Siloam Springs locals may have noticed the new lot on Mount Olive St., just up the road from Highway 412—a row of three food trucks and spaces for three more.
Griffin’s Food Court opened in November 2020 and is owned by the Griffin family, who hold the food trucks on their lot to a high standard.
One of the three trucks meeting this high standard is Segoku Hibachi, which serves not only Japanese hibachi, but sushi as well.
Customers are well taken care of at Segoku Hibachi—the truck’s owners, buddies Nanang and Noval, are veteran chefs that years ago worked at different restaurants in the same five-star J.W. Marriot hotel in Indonesia, where they’re from.
Funnily enough, the two did not meet until years later while working at the same Japanese restaurant—Samurai Japanese Cuisine and Sushi Bar—in Columbus, Georgia. There, the two became close friends. “We’re like family,” Nanang said.
Today, Nanang makes the sushi while Noval cooks the hibachi. Nanang has worked as a sushi chef his entire nearly 20-year career, starting at the Imari restaurant at the J.W. Marriot in Surabaya, Indonesia, where celebrities and dignitaries such as Roger Moore, Valentino Rossi and the Swiss prime minister enjoyed his sushi.
After working together in Columbus, Georgia, Nanang and Noval moved to Jonesboro, Arkansas, where again, they worked together at the same Japanese restaurant, Nanang doing sushi and Noval doing Hibachi.
The idea to start a small business and try their hands at running a food truck was Noval’s, Nanang said. Noval wanted a challenge: their own business, even a small one.
At first Nanang was apprehensive. “I gave [in] because he kept asking me…because we don’t want to be employees anymore.”
So, in November 2020, they moved to Siloam Springs and bought a trailer to serve as their food truck. Apart from expenses, there were some difficulties regarding the trailer itself. Despite already leasing their spot in Griffin’s Food Court, they weren’t ready to open until March 2021, with a completely rebuilt truck.
Business was slow early on, but after about two months, it began to pick up. These days, the influx of hungry customers is constant. Segoku Hibachi is not only a hibachi truck that has earned its stripes, but it is the only hibachi truck in town. But don’t think it doesn’t beat out what competition it does have.
“They have the best sushi in town,” said Lee Schrader, client support and video production specialist at John Brown University.
I find that I always return to the hibachi chicken meal when I visit Segoku Hibachi—very savory and filling. It comes with a side of fried rice and mixed and well-seasoned vegetables.
The sushi Nanang makes is delicious, masterfully made and lovingly presented. The portions are enough to fill your stomach, unlike some places. Nanang clearly has a passion for the food they make.
“We try to do our best for the customer, make everything with the heart. Everything we cook, we put [our] heart in it.”