eyah... I try not to eat at "faux-japanese" restaurants (yeah, its a bit racist of me but I just prefer eating cultural food prepared by people who actually originate from that culture -- I think they're just a bit prouder of what they make. That goes for any style of food from any culture). But yeah, I first saw the blow-torch used at one of the "high-end" places in San Francisco. I remember saying at the time I suspected that wasn't quite the traditional method
One of my other clues about a restaurant is if it has the word "bistro" at the end.... it almost guarantees that I won't be served anything related to the asserted ethnic (e.g. P.F. Chang's Chinese Bistro ... the food isn't bad but is it Chinese food??? not even close... maybe in the 23rd Century on Mars?)