Restaurant Review: Kazoku

High Point University’s Kazoku: A True Hibachi Experience

By Cassandra Mischak

Q News

High Point University is the home to three fine-dining restaurants that are all located in the heart of campus.

As students, you are able to make a reservation at one of the restaurant labs once a week. Fortunately, each student can use a meal swipe in replacement for the cost of the three-course dinners.

Since these dining labs are present at the university to help prepare students for proper etiquette, professional business attire is required. All three of these on-campus dining restaurants build the students' confidence in professional settings that go beyond an office cubicle. 

The first restaurant to open on campus is a steakhouse called 1924 Prime, located in the R.G Wanek Center. In the fall of 2022, a Mediterranean, high-end restaurant opened inside the Kahn Hotel, directly beside the Nido and Mariana Qubein Conference Arena. 

But most recently, this year, a family-style, teppanyaki dining lab opened up in the newly-built Panther Commons building: Kazoku.

Kazoku is a Japanese restaurant, structured similarly to a traditional hibachi atmosphere. What makes this such a fun experience for students is that you are able to gather around a live kitchen table with a group of up to 10 friends and watch your food get made right in front of you.

Not only does this make the dining experience itself exciting and entertaining, but everything from the atmosphere to the quality of the food also exceeds expectations. 

From the moment you walk through the large, stone-built doors, the hostesses always greet you with kindness and knowledge about the food you are about to endeavor. 

After waiting for your reservation for no more than 10 minutes, you are immediately seated at a 10 top table setting with your party and are given a three-course menu. 

The menu is smaller than most, but every option will melt your taste buds.

Your first order is a starter. You can choose between a chicken broth soup and a miso soup, which also comes with a small garden salad dish with your choice of ranch or soy ginger dressing.

Following your starters are your entree options. You are able to choose two proteins for your main dish: vegetable, chicken, shrimp, market fish or steak. Your protein choices are served with a hibachi shrimp appetizer, hibachi vegetables, steamed or fried rice and any homemade dipping sauce that you desire. 

At Kazoku, they truly do save the best for last: dessert. The dessert options are fried cheesecake rolls, molten chocolate lava cake or a sorbet trio. 

The best part of the entire dining experience is watching your chef cook right in front of you. What makes it so special is that every chef at Kazoku makes their cooking both entertaining and engaging.

They will make a fire volcano out of the hibachi vegetables that lights up the entire dining room. The chef’s also give you the option to catch a couple of the vegetables in your mouth, fresh off the table.

What makes Kazoku stand apart from the other fine-dining restaurants at HPU is that portion size. You are bound to never leave the restaurant hungry. All three of the courses are served with the perfect amount of food to not only satisfy your taste buds because of the quality, but also with enough food that you leave with leftovers for a midnight snack. 

All three of the fine-dining labs are well-done by the University, but Kazoku has most definitely established a name and outstanding reputation for itself. Specifically due to the quality and quantity of the food as well as the fun atmosphere it provides for every single student.