4250 Birch Street
Newport Beach, CA 92660
(949) 955-0822
http://www.benihana.com
Last time I went to Benihana in City of Industry with my family, we had one of the worst dining experience ever. They offered me $100 gift certificate to use in any Benihana after I complained to their corporate headquarter. We decided to try Newport Beach Benihana this time hoping service would be much better, and it was! We had a great dinner at this location.
Their parking lot is very small, and it was completely full when we got there. We just parked at the big parking lot across the street. Really glad we made reservation and didn't have to join the crowd waiting for a table at the front lobby.
Sho Chiku Bai Ginjo ($16.00)
Junmai Ginjo, Berkeley, CA 300 ml
Smooth and clean, with a mellow flavor of vanilla and nectarines.
We were seated right away with a family of six on the same teppan table. Dr. P ordered a bottle of sake to go with our dinner. I love this sweet and smooth cold sake.
Was that a rabbit on my plate? Cute!
Benihana Onion Soup
Unlike City of Industry location, Newport Benihana is all about good service. Our waitress was friendly and very attentive. I think they assign one waitress to serve one table at a time. Right after we ordered, she brought us our Benihana onion soup right away. The soup was simply made with broth, fried onion strips, mushroom and scallion, and it was very tasty.
Benihana Salad
The ginger dressing on Benihana salad was great.
Dipping Sauces
Two kinds of dipping sauces. The orange one is good for seafood and veggies, and brown one is good for meat and also vegetables.
Our talented and funny chef was busy making our shrimp appetizer here.
Everyone on our table ordered Hibachi Chicken Rice. The chef was trying to make something with our fried rice. But what is it?
Everyone on the table said "Ahhhhh" at the same time when we realized what he was trying to make. haha...
Hibachi Chicken Rice ($3.25/person)
The original Benihana classic. Grilled chicken, rice, egg and chopped vegetables with garlic flavored butter.
Butter, butter, butter! Butter made the Hibachi Chicken Rice so good! (Hey, I made a Mickey Mouse with my fried rice and dipping sauces! hahahaha...)
There was the onion volcano our chef made, but what happened to the fire? How come there's no fire anymore on any of the Benihana volcano now? Safety hazard maybe?
Shrimp Appetizer / Hibachi Vegetables
Our teppanyaki meal started with Shrimp Appetizer and Hibachi Vegetables of mushroom and zucchini.
Dr. P and I ordered one seafood entree and one steak entree to share. That wasn't our lobster tails, but they sure looked good.
Surf Side ($27.60)
Grilled colossal shrimp, calamari and tender sea scallops
Our Surf Side seafood combo had shrimp, calamari and scallops. The shrimp was much bigger and better than the appetizer shrimp. The scallops were cooked perfectly. And the calamari was our biggest surprise. It was sooooo soft and delicious. Our chef was seriously talented.
Steak time!
Hibachi Chateaubriand ($31.60)
8.5 ounces of center cut tenderloin and mushrooms lightly seasoned and grilled with garlic butter
The steak we ordered was Hibachi Chateaubriand. Dr. P ordered his medium rare, and I ordered mine medium. The meat was super tender, and I couldn't get enough of their garlic butter.
When I called to make a reservation, they asked if I was there to celebrate a special occasion. I told them not really, but my husband's birthday is later this month so I guess it could be an early birthday celebration. After our delicious teppanyaki dinner, the waitresses came over to sing happy birthday to Dr. P with big smile on their faces. They also took a picture of us and printed it out for us to take home.
Green Tea Sundae
Green Tea Sundae was Dr. P's birthday treat, but I ate most of it. haha...
Since the gift certificate could only be applied toward food, we only used $60 of it and still have $40 left. Yeah! We get to go back again next time!
What a big differences between two locations! This time the food was great, and service was even better. We will definitely continue going back to Benihana Newport Beach! Happy early birthday, Dr. P!
wow, looks so good
ReplyDeleteWe can go when you finish your diet.
If you sign up for benihana chef table.. you get a gift certificate for a free birthday meal during your birthday month:) use that with your leftover credit and you've got another delicious and free meal for the both of you! Yum!
ReplyDeleteThanks, cc!
I just signed Dr. P up. Hope to get the birthday meal offer soon.
I notice that your chef wasn't Asian...I assumed that all Benihana chefs were Asian, am I wrong? Also, this is embarrassing to admit, but I have never tried sake. Your Benihana sake looks so good----do you know where I can buy a bottle?
ReplyDeleteI would say half of them are Asians, and half of them are Hispanic.
You can get sake from most Asian market.
If you find a Japanese market near you, you'll have more choices.
Do you have a Mitsuwa near you?
My dining experience would be great if I don't have to pay for it.
ReplyDeleteBut it can still be bad at some places even if it's free.
Ooooh, good to see your experience at this location was much better :) It's so expensive! I would sure hope it was a lot better this time around.
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely a special occasion kind of place.
Price is high, but we figure it's for the "dinner show".
So glad we found a good Benihana.
I am glad you had a great experience in Benihana. I actually never had a great experience there. I don't enjoy when the chef tries to throw food in my mouth. I am not a dolphin, and the chef is not my trainer. I read you previous BAD experience, and I hope the next time I go there, I will actually have a nice experience.
ReplyDeleteTry the Newport Beach location next time.
I found their service to be the best comparing to Beverly Hills and City of Industry.