As I mentioned, we had reservations at Kyoto, the Japanese Hibachi restaurant, on our last evening, at 5:30 PM (opening). The four of us were seated at a show table with a couple from Ontario. They were very nice and we had some polite conversation, but we didnt want to intrude on each others dining experience.
The meal begins with the server bringing around warmed wash cloths. My sons look at them and ask what they are for- To wash your hands, you know like you do before meals. They looked at me like I was an alien. A proud-mother moment!
The first course was a selection of sushi and tempura. My 12 year old son is a picky eater, so I recommended the shrimp tempura to him (I knew the veggie would not appeal to him). There was an ulterior motive. I wanted sushi, but I also love tempura, so I was hoping to try some of his. My 9 year old had a dilemma. He couldnt decide between the octopus or the calamari (squid) sushi. Seriously! So my husband said he would get one, Ben could get the other and they would split. I ordered the Tekkamaki, which is a lot like a California Roll.
Heres the sushi:
No picture of the tempura. Nate was sitting at the far end of the table from me, and he INHALED the shrimp tempura before I had a chance to raid his appetizer. I didnt get a chance to sample the octopus or squid sushi since there were only 4 pieces of each of these. My husband and son both said they were fantastic. My sushi was incredible, too.
Next up was the salad/soup course. I ordered the salad with a ginger-sesame dressing. Mark and Ben had the miso soup. Nate passed on this course. The miso soup was the winner here!
As we were enjoying the soup and salad, the chef arrived and started to prepare fried rice:
Everyone at the table ordered the Surf-N-Turf, Beef Tenderloin and Lobster Tail. The chef presented the tray of steak and lobster for us to see and then he cooked it up:
The meal was delicious, but there was definitely too much food. I couldnt finish my plate, which is very unusual for me.
The chef started cleaning up his table and said his goodbyes to us. We tipped him. We were not sure if that was customary or not, but really, he worked hard preparing our meal and entertaining us! We tipped our server as well at the end of the meal. (Note- the Barcelo resort is all inclusive, so tipping is not required, but is definitely allowed and appreciated)
I think that Ben decided to skip dessert because he was full. I believe Nate ordered fried ice cream. Again, because he was on the opposite end of the table, I didnt get a picture of his dessert. Here is what my husband and I ordered. They were beautiful and delicious desserts, but I cant remember exactly what they were.
They have a lot of coconut stuff on the dessert menu (coconut pudding, coconut jello, tropical fruit with coconut, Spam-eggs-sausage-and-Spam*) * Had to throw in a little Monty Python reference- my son Ben and I are currently in a Monty Python-style production of the Canterbury Tales*
Great meal!
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