Champion Teppanyaki
Categories: Sushi Bars, Japanese, Steakhouses [Edit]
46851 Warm Springs Blvd(between Francisco Ln & Shale Cmn)
Fremont, CA 94539 (510) 770-0918
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Private Lot
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: Yes
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
60 reviews
Sunnyvale, CA
"I'm SURPRISED that this spot is at a 3 star. I'm sorry, but I've been going to Rokkos for 3+ years now. I'd say 4 even. The service isn't…" read more »
22 Reviews for Champion Teppanyaki
3.5 stars lately. The cooks have gone back to Taiwan and they have new chefs. The food is just not as good. Still above average, but I don't get my cravings to go there anymore :(
1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
10/12/2007
I really love this teppanyaki restaurant. I like the superior combination (scallop, shrimp, fish,… Read more »
what a pleasant surprise! The exterior looks like a regular chinatown strip mall, but the inside is really modern and clean! I had no idea this place existed at all.
I've never been to a benihana type restuarant before, so yes...i am a virigin in this area. Both teppanyaki and sushi are on the pricey side ($9 for 2 pieces of uni; $7 for 2 pieces of amaebi), but it was worth the experience. The dinner menu for teppanyaki averages on the high $20...I think mine was $24.80 and it included a small salad, handroll appetizer, soup, veggies, 1 scallop, 2 shrimps, 2 tiger prawns, salmon, filet mignon, and dessert. I ate till I was full and still had a togo box filled with food to bring home.
This would be a great place to have a birthday celebration!
People thought this was:
Useful (1)
Funny (1)
Cool (1)
My former coworker took me here for a farewell lunch. I am so glad she did because I would have never gone on my own. The food was very light and delicious. The filet mignon was so tender and juicy as was the seafood. I have never had fresh fried rice before, it was SOOO good. I rarely go to Fremont to eat, but I will try to make it out here again.
People thought this was:
Cool (1)
Its a really nice restaurant with great customer service. The waitresses are really attentive. I had the Hibachi Salmon. It was good nothing special. I tried some of my friends sushi he had the spicy tuna and it was good. The chef did some cool onion mountain thing haha but yeah I only came here for a friends birthday dinner. I probably wouldn't come back.
The sushi here is great! I've eaten here several times, on each side of the restaurant. The teppanyaki is good. The service is good. But I prefer the sushi side. I think you can't go wrong with the sushi here. They get pretty artistic and creative with some of it.
Tips: The sushi side is a better bet for taking a date, less distraction from an enthusiastic teppanyaki chef.
Another Tip: Try the miso sea bass, it is the best I have ever had.
I'm impressed. When I think of Fremont, I think of all-you-can-eat buffets.
The place look pretty ordinary from the outside, but stepping in, the interior decor is pleasant. It's clean with very professional staff, water is always filled. Great service and great food.
This is a popular restaurant in the Warm Springs area. I would highly recommend call ahead for a reservation if waiting is not your cup of tea.
There are two notable things about this restaurant: the price and the experience.
The dinner menu is on the high end, but it is worth the teppanyaki experience. If you like experienced and flashy teppanyaki chefs, you will find them here. The combination of the entree is plentiful and colorful. I really like I can have some seafood and meat all in one entree. The good is average. They have always been tasty and fresh to me.
I would bring people who have never been to a teppanyaki restaurant here. It is a decent date or family dinner restaurant.
Went here tonight for a friend's bday. It's basically like Benihana, but saltier? Nevertheless the chef at our table was hilarious and that made up for it all. The food was decent. I had the seafood combo and it was just enough food, and their kumquat tea was delicious. It was kind of pricey, but decent eats and as soon as I finished my tea I was brought out water. That was awesome service.
Then I love how they turn off the lights and you think they are kicking you out, but then they whip out the birthday cake.
Nice touches on everything.
People thought this was:
Cool (1)
I was quite pleased with this place. I may prefer Nijo better, but if your in the mood for good teppanyaki with some of your chinese speaking friends, this may be your style....
We ordered two combos ($17 each) and picked the salmon, shrimp, beef and chicken.
