In the name of research (coughs), for good places to take the family for supper, I had a grown-up night out, hosted by the lovely Laura @LondonBabyMum founder of London-Baby.com who invited myself and several London blogger types, for a night out at #BenihanaChelsea on the Kings Road (easy to find, we jumped on a tube to Sloane Square, and walked up).
Now, I’ve know of this restaurant for years, the founder Rocky “Hiroaki” Aoki opened the first Benihana restaurant in 1964 in New York City. They are pioneers of “Teppan-yaki” dining, chefs combining dazzling performance and cooking freshest ingredients in front of diners.
We sat at a table for eight, and watched with delight as our chef Luke performed fantastic tricks with onion rings (volcanos and steam trains no less) – and cooked up some AMAZING food on the 300degree hot plate right in front of our eyes… bonkers! (There were a few comedy moments when Luke ‘accidentally’ threw an egg at me, and ‘squirted’ some fake soya sauce at Maggy)
Seriously – I’ve found another new place to take the kids for a special treat, I know they will LOVE the spectacle of it – they will love the vegetables (well, I’ve never had tastier courgette) and the freshest, melt-in-the-mouth fish… oh, and the (grown up) blackberry cocktails were divine.
Benihana UK have a new facebook page (with more photos of us!) and can be found in Chelsea and Piccadilly. A big thank you to Laura for inviting me, it was great to catch up with so many friends, and thank you too, to the attentive staff at Benihana, and in particular Dieter Kemp, Marketing Director for Benihana UK (who was full of stories about Rocky, and the history of Benihana, and kindly helped me with my chopstick technique!).
Oh, by the way, I’m also on twitter.com/MoreKidsChaos, Erm, and funnily enough on Google+, Facebook and Pinterest! Pop over to say hello x
Disclaimer: we were invited to the evening out by the BENIHANA management team.
read other views here:
http://missielizzie-meandmyshadow.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/big-night-out-at-benihana-chelsea.html
http://domesticgoddesque.com/2013/09/benihana-chelsea-fun-family/
http://babesabouttown.com/2013/09/eat-london-with-kids-benihana-chelsea/
http://lifeatthezoo.com/2013/09/nights-benihana-chelsea/
http://www.reallykidfriendly.com/exciting-family-meal-and-egg-juggling-at-benihana