Birthday at Benihana
To celebrate Cisco’s birthday, we had “date night” at a restaurant of his choice….he chose Benihana!
I’d never been there, so I was excited. I didn’t really know what to expect….
We parked downtown 4-5 blocks away and huffed it uphill to get to the restaurant. We stopped in front of the Seattle Public Library for an “US” shot:
When we arrived we were brought to sit around the table with two other groups of people….a couple to our left and a group of four people who were there for business. It was kind of weird sitting with people you didn’t know, but the cook was entertaining and it went with the atmosphere. I had already looked at the menu online (of course!) so I knew exactly what I wanted when I got there…..unfortunately, this location hasn’t “updated” to the new menus, so I had to make another choice. One thing that swayed my decision was the fact that the calorie content was displayed for everything on the menu! I went with the 167 calorie platter…..aka, shrimp and veggies! I had planned on the mango shrimp.
Everyone got onion soup starters:
It was so good, just a simple veggie broth with a few fried onions, fresh mushrooms, and scallions. I had also ordered a plum wine that was listed under the “red wine” section on the menu, but it was clearly white when she brought it…..I tried it and it was basically syrup. So I sent it back and had a REAL red instead 
It was served with our salads:
Just iceberg, shreded carrots, and a fabulously thick ginger dressing. Those little plates are dipping sauces for our entrees…..dark brown = ginger, light brown = honey mustard.
Of COURSE we got sushi!
I love me some raw salmon, so we went with the Alaskan Roll – insides were crabstick meat and cucumber, topped with avocado and salmon. ALL my favorites!
Our chef came soon and started cooking it up!
After doing the obligitory tricks like flipping shrimp into his hat, of course…..which ended up stuck in the range above him without him knowing LOL And we can’t forget the onion volcano:
Then he started on fried rice for everyone else at the table (Cisco and I stuck to the steamed white rice)
Look at what my hot date ordered!
A lobster tail! Neither of us had tried it before, and I was sure that if it was anything like crab, I would be instantly in love.
The empty shell was put on his plate as a serving vessel.
Cooked lobster….
YUM! It was great! Kind of a good and bad thing…..seeing as how it’s so expensive! But it would be a nice treat every once in a while!
After cooking the seafood, he started on the chicken and steak (one of which was for Cisco)
He said it was excellant!
We each loved our meals! We split a scoop of chocolate ice cream for dessert (sorry no picture) that came with his meal. That was ALSO really good!
Alright, time to start watching my favorite TV show that stars another Seattle Benihana customer…..Eva Longoria Parker! There were pictures of celebrities that had visited before, and there was one of her and Tony Parker