The food was okay, nothing great. However, the whole experience was bad because the chef kept on talking to us! Actually, it was more of him talking and us trying to understand what he was saying. He was just going on and on about his other job, kids, paying bills, etc... not something you want to hear someone ramble on and on about for 20 minutes straight- after you yourself had a long day at work.
Dont think I will be going back.
People thought this was:
Useful (2)
Funny (3)
Cool (2)
Teppanyaki here was halfway decent... Kingswood (in Cupertino) and Benihana are definately better. Salad came watery, steak was a little too tough, and like the other yelper, our chef wouldn't stop yapping!! With the prices, you're better off going somewhere else. We felt rushed since there was a family waiting so the server kept hinting rudely for us to finish up and leave... which made no sense since there were other tables available!
People thought this was:
Useful (1)
Funny (1)
Cool (2)
Came here in June 2007 to meet up with a cousin of mine here. We had a group of six people. Most of us got the special, which consisted of a miso or beef broth soup, a salmon appetizer, rice, steak and shrimp, vegetables, and green tea ice cream. What I did NOT like about this place was:
*A 18% gratuity was automatically added to the bill.
*Our waitress did not understand English well.
*A minimum charge of $8 per person.
*Lemondade tastes like powder form. When asked for a change to Coke, I was charged for both.
*Definitely pricey.
On the plus side, the food wasn't too bad but it was a bit bland for me. Location was good, off the Freeway on Mission and Warm Springs, across from VIA.
Some chefs are better than others, I would request someone younger and more vibrant if you can. The wait can be long since they have 8 tables and 6 chefs if you come at the wrong time of the day.
I beg to differ, this is the worst teppanyaki spot I've ever been to. In English this place is called Champion, and in Mandarin it is Shang Ping meaning top stuff. But the reverse is true. This is a Taiwanese owned teppanyaki restaurant.
Honestly this review is based on a visit perhaps before they put in a sushi bar, and despite the raves from two Taiwanese friends, me thinks their tastebuds were out of calibration.
Value-wise this place is average to an extent, and given the mediocrity of the restaurants in complex fondly dubbed "Little Taipei" (which is a far cry from an accurate representation of the city's food offerings), I suppose you could say this place is somewhat unique.
Benihana, although despised by most, is actually way way way better than Champion. The appetizer salad at Champion was a joke. Mostly iceberg lettuce with a watery ranch kind of dressing. The buns were ok, went well with butter. Everything after that just didn't hit the spot. For about the same $ or a wee bit more I'd rather eat at Benihana, seriously.
A superb teppanyaki experience can only be found in Hong Kong, Taiwan, or Japan. PETA would scream, but the experience of seeing a live abalone on the shell squirm on the grill and then enjoying its cooked flesh afterwards is better than a pre-show of a chef juggling salt pepper shakers while trying to sauce the fried rice and light a volcano onion on fire. Yawn I say to the latter.
I think teppanyaki in Taiwan would be way way better than at Champion, which is a false representation of that experience. Sorry not coming back!
People thought this was:
Useful (2)
Funny (1)
Cool (1)
When something unexpectedly surprises you, the feeling is invaluable.
Located in a stripmall, Champion Teppanyaki looks like a modest hole in a wall restaurant recognizable by their bull-head logo. The visual appeal of this place conjures sentiments of aggressiveness and boldness. Walking towards this place I felt strong and confident; ready to be a 'champion' and 'taking the bull by its horns', in other words, I was gonna tear this place up.
But once inside, I was pleasantly softened by the delicate decor; Haiku-style furniture, solid redwood bar, and granite Teppanyaki tables. We were immediately greeted by the hostess in a subtle manner, not in the usual loud and abrupt "HA-JI-ME-MA-SHI-TE" you get at those local sushibars. First question the lady asks is whether we want to be seated for sushi or teppanyaki. Hmm..well, uhh, how about both?? Our quick-thinking hostess, in a way where she just solved the world's toughest mathematical problem, happily suggests, "well, let's sit at the teppanyaki table then", with a big happy smile.
