Judging by its simple ingredients, grilled chicken, white rice, and iceberg lettuce, one might imagine all teriyaki to be the same. One couldn't be farther from the truth. Quality, quantity, and bang-for-the-buck all figure into the equation when judging teriyaki, distinctly separating the teriyaki greats from the teriyaki pretenders. Given the fair but firm guidelines for grading teriyaki, the gamut is surprisingly quite varied. I Love Teriyaki, the strip-mall style restaurant straddling Wallingford and Fremont, gets the quantity right, puts out a decent flavor, and earns our stamp of approval. Quantity is I Love Teriyaki's secret ingredient, and there ain't nothing wrong with that.

I Love Teriyaki makes a curious distinction on their menu that isn't often seen on the teriyaki scene. By separating their #1 menu item, chicken teriyaki, from an order farther down the menu, white meat teriyaki, and adding a buck to the cost, they cleverly jones to nickel and dime their customers. Never one to be kicked in the family jewels, at least willingly, when I placed my order on this lovely 80 degree April afternoon, I stuck to the cheap stuff. Hey, if you're going to make it the #1 item on your menu, it best be your #1 item.

The #1 at I Love Teriyaki is defined by its huge portions. Two heaping scoops of rice, enough chicken to make my arm cramp carrying it home, and a salad that needs to be kept in a separate container because there's just not enough room for it in the big styrofoam container is always enough for me to stand and take notice. This is the mother load of quantity teriyaki extravagance.

On the taste front, I Love Teriyaki's #1 is pretty good but nothing to call home about. The chicken is meaty with no fat though it does have that heavier dark meat quality that lessens it a bit from its breast meat brethren. It seems grilled in appearance but unlike the best-of-the-best I Love Teriyaki's chicken lacks that smokey grill taste that truly adds a little something to my favorite teriyaki experiences. The two scoops of rice are adequate though I do prefer it laid out below the chicken. In the end, because of this distribution I actually ran out of rice to mix with my chicken. It's not the rice's fault, I suppose, it's just that I Love Teriyaki gives you so much chicken that they would literally have to put the rice in a separate carton just to keep up. And speaking of a separate carton, the salad, which is given in its own rectangular package, is covered with a nice sweet dressing that is tasty though a bit runny, allowing for much of the lettuce to tread ranch just to survive.

All in all my I Love Teriyaki experience was a good one. The huge portions and slightly above average taste make it an always reliable option to completely fill you up no matter which meal you choose to enjoy it. And at $6.50 with the tax that is a good deal, indeed.