Benihana Piccadilly, London Review

Benihana, Piccadilly, is a pretty special restaurant. In fact, unknowingly, during our visit we were about to experience something very different.

You see, the thing about Benihana, Piccadilly, is that it’s a Japanese restaurant with a difference. That difference being that when you eat there, it’s not just a meal; it is an experience and an event in its own right.

The tables at Benihana are shared (or exclusive, if you have a large party) and each one surrounds a teppan - a large hot plate as the centre feature. Each dish you order is cooked directly at your table, which is a novel and exciting experience; unlike anything we’ve experienced in London previously. This set-up offers the diner unrestricted views over the chef’s culinary performance; and a performance is exactly what they offer.

“Never before have I seen an egg fly through the air at a terrific speed before being caught in a chef’s hat”

When we arrived, we were excited and intrigued about the set up, but before settling down to eat, we decided to sample some cocktails.

We each chose a cocktail from Benihana’s ‘Signature Martinis’ cocktail list. We opted for a Rising Sun Lemon Drop, which was a very summery citrus cocktail with a sugar rim - tasting exactly like a lemon drop! We also sampled the Strawberry Saketini, which was both fruity and refreshing, made with fresh strawberries and sake.

After our cocktails, it was time for us to enjoy the show. To start, we chose the edamame beans, the ‘Dancing Prawns’ a California roll and a crunchy prawn tempura roll.

For our main courses we opted for the chateaubriand from the “Traditional” Dinners menu and the Shogun’s Feast (juicy prawns and sirloin steak) from the Specialities Dinners menu. These dishes were accompanied by a prawn appetizer, Japanese onion soup, Benihana salad and hibachi vegetables. We also opted for some egg-fried rice, which up there with the best things we saw being made!

Describing the experience is hard, but never before have I seen an egg fly through the air at a terrific speed before being caught in a chef’s hat – so I hope that gives you some idea of what we experienced!

The absolutely highlight for us, however, was when they made The Volcano. The Volcano consists of a volcano shape mound of chopped onions along with a few other ingredients. Before you know it, the onions are alight and there is a three-foot flame shooting up in front of you! It’s a great moment when the entire restaurant looks over and everyone is in awe.

With all these dramatics, it’s hard to solely focus on the food, but once you do, you realise that the finished product completely lives up to the performance. The food is simply beautiful.

We couldn’t recommend Benihana, Piccadilly, more. Not just for great food, but a fantastic experience as well. If you get the opportunity to check it out, you will not be disappointed. It would be a great experience to go and share a table with a group of friends. Very impressive.