Ok, we marched down with her to an empty table and promptly seats us with very shiny and picturesque menus for the teppanyaki and a A4 size fill-in form with a razorsharp mini-pencil for the sushi. Skimming the teppanyaki menu, I was surprised at the ease of prices of their pre-determined meals. Aside from the individual plates available, such as lambchops and hibachi salmon, they had the specials: House Special ($24), Deluxe Special ($35), ..... Special ($??), and the Champion Special ($95). To be honest, I didn't really look at the other specials so I'm not sure about their prices or content, but I only looked at the House Special and the Champion Special to compare why the prices are so different. Although my salivary glands were already pumping out acidic chew-juice by looking at the selection of Toro, fresh lobster, Kobe beef that were in the Champion Special, I still kinda felt doubtful to invest too much too early for a restaurant I'm new to. So I chose for the House Special, which had a peaceful blend of shrimp, salmon, and filet mignon. The gf ordered the Hibachi Salmon ($17) which had a very shiny and yummy picture displayed. Not only that, I also ordered a Unagi roll and a couple pieces of hamachi and salmon sashimi, because as we all know, the only true unbiased judgment of a Japanese restaurant is based on their fresh sushi.
The menu books close and the anticipation begins. We start noticing lots of other people strolling in, so I felt lucky we got in first, because the menu got me huungry. Within 5 minutes came our salads, a simple concoction of lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers dressed with a subtle and soft ginger sauce. The other salad was a crab-salad, cut into thin strips blended with a wonderful sauce. Holy shit this was good.
Then the snowball started rolling. Dish after dish started coming in like the nickels out of a slotmachine after winning 5 dollars in Reno. The sushi came and wtf wow! I didn't think this grand hole-in-a-wall would have the kinda sushi that only high priced top-tier Japanese restaurants would have. The hamachi and salmon literally melted like butter in my mouth, telltale signs that the fish were fresh, not frozen for long, and not under-thawed. I mean, every bite was worth the 4 bucks for 3 pieces, now how often can you say that? Then our teppanyaki chef approached near with our order to cook. Delicious strips of salmon filet and a round and thick filet mignon with a side of tigerprawns all ready to be simmered on the hot tabletop. Amidst this craziness, our soups came in, Miso and Seafood soup. Bang Bang, just what I needed. I was already getting thirsty from stuffing my face with soy-sauce dipped
Naturally, I hold expensive restaurants to higher standards. The food here is good, but I wouldn't come here if I had to pay for it myself.
My mother loves Champion...for my 2nd time here, we both had the Dinner Special. First came our salad, which was small but very good, with crispy wonton strips and a light tangy dressing. Next, one handroll with imitation crab in a creamy sauce, and a tiny slice of garlic bread. Both pretty good. Then a choice of soups: Corn or Miso. I had Miso. It was typical.
For our entree, the very nice cook served us shrimp, jumbo shrimp, salmon, cubed filet mignon, and vegetables (bean sprouts). The cooks here don't do fancy tricks and stuff, which is perfectly fine for me but maybe not for 7 year olds who are looking for something more fun.
The shrimp was excellent, the jumbo shrimp was not (lacked flavor and creepy squeaky texture), and the salmon and filet mignon were...good...and very filling in the end, though portions of each were smallish.
Last, we were served dessert...which was really not very dessert-like. A tiny bowl of slightly sweetened, hot herbal (ginseng) soup. Luckily I did not save much room for dessert.
Overall, decent experience.
This is two restaurants, same door. The Sushi Bar side (with karaoke stage) had wonderful fresh fish and perfectly prepared rolls. Their spicy tuna roll was the best I've had in ages - the roll sliced and topped with a mound of fish and a daub of hot sauce. The salmon was not overly preserved/salty as in so many other places. The crab in the California Roll had that perfect tinge of sweetness. They served free appetizers or amuse-bouches while we waited for our sushi, some edamame and a spicy salad of fish and cucumber. Heaven. Two large rolls, a sushi platter, and soup came to $30 - perfectly reasonable prices for such quality. The staff was helpful and attentive, the atmosphere comfortable. We'll be back. A lot.
People thought this was:
Useful (1)
We had the sushi side of this combo eatery, which was alright. The bento box had a ton of food and the terriyaki salmon was really good. The gave you two huge steaks. The spicy tuna roll was alright, not my favorite. They had a garlic edamame on the menu which sounded great but they were totally confused when I ordered it. Decent change of pace from your "regular" sushi place. Prices were reasonable.
