Thank you so much, this message board has been so helpful! It's been several years since I've been in the DR and it's Matt's first time - we are loving the people, the scenery and the InterContinental. We travel for business frequently, this is a pleasure trip, we're based in NYC and Fort Lauderdale and wanted to get away for a week of R&R.
Around the world we look for Tappan Yaki (the hot grill like Benihana), and thanks to Delores and some of the posters here, we found the new location of SAMURAI and were so happy to find that they had Tappan Yaki! They called it Hibachi or something, but it was outstanding! The restaurant was immaculate, the service outstanding and we loved the Gyoza and the Spicy Shrimp Tempura Roll. We had 1 1/2 lobster (right from the aquarium) and the Shrimp as Tappan Yaki, and it was delicious.
It's definitely up there with some of our favorites in the world - in Tokyo, this meal would have been $1000 per person at the great Tappan Yaki restaurant at the top of the Westin Hotel - here the total was around $100 per person with a 25% tip and 3 bottles of Sho Chiku Bai Cold Sake (which we were happy to see they had, cold sake is much higher quality).
So, for us, 5 Stars for SAMURAI! Be sure to know the new address (listed in this thread), they said there's no sign at the old location.
Thanks for the other messages too - PorterHouse sounds great, and our restaurant in the InterContinental had excellent food as well. We're enjoying it so much we're staying another week to celebrate Valentine's Day here!
Have a great day, Michael