| Ambiance: |  (3.5 / 5) |
| Service: | (3.5 / 5) |
| Value for money: | (2.5 / 5) |
| Toilets: | (3.5 / 5) |
I’ve been told about Benihana a number of times and have always been interested in going. I liked the idea of having your food cooked for you at your table, and this type of interactive dining appealed to me as its something I’d like for MYO. So, last night after a few cocktails in one of my favourite hotspots Roadhouse, I got my chance to eat at Benihana.
Tom in action…
The outside design could almost be described as a little brash – a striking black, with red font, it definitely didn’t exude softness. Walking inside, we were immediately greeted and coats were taken and placed in a cloakroom. The restaurant wasn’t overly busy, however, the venue is so large that it’d be pretty spectacular if the place was fully booked on a Wednesday night. Initially we were sat at a table with a teppayaki hot plate in the centre, by ourselves but ten minutes later, we were joined by 5 others and our teppayaki chef ‘Tom’. And what a character Tom was – talking to himself constantly while flipping the onions, prawns and rice, he even started singing for us. You can’t deny that Benihana gives you quite the show.
We chose (well I chose) a bottle of Marsanne Viognier and I really wanted to try the sushi so we had a tried a portion of the tuna nigiri sushi, which I’d expected to have come as a starter but it took such a long time to come, I’d almost forgotten about it by the time it appeared in front of me. The wine took equally long to come, which is surprising considering the restaurant wasn’t overly busy. It got me wondering how they’d come on a Saturday night. Although the wine was worth the wait, unfortunately the sushi wasn’t – it tasted like it’d been sat out for a while and definitely hadn’t been made fresh to order.
Miso Soup
We ordered two ‘special dinners’ – Rocky’s Choice (Hibachi Steak & Hibachi Chicken) for me and obviously the Benihana Royal for Andrew as it included scallops, lobster tail and chateau briand. The dinners came complete with a prawn appetiser, cooked in front of you, miso soup (tasted slightly like thinned down ahh bisto, but I enjoyed it!), salad and egg fried rice. Probably because I was always the last to be served, I personally didn’t like the fact that everyone at the table got served exactly the same thing and at the same time, as by the time I got my share, the food was a little over-cooked. If something is perfectly cooked and ready to serve to the first person, then surely by the time it gets to the eigth, it’s not going to be so good?
Lobster Tail
All of our main meats were served together and I was surprised to find that Tom didn’t ask how we’d like our steak cooked. This is never a good sign to me! I watched in horror as I watched our steaks be chopped into dog food like chunks but was prepared to endure it as I was convinced it’d be delicious. Arriving onto my plate, I forked a square chunk into my mouth and sure enough, it tasted quite dry and chewy, and lacked a lot of seasoning. The chicken wasn’t much better either. Andrew’s chateau briand was definitely an improvement, it tasted softer and was a lot easier on the jaw to get through. His lobster and scallops were fine too.
Not a good photo…. and this was our tenth attempt!
Despite the food being a little underwhelming, the experience was great fun and it did give that WOW factor which a lot of restaurants strive to achieve. However, as our Vietnamese waitress stated, the food is more for ‘show’, rather than taste. Personally, at the prices Benihana charge, I’d rather taste over entertainment but it was a cool experience, and we got our own Benihana hats out of it!
And when we ended the night at the Ritz, any thoughts about dry meat were out of the window. What a night! 
Recommendation
If you fancy some entertainment and aren’t overly fussy with how your steak’s cooked, I’d recommend Benihana as I do think it’s an experience which everyone should try once in their lives. Failing that, take a trip to Japan and see it first hand!
Extra Information:
Address:37 Sackville St, London
Phone: 020 7494 2525
Website: http://www.benihana.co.uk/
NTK: Don’t go with expectations that you’re going to have the best steak you’ve ever had and you’ll love the show Benihana offers!
