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| - As you can probably tell by my other reviews-- I'm one of those, "if you don't have something nice to say....yadda yadda yadda." But in the spirit of Yelp and actual critical review--- I'll have to suggest steering clear of Benihana; at least until they add more spices and seasonings to their repertoire.
Yes, yes, yes, I should've known. I'm not much of a 'chain' eater-- but this was my boyfriend's family's pick for his graduation dinner. It seems to be a family favorite.... which I can't say I really understand. At all. I also should mention that this review is based entirely on their only vegetarian dinner option.
I didn't get a look at the bill, but my course was at least over $25 for far less than exemplar fare. Granted, this included a miso soup, small lettuce & carrot salad, tofu appe, egg fried rice, grilled assorted vegetables as the entree, and a scoop of rainbow sorbet for dessert-- but it reaffirms how one should rely on the old standby of quality versus quantity. And I guess they have to charge that much to keep the Benihana salt mines open.... heaven sakes! The waitress was giggling to herself about how much water I was putting down, but I really can't imagine that this is a rare thing with their preferred method of seasoning; salting the bejesus out of everything from the pasty, ginger-esque dressing on the salad and the soggy, cold, fried tofu appe to the soy-and-butter sopping vegetables. The only reprieve was the rainbow sorbet and a nice hot green tea closer.
Everyone else at the table had either a meat or seafood course, and were quite satisfied with their meals, so MAYBE it was just the veggie option or MAYBE I'm just a picky foodie or just MAYBE this place really needs the constructive criticism. And yes, I also realize this place is possibly more about the show than the food...???.... but our chef, though nice, was quite lackluster and didn't have a full cashe of tricks to unveil. Just the onion volcano. Sigh.
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