Good ass spot. I went there for the lunch special with tomez and his grandma. she hooked us up. This is like Benihana's where they cook in front of you. first i think they hooked us with some veggies. then came some fried rice then we got to choose a meat. i had the beef i believe. we got a slab of fish. some more veggies. a salad and the goods just kept coming. good ass food. little pricey though.
Better than I thought. I normally dislike teppanyaki because I think of it more as form than function. I hate feeling like the chefs expect you to pay attention to them. But Champion chefs don't do all those Benihana tricks. They pretty much just cook the food, albeit right at your table.
I ordered a 2-meat combo: rib-eye and garlic chicken. The rib-eye was really juicy and tender. Cooked just right - rare like I asked. Probably the best red meat I've had in a long time. It was cut into 1-inch cubes and had giant pieces of garlic alongside. The garlic was really good! As for the garlic chicken, it was only average. The flavor wasn't as strong as I would have liked - kind of a mild honey flavor and slightly garlicky. Included with the 2-meat combo at $16.80 (certain meats/fish are more expensive) were: salad with a tasty miso-type dressing, fairly good garlic bread, steamed rice, sauteed pea sprouts (?) and sauteed bean sprouts.
I am totally cheap when it comes to restaurants, so the $16.80 is expensive for my tastes. But I was pleasantly surprised by the portions of the meat they gave. It doesn't seem like they cut down the portion based on the number of items you get, and the incremental item cost is pretty minimal. Other people in our party got oysters (2 huge ones), shrimp (6 large), salmon (sizeable fillet), and scallops (4-5 large) as their selections, and I was impressed at the quantity. Everything seemed fresh, also.
Decor is quite understated. Granite counters around the grill were nice. The non-chef staff wasn't that friendly, but seemed quite efficient in clearing our dishes and refilling drinks. Our chef was quiet and polite. One thing that was a bit frustrating was waiting for the food to be cooked. The chef didn't handle that many items at one time, so people were served in a somewhat haphazard order. Having to sit at a table with another party is also a little strange to me.
I would have liked to give this place 3.5 stars, but that's not an option...
in response to KEN K's review. go to taiwan then. HAHA obviously were not there..and obviously its not benihauna..that place is a multi-million dollar chain restaurant..i would think they are better. they have the top chefs in the world with expensive meat..and of course passed down to their guests..thats why its expensive. anyway. ..
champion teppanyaki is good..you have to try to believe it..and if you dont like it then dont go back..so yeah..umm go to taiwan or hong kong..ding dong.
Dinner starts at around $16, so it's not cheap, but man, if you go here, you have to try the oyster and lamb. It is so good. The dinner combo seems like a decent value for what you get. After trying this, I would never go back to Nijo Castle again.
I was there last night and it seems like everything's changed! There's a new menu, new chefs, and new servers. The manager told me that the new chef's were from way back when Champion first opened. My mom recognized one of them as the original head chef. He ended up cooking for us. He said his name was Ah-Wen.
Anyway, his food was FANTASTIC!! I never thought teppanyaki could taste that good. I ordered the veal and it was soooooo good. My mom had the lamb chops and she said it was so tender and spiced just right. We also had the Hibachi Udon and it was cooked just right. The salad presentation was awesome and the cream of mushroom soup was the best I've ever had. I can't wait to take my husband there to try it out.
I asked about the Japanese side and the manager said it was under construction until the end of April. Apparently, the chef is coming from the top restaurant in Taiwan, called Mitsui. I'm definately going to check it out when it opens!!
People Who Viewed This Also Viewed...
Related Lists
-
Lunchtime in…
Working in Fremont, it's definitely a struggle to… -
Damn, it's YUCKtastic and…
So long, farewell, it's time to say gooooodbye… -
Places I Wouldn't Go…
horrible service, I can deal, but when there's…
Hot and New
- DishDash
293 reviews
Sunnyvale, CA
- Watercourse Way
250 reviews
Palo Alto, CA
- Pampas
125 reviews
Palo Alto, CA
- Blush
98 reviews
Dublin, CA
- Hong Kong Saigon Seafood…
174 reviews
Sunnyvale, CA
