Interactive cuisine and a great fun night out
by Miss Terry Diner
The Benihana Japanese-American Steakhouse on the first
floor of the Royal Garden Plaza, overlooking Pattaya 2 Road, is a well
established restaurant, part of an international chain that apparently
originated in America. It had been almost a year since our last visit, so
when Stefan Heller, the new kitchen operation manager of the Pattaya
Marriott Resort and Spa, suggested that the Dining Out Team might like to
renew the acquaintance, we jumped at it.
The ambience of the Benihana is unmistakably Japanese.
Japanese wall hangings, watercolour prints, statues, dolls and samurai
swords all attest to this. There is that clean Japanese minimalism in the
décor.
With this restaurant, the diners are seated around a
large stainless steel hot plate grill, with the chef in front to
demonstrate the cooking. This is done as a moving art theatre, rather than
a cooking demonstration. Interested? Read on.
We ate in one of the two private rooms (a great idea if
you want to impress the boss). We also chose from the a la carte menu
which begins with side orders ranging from Japanese onion soup at B. 60
through to a 16 piece raw fish sashimi moriawase at B. 480. By the way,
remember that since this is part of the Marriott, you have the usual hotel
plus-plus to add to these prices.
These items are followed by a vegetarian corner with
five items between B. 50-200, before getting into a page of
“Traditional” items which are served with Japanese onion soup, a
salad, shrimp appetizer, Hibachi vegetables, rice and tea. These range
between B. 290 for mackerel, through to B. 720 for an Australian filet
mignon. (All the beef is imported from either the US, NZ or Australia.)
In this section there is also the Ichiban set which
includes all the accompaniments (as above plus ice cream), with USDA
sirloin steak, chicken, lobster tail and ocean scallops for B. 1,690 for
two people, which we chose. There are also Specialties (B. 420-890) and
desserts including Swensens ice cream.
In the private room you get to use special chopsticks
with brass elephants on the end. Almost worth the visit just to use them!
We began with the soup which was a great palate cleanser and then on came
chef, Supakorn, and the show began.
It began with the spinning spatula and twirling fork
routine to get us in the mood for some culinary tricks. Having got our
attention he demonstrated how to tail shrimps and then toss the tails into
his hat. For an encore he then began to tempt Madame with tasty morsels,
to then flick them away at the last second. In retaliation, she began
stealing some of his items as they were cooking on the hot plate. By now
we were all laughing at this interactive cooking session.
And the food? The steak was fabulous as were the
scallops and lobster - and the vegetables and the shrimp and the, and the,
and the - do I need go on? It is fresh food cooked as you want, in front
of you.
But the show was not over yet. There were eggs to throw
and catch and then neatly cut in two into a bowl, there was rice to cook
that ended up as a beating heart proclaiming “I love U” complete with
a fork and spatula arrow. And our applause!
Referring to my notes, I had written, “A long while
since I laughed so much over dinner.” When you go ‘dining out’
professionally it is easy to become simply absorbed with describing the
food and service and miss the real enjoyment of dining out. At Benihana,
the enjoyment is real, and in your face. As Chef Stefan said, “This is
not the place for a quiet romantic dinner for two.” However, it is the
place for a great fun night out. It is not a cheap eat, but you are paying
for more than just a steak and two veg. We thoroughly enjoyed it. So will
you. Highly recommended.
Benihana, 1st floor Royal Garden Plaza (between Beach
Road and Pattaya 2 Road), telephone 038 412 120-3, fax 038 429 926.
