That Hibachi Place

The salad arrives and it's delightful! Fresh and clean and tart. Not bad for a salad with no meat. But what's this soup? A consommé. It tastes...good, delicate, subtle. Strangely comforting, even. "But how?! There's nothing in here but a couple of shrooms and some onions?! What is this, some sort of Japanese magic?!"

The chef appears, wielding cutlery at lighting speed. Shrimp go flying. 

Mustard sauce. Ginger sauce. 

Four simple words. And yet, the range and complexity they represent is nothing shy of captivating. This is it. Dip your finger in this mustard and you will taste cream, soy, notes of wasabi. The ginger sauce hints of lemon zest and mild wine vinegar. These two, perfect little complementary condiment  blends alone could launch a thousand ships. But, no. They're for dipping. Enhancing. Effectively catapulting any garden variety vegetable into an irresistible, epic delicacy that is all its own. 

Choice cuts of prime seafood and steak are laid bare for all too see. They're shuffled to the side to wait their turn. The feast makes its way to your plate, one tantalizing element at a time. But you have questions: "I see it being made, but how!? How do they do it?!"

"How can it be so simple, yet be so good!?"

"Why can't I make this at home?!" 

"Do I have time for another Sapporo?!"

That little rolling cart carries all the makings of this glorious meal. But what's this? Mushrooms for the filet? No. Can it be? Chateaubriand!? 

8.5 ounces of the finest center-cut tenderloin, mushrooms, garlic butter, AND a side of cold water lobster tail?! This is madness! What manner of culinary collusion gives way to this extraordinary event!? This is the undeniable, decadent fusion of land, sea, and air. Beef meets butter, lobster meets lemon. Chicken meets soy sauce! A choice filet, hand-cut, seasoned, and sizzled into the realm of legend. Grilled, succulent lobster tail, hearty and satisfying in a way that only a lobster tail can accomplish: corpulent meat, exquisite texture the color of delicate snow, all submerged in heated butter, garlic, and soy. Fresh-steamed rice sizzles away until it is finally inundated with grilled breast of chicken, mirepoix, butter, and salt. 

"What does this place want?! World domination?!"

A lemon is pressed and glittery diamonds of tangy juice fall upon that steaming heap of savory rice. Citrus. But those drops begin a rolling crescendo of bright after brightness, fresh after freshness--zest, salt, earth--the 3-fold chord, the succulent TRI-FORCE of essence-combinations, charging over your tongue like a river of gold--crash! bam! bang!

Every taste forces you into a breast-beating fit of unfettered tastebud elation. Each savory forkful pushes you off a culinary cliff where you land on a fluffy, buttery pillow of rice, and so your adventure begins again! Your palate negotiates every wicked turn of this