The increased surface contact can also create a wonderful sear on certain foods at high temperatures, increasing the flavor and internal moistness and the addition of liquids and sauces while cooking will allow you to baste foods with further flavor enhancements. The advantage of a flattop grill can especially be found when cooking delicate cuts of meat like fish, preparing eggs or cooking chopped vegetables that would normally fall through the gaps found on traditional barbecue grill grates.
A Teppanyaki griddle can, therefore, be found by many other names or descriptions including a flattop grill, flat cook-top, Asado grill and even confused for a hibachi grill. The word Teppanyaki is Japanese and is derived from two words, teppan, which means iron plate and yaki, which means grilled or pan-seared, so it makes sense that grills of this type feature a solid, flat surface.