Our dinner that night was at Benihana. I know these are pretty common in the States but we dont have many over here- only two, in fact, and both of them are far too far away for us to visit. So when we visit Orlando we like to visit this one. Its located in the Downtown Disney area- at the Hilton, just across the road from the Marketplace.
For those of you unfamiliar with Benis- its a Teppan Grill kind of place where the chef cooks your meal in front of you. Its fun to watch, and the kind of food they make there is like comfort food to me, so I always leave happy. Alishya loves to watch the chefs, so its good for the little kids too.
Theres also the option of sitting in the bar area- same food, no show- Matt and I have done this a couple of times when we are on our own. Part of the fun of Benis is meeting the new people who are sat at your table, but sometimes its nice just to be your party- and thats what the lounge is for.
This time we were a party of six, so we took up nearly a whole table to ourselves. We were joined by a lovely Floridian couple who were really nice but no so chatty, which was fine, because we are good at making up for that!
Firstly, there was the drinks order. I ordered a Mai Tai, and it was uh-mah-zing! I havent quite figured out what they put in this thats different from others, but its my favourite! Mum ordered a Baby Blue Ocean, which is Malibu, pineapple vodka, sake, blue curacao and fruit juice. I had a sip of this and it was really good, really refreshing. I thought it would be a bit too much with the sake in, but its not, it just tastes really fruity. The driving boys (Matt and Dad) had soft drinks, Chris had a bud and Ali had Sprite in a takeaway kids cup (which she has not put down since!).
Benis have plenty of options for food including sushi, sashimi, rolls, grilled foods, noodles and salads. From the many times Ive been to the Teppan grill section, the most popular selections by far are the entrée packages (for want of a better word!) that comes with various appetisers, sides and desserts. We choose these every time and add on sushi if were feeling particularly hungry.
So you start out with Benihana onion soup. This is a fairly clear broth with onions, spring onions, musrooms and other veggies suspended in it. I love this soup and I could sit all day with a huge bucket of it. Theres no fancy flavours, its just good old comfort food for me, and I love it.
Next comes the Benihana salad. This is greens, red cabbage, carrots and tomatoes in a tangy ginger dressing. The dressing is pretty tangy, theyre right, and for any of you who are wary of ginger, I would ask for it on the side. Chris isnt a fan of having the dressing mixed in with his salad, but he likes to dip into it on the side. I thought I had a picture of the salad, but I don't
You can pretty much imagine it easily though!
By this point the chef had arrived at our table and begun cooking. There is a show about the cooking and most of the chefs are very happy to chat and interact with you. Our chef was a baby to the whole thing and had only finished his training a couple of weeks prior. He was very good though, and we never noticed any amateurness about him. Here he is in action:
The chef cooked up our food and had lots of fun while doing it! We got a shrimp appetizer, which I passed on and let Matt have it- I always find it a bit chewy, but its the only shrimp Matt will eat, so go figure! We substituted the regular steamed rice for Hibachi chicken rice. This is the best rice ever- honestly, if you told me I could only eat this forever, that would be fine. I make a mean chicken rice, but this beats it hands down. Maybe I should buy a teppan grill? Here's the gorgeous stuff:
We all had slightly different meals and they all come with slightly different sides. Most of us got fried onions and mushrooms, and they were tasty. I got teriyaki chicken which was very good. The sauce was sweet and sticky and the chicken was cooked nicely. Looking back, I do wish Id been a bit more adventurous and got some sort of fish, but I was very happy with what I did get- it tasted fab. Here's a picture of 'something' teriyaki! Matt had steak and I had chicken and I can't tell which this is!
We do really enjoy Benis- its my kind of food, and its definitely different to watch someone cook your food in front of you! Its not gourmet, but Ive never had a bad meal there, and it satisfies all of us.