High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Teppanyaki is a style of Japanese cuisine that uses an iron griddle to cook food. The word "teppanyaki" is derived from teppan, which means iron plate, and yaki, which means grilled, broiled or pan-fried. In Japan, teppanyaki refers to dishes cooked using a iron plate, including steak, shrimp, okonomiyaki, yakisoba, and monjayaki. Misono - the first restaurant to offer teppanyaki. The originator of the teppanyaki-style steakhouse is the Japanese restaurant chain Misono, which introduced the concept of cooking Western-influenced food on a teppan in Japan in 1945. They soon found that the cuisine was more popular with foreigners than with the Japanese, who enjoyed both watching the skilled maneuvers of the chefs preparing the food as well as the cuisine, somewhat more familiar than more traditional Japanese dishes.