Shortly before most of us departed for break, yet another Asian restaurant opened for business on Maine Street.
Aki took over the ground and basement floors of what used to be O'Shea's, redecorating them with bright colors and bamboo, along with other vaguely oriental ornamentation.
The back of the restaurant behind the bar features three hibachi tables, each seating about 10.
In the past, similar restaurants have looked to complicate their menus with a spectrum of pan-Asian cuisines, promising one-stop shopping for both pad Thai and spicy tuna rolls.
Refreshingly, Aki has taken a different approach, choosing to concentrate on filling the hibachi void in the Brunswick dining scene. It's just too bad that, at least for now, it's not very good.
For those new to the concept, the basic idea of hibachi is that the diner chooses a protein, which is then cooked on a large tableside griddle with vegetables, fried rice and various sauces.
Standard options include chicken, steak, shrimp, scallop, salmon ,and calamari.
More expensive options such as filet mignon and lobster tail are also available, but not worth the cost.
In terms of value, look for the combination of two hibachi where you can pair two of the standard options for $23.
The meal starts with complementary soup, Miso (watered down), and a house salad with ginger dressing.
Then the chef comes to your table pushing his cart. He introduces himself and reviews everyone's individual order and temperature preferences for the steak.
Perhaps the biggest problem with the concept of hibachi is that one individual prepares the meal all at once.
The food is inevitably overcooked but, in an effort to remedy this, chefs resort to cooking the components separately, first serving the fried rice, then five to 10 minutes later, the protein, and finally, the vegetables.
Diners are forced to make the decision of eating as the food comes, or resisting and waiting for the full meal while the rice and meat cool to less appetizing temperatures.
I personally chose to wait, only sampling small bites until my meal was complete.
I shouldn't have bothered, however, as the final product left much to be desired.
Steak, shrimp, chicken and the other meat options all take different times to cook, but at Aki, the entire platter of various proteins is dumped onto the grill simultaneously and cooked for a uniform duration.
Dry, rubbery shrimp, chewy steak, tasteless chicken and rubbery calamari were the result.
When you finally get the plate of food, what seemed like a healthy portion from the menu description turns out to barely satiate. Less is never more when it comes to hibachi.
Anyone who has been to a respectable hibachi grill knows that the experience should provide a thrill in addition to a satisfying meal.
Aki does not disappoint on this front. The chef pulls out all the stops while preparing the food, including the onion steam train, egg and knife tricks, and the classic broccoli-catching and sake-squirting.
If you've never experienced hibachi, Aki will certainly entertain, but don't go looking to satisfy a desperate craving as the wait isn't worth it.
Aki, 94 Maine St., Brunswick ME
Taste: 2 stars
Authenticity: 2 star
Value: 2 stars
Service: 1 (too many servers, hover over you, terrible attitude)
Overall: 2 stars
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