Main courses usually consist of beef, lamb, chicken, and seafood. Soup, salad, and dessert are usually Western-style. Unlike its Western counterpart, the salad is rather small and the dressing usually sweet or sour. Not restricted by seasonal availability, stir-fired bean sprouts are almost always served, along with a side dish of chopped onions. Seafood can include prawns, fish fillets, cuttlefish, scallops, clams, oysters, eel, lobster, and abalone.
Fish is usually salmon, pomfret, or porgy, depending on season and availability.
The more expensive varieties are Japanese beef from Matsusaka, Akita, and Kobe. They are often offered along with less expensive beef from the United States and New Zealand. Top-quality Japanese beef is said to come from cows nourished with apples and beer and mellowed with music and massage. All beef cuts are choice sirloin or tenderloin. Light seasoning and fresh ingredients are the keys to teppanyaki's success.