Teriyaki House offers unique variations, innovations

Teriyaki House is first and foremost a misnomer, after which it is a case study in blurred lines from its food to its location. Situated in the same building as the eminent Yoshi’s, Teriyaki House is severely outshone by its neighbor. In fact, the easiest way to guide people there is to direct them to “the same building as Yoshi’s, but at the other end.”

Entering through the chimed door, one of the most striking qualities of Teriyaki House’s space is its cleanliness. Whether that pristine condition is due to a strict regimen or to a lack of traffic is unclear. Tables are arranged on either side, allowing patrons quick and easy access to the counter in the back of the space. Behind that counter stands the restaurant’s emcee of sorts, making pleasantries as she coordinates the restaurant's hectic flow of orders.

Teriyaki House is, despite any pretension, a takeout place. And there’s the first example of how blurred the lines are here.

On a normal evening, none of the food is destined for the nearby tables, but rather for tabletops in the surrounding homes. The immaculate tables and chairs lining the walls are a formality, albeit a very nicely executed one.

It’s the kind of layout that works in New York, where the tables would be packed at lunchtime, but the culture and density of Somerville do not lend themselves to the setup. The emptiness of Teriyaki House seems to encourage patrons to make small talk with the matron and then be on their ways.

The second example of blurred boundaries lies in the menu, which seems scattered, as if items were just thrown into it. According to conventional wisdom, when one hears “teriyaki,” they should think of Japan, and when one hears of a restaurant called “Teriyaki House,” they would naturally assume that it serves Japanese food. The proprietors of Teriyaki House, apparently, are not fans of conventional wisdom. The eatery offers a plethora of teriyaki variations, almost all served with sautéed vegetables and rice lightly covered in teriyaki sauce. Proteins ranging from tofu to calamari to pork are marinated in the eponymous sauce rather than slathered in it, allowing the flavors to permeate the meats and add a subtle teriyaki note. However, when there isn’t any extra sauce to sop up and give eaters a full hit of teriyaki -- as is the case with the restaurant's dishes -- it is clear that something is missing.

The rest of the menu diverges quite sharply from Teriyaki House’s supposed thesis, with food items hailing predominantly from Chinese and Korean cuisines. The Chinese offerings are more or less run-of-the-mill dishes, ranging from lo mein and types of stir fry to a variety of wok satays. The Korean offerings are where diners should pay more attention.

One option, which this reviewer did not get a chance to taste, is beop bap. Based on its description and pictures of the dish online, beop bap seems to be bibimbap -- the famous Korean stir fry served in a hot stone pot -- minus the stone pot. That is, it is bibimbap minus the fun part.

Teriyaki House also offers a variety of Korean-style bao. Bao are buns with various fillings.Unlike Chinese bao, Korean bao are shaped more like hard-shell tacos, but unlike hard-shell tacos, they are puffy and soft and made from rice flour. The bao at Teriyaki House are surprisingly creative in light of the restaurant’s other culinary aspirations. There are more traditional options, such as the braised pork bao, but even these have teriyaki sauce on them. In fact, all the bao have teriyaki sauce, but they vary in how successfully they can be incorporated with the sauce. The lime chicken habañero bao is a fun variation on more traditional styles and a delicious example of fusion done right. That this bao and the braised pork bao taste oddly similar is slightly suspicious, but hardly a problem. Other even more exciting variations include the tofu, calamari and unagi baos. Diners may be hard pressed to find these offered anywhere else (at least, anywhere nearby).

One of Teriyaki House’s greatest qualities is its affordability. The food may not be amazing, but it is quite good, and the restaurant is a unique option in the sometimes mundane, repetitive roster of restaurants around Tufts' campus. Good prices, decent food and successful innovations make Teriyaki House a solid recommendation, albeit one that is often overlooked.