Wiki Wiki Teriyaki has two locations: one Downtown, and the other in the Arboretum. The restaurants walk a fine—well, broad, actually—line between formal and fast food. Dining rooms are nicely furnished in blond woods with Asian art, bamboo lanterns, and small garden-like sitting areas decorated with plants, water features, and the occasional smoking dry-ice fountain. But the counters at the back are straight out of a mall food court, with lit signs showing photos of meals, Coke dispensers, and plastic forks and spoons. Service is friendly, but certainly not up to fast food standards of speed. “Wiki wiki” is Hawaiian for fast, and while they might earn a single “wiki” in our book, we’d hardly award them two.

The menu comprises the most familiar Japanese foods like katsu, sushi rolls, tempura, and of course, teriyaki. Meals are served in plastic partitioned dishes that resemble black lacquer and are a step up from what you might expect, given how relatively unexciting this small sliver of the cuisine is. The char-grilled teriyaki dishes are certainly the best here: chicken comes out moist and tender, with a nice charred flavor, drizzled with a sweet teriyaki sauce that is thick but not too heavy. Sushi rolls are moderately fresh—not up to sushi-bar standards, and scant better than what you can buy at the grocery store, with mushy, bland rice and fish.

Tempura is much too heavy, with a dense batter that seems to soak up grease. We are also disappointed with the tonkatsu—the thin pork cutlets are dried out after being fried, and the sauce has a yucky metallic aftertaste that goes straight to your brain. On the upside, tonkatsu plates are served with a shredded cabbage salad, and dressed with a miso vinaigrette that is crisp and bright. Don’t expect much more than basic satisfaction of your sudden food-court-Japanese craving, and you won’t be disappointed here.