Editor Pick
Benihana
- January 3, 2007
- Rated 5 of 5 by
stomps from Houston, Texas
When my friend, Cristina, called us as we were walking around UT Austin and asked if we’d like to eat at Benihana that night, my mother replied with “Ooooh, that sounds delicious!” Pretty much everyone I know has the same reaction when this restaurant comes up in conversation; who wouldn’t enjoy such a great selection of Japanese food presented so theatrically?
The Benihana in San Antonio is located next to the inbound lanes of I-10 between Wurzbach Rd and Loop 410; this was literally a two minute ride down the feeder road from our hotel, the Best Western. We had made reservations, so we didn’t have to wait when we arrived, even though the restaurant was packed full. A word of warning about reservations, though: they only hold them for five minutes, so make sure you leave plenty of time for the drive there!
Since we were there during the holiday season and on the night of the city’s bowl game, there was a small set menu, rather than the much larger mix-n-match menu that they normally boast. This didn’t bother me, since my choice was still on the menu—the $27.50 “Splash ‘n’ Meadow” (shrimp & steak). For $5 more, I could have replaced the steak with filet mignon, but I chose not to; however, I did choose the $2.50 steamed rice replacement—fried rice. Also included in my meal was a wonderful miso soup, a shrimp appetizer, and vegetables.
After a literal triple-checking of orders (no one ever has to worry about getting the wrong meal here), the show began. First, the chef covered the hibachi grill in front of us (where all of our meals were to be cooked) in an oily substance and lit it, which created flames so large that they licked the (turned off) lamp above us. Then, he took each ring out of an onion and stacked them on top of each other, creating a little mountain, which he then poured more liquid on and lit. The onions literally turned into a tiny volcano, spouting flames from every crevasse. As we ooh-ed and ahh-ed, Cristina’s mother asked what he liquid he was lighting. With a perfectly straight face, the chef replied, “gasoline!”
He did other tricks, including tossing various pieces of food behind him and into a bowl and attempting to toss other pieces of food into his chef’s hat, as we dug into our meal. He prepared the fried rice first, followed by vegetables and meat, followed by the seafood. All of it was delicious and cooked to perfection, and everyone was absolutely stuffed by the end of the meal. My brother was particularly dismayed when they brought him a sundae (accompanied by the traditional Japanese song “If You’re Happy and You Know It” and in honor of his birthday, which wasn’t until the next week but apparently “counted anyway”) that he couldn’t find any room for. We all helped him out and then, thoroughly stuffed and content, left.
From journal 5..4..3..2..1..Happy New Year!