A Night in Japan

“Irasshai” is the Japanese term for welcome. When you dine at a fine restaurant like Benihana’s you're sure to get an astounding welcome. The Japanese cuisine Benihana’s has three locations in Novi, Troy and Dearborn, Michigan. I visited the Dearborn location on October 19, 2008 at about 5:30 p.m. Benihana’s serves two types of Japanese cuisine. Half of the restaurant is the grill side, where there is everything from teriyaki steak to chicken hibachi, vegetables, rice and all, cooked to completion right in front of you. In the middle of the restaurant is the sushi bar where you can watch five to six sushi experts prepare your meal and the regular bar.

Benihana’s is decorated in a modern Japanese style. On the outside of the building, there are brown walls with Japanese writing on beige panels. When you first walk into the restaurant, your greeted by a large, red Japanese decoration built right into the wall. The wall makes a bit of privacy between the people waiting for a table, and the people eating. Once around the wall, there are two sides, to the right and left are the grills and the tables around them. In between the grills and tables is the sushi area and the bar, with booths and seats at the sushi bar. Aspects like the Japanese decoration on the wall when you first walk in, and a similar design hanging above the bar and the sushi area are qualities that keep people coming back for more. The space creates a relaxing mood with the Asian ambiance. The light scent of cleaning products, lets you feel more relaxed about using a public restroom. You could feel the cleanliness of the dishes by the warmth of the plate on your table. Depending on whether you use chopsticks or silverware, the chopsticks are brought in a paper wrapper and the silverware in your napkin.

The food not only had a fresh look, it had a fresh taste. I had gone with my best friend and we ordered Las Vegas Rolls and Crunchy Shrimp Tempura Rolls. Las Vegas rolls consist of fresh salmon, avocado, cream cheese, spicy mayo and their topped with crunchy jalapenos, then the rolls are deep fried. The crunchy shrimp tempura rolls are made with shrimp tempura, freshly cut avocado, cucumbers, crabsticks and crunchy tempura crumbs rolled around each piece. The meal was simply delectable. All the food was scrumptious tasting and smelling.

The bill added up to about twenty dollars. Although the meal wasn’t much, it is a bit expensive for the average person. Each set of sushi, with about eight rolls, can vary anywhere from $7.50 to $12.25. For an appetizer like soup or salad you can expect to pay anywhere from $3 to $5 dollars. Entrees can range in price from $17 to $26 dollars. There are only two desserts on the menu. One is just ice cream with choices from orange sherbert to the classic vanilla for $2.75 and the other is banana tempura for $6, which is just a deep-fried banana.

Although the meal was great, the timing of the meal was longer than expected. To get our first set of sushi, it took about twenty-five minutes and for our second set of rolls, it took about fifteen. The staff was extremely nice and very helpful. Reservations aren’t required at Benihana’s, but they are highly recommended, especially on weekends. Depending on how busy the restaurant is, the time of your wait is unexpected. I can say that in the past, I waited about an hour and a half, without reservations, to be seated. I would definitely recommend Benihana’s to anyone who loves Japanese cuisine and sushi. It’s a great place with decent prices for any kind of occasion. Not only will I go back to Benihana’s, I’m going to try to at least go once a month. The atmosphere, food and staff, makes you feel like you spent a relaxing night in Japan.