Benihana Chelsea, Private Dining

a very entertaining place, chefs are trained to entertain all guests of varied ages and it’s amazing how they do so - very adaptable. the portion sizes are very good, it does seem like a hefty price you’re paying when you see the menu, but when you take the entertainment and amount of food you get, it’s very much worth it. the only reason it’s not 5/5 is the service, quite slow, we had empty glasses that were removed but no offer for another drink was made, when wanting the drinks menu no one was around for us to ask so we left it (even though it was 7pm on saturday), the water we got had black bits floating around… if it wasn’t for the food and entertainment, it would be a lower score.

Once you have found the very discrete entrance to Benihana, be warned, there are 32 steps down to the restaurant (and 32 back up). There is a small cloakroom halfway down the stairs (by reception). As we were a bit early, we had the suggested coffee which was not very hot, fortunately because we were suddenly called in to the main restaurant. We were placed at the end of an 8 seater table, one side left clear for the chef, and with a couple seated at the far end; a slightly awkward arrangement since we were facing each other, too far away to converse but near enough to have to avoid each other’s gaze. Service began quite promptly with some small starters cooked on the hot plate in front of us in an interesting way, including making a “volcano” in onion rings when an adjacent table were singing happy birthday. Having had our soup, the rice, salmon and chicken quickly followed and the whole thing was over in an hour. As the chef has to go to the next table, you cannot really take a break between courses for this particular offering. I understand part of the attraction is the presentation which was fun in parts but it not that out of the ordinary. The food was perfectly ordinary too and the cocktails, although interesting looking, did not make you feel like ordering a second one. The lounge area is large and a big screen shows the names of people (presumably guests) who have birthdays or other celebrations that day. The adjacent toilets appeared to be well maintained. Glad we tried it but we won’t be back.