BenihaNOT

I went to Benihana Japanese Steak House last weekend for a friends birthday. If you dont know what Benihana is, its known for the flavor of its food as much as the showmanship with which it is prepared in front of the customers. The chef flips knives and spatulas and flips food through the air into his hat and onto plates, and juggles knives and soy sauce containers and stuff. . But i have to tell you Benihana just isnt what it used to be. and the big pepper shaker juggle show at the end wasnt even shakers they were just dowells of wood that were lathed to look like pepper shakers. weak. I have to say tho the onion volcano was neat until i saw the guy at the table next to ours put red sauce hot lava around the top. we didnt get lava. ::sadface::


Our Chef was a mexican guy... i'm an equal opportunity guy but something didnt seem right. and the "show" wasnt that spectacular. My friend Tom said all he's had are Mexican guys for the last 5 years there and probably goes 2 times a year.

so, yea i dunno, call me a cheap bastard but $17 for a half a chicken breast and some rice doesnt seem to make up for the lack luster chef. i mean if there was more fire and flying sharp objects and food i'd be ok with it but this dude missed the shrimp tail in the pocket trick on like 60% of the tries and dropped his spatula more than a few times while juggling it. its not visible in the pic but had prison tats on his hands too

Tom said:

Last time we went for our 10 year anniversary this summer, and we took the boys for the 1st time, and I built it way too much. The dude missed the tail in the hat, tail in the pocket, and the long distance flip to the plate so many times that both kids looked at me with a kind of "What the hell is this" kind of look.

when you cant impress a little kid, youre done.


Someone should write a letter, because back in the day, those chefs were badass. food ninjas. Hibachi warriors! They would live their whole lives training on top of a mountain in Japan and only when they were truly ready would get to work at Benihana.

now they're just taking dudes off the line at Denny's and teaching them how to juggle and rattle spatulas.

Yunosuke Aoki, a samurai descendant and entertainer, who started Benihana back in Japan after WWII is rolling in his grave right now.

note to self: get the fried rice next time. i opted for the steamed rice and felt like an asshole while everyone else got the "fried rice show" and got to eat before me. then my sticky lump came out later.