Benihana

09/27/08

Worst hibachi experience ever!

by Wooten at Citysearch

My husband and I love the hibachi grill experience but were VERY disappointed with Benihana in Seattle! The soup was just chicken broth, they charged extra for fried rice, the chicken was chewy, and they didn't even have the traditional orange shrimp sauce!!! There wasn't much of a show and the server wasn't particularly polite either. The only good thing was the sushi and drinks. We are definitely going to try some other places in the area, because this was not worth the $75 for two people!!!

• Pros: good sushi and drinks
• Cons: Terrible service, gross entrees, way too expensive!

04/23/08

Great food, but terrible service in sushi lounge

by truevoid at Citysearch

I have been to the restaurant two times this month, once for grill and once for sushi. It was great experience to have food enjoying chef's performance for grill. But in the second visit for sushi, I was really annoyed by the terrible service of a waiter. She throwed forks, spoons, and glasses on the table. As my friends and I order more food, the service got better.

If you are to enjoy sushi, it would be much better to be served by chef on the bar.

• Pros: grill, chef's performance
• Cons: service in the sushi lounge

11/15/07

Terrible Service

by akem at Citysearch

I've been to Benihana many times and the service in the sushi bar is had been pretty good. But lately, it's been pretty bad. A week ago my wife and I had sushi in the lounge and I have to admit the the food was terrific. Unfortunately, the service was terrible. We ordered a bottle of premium sake and not only did the server serve it with unmatching glasses, tacky if you ask me, they were dirty and covered in some kind of film. The server was extremely slow to bring our drinks, apathetic and at times rude. Here's a helpful hint, sit at the sushi bar and get served by the chefs.

• Pros: Fresh Sushi
• Cons: Sushi Bar/Lounge Service

11/02/07

Great food & vibe

by pk207 at Citysearch

Although it can be a bit crowded this is one of my favorite restaurants from the chain. Always a great time.

10/31/07

The competition does a better job

by preston_007 at Citysearch

About 6 months ago, I had my first experience at a Japanese steakhouse, a Benihana knock-off in a strip mall in Renton. It was an exciting and fun experience, although a bit salty. I assumed that Benihana would be even better, and took my mother there for her birthday last night. Although the food was a bit better, and less salty than the other, the "show" left much to be desired. Our chef seemed very tired and eager to go home, and mumbled his way through cooking our meal with no excitement whatsoever. I expected flames, flying food, jokes, etc. Although I certainly can't complain about how our food turned out, we might as well have sat at a table and had our food brought to us. Don't make the drive to downtown and pay for parking if there is a japanese steakhouse nearby. I'm going to try the Japanese Steakhouse in Woodinville (same distance, free parking) and see if their chef can stay awake while cooking!

• Pros: convenient downtown location, high quality ingredients
• Cons: downtown parking, lazy servers, tired chef