, was actually slightly soggy and lacking anything resembling a real flavor aside from plain rice and weak soy\coriander sauce. I had to add more soy sauce to give it any flavor.

The lobster tail was fresh but noticeably not very large considering the price for the meal. I actually ended up getting a piece of the lobster shell in a bite…disturbing. The accompanying seafood sauce, which as far as I can tell has a creamy mayonnaise base and possibly ginger, lacked any real flavor and didnt add much to the equation.

The filet mignon was the highlight of the hibachi experience. Extremely fresh, perfectly seasoned and perfectly cooked, it almost made me forget about the previous lackluster offerings… Almost. The accompanying weak beef sauce, also a forgettable ginger\soy mix, is pretty unneccessary when you have an incredible piece of beef.

My wife and I both felt that even though there are things to recommend for the restaurant, they’re pretty evenly balanced with things to recommend against. We also feel that other, less elegant Japanese steakhouses easily rival if not succeed in better food than what Ichigo is currently offering.

I believe the main problem right now with Ichigo Ichie is that, along with being a fairly new it sets a high bar in its atmosphere and presentation. On top of the great, high end decor, the hostesses, bartenders and waitstaff were all very kind and accommodating. When all of these great quality elements are in place, you HAVE to exceed with exceptional quality food to match.

I hope that with more time and experience, Ichigo Ichie’s food can reach its own high standards of quality to become a truly unforgettable Japanese steakhouse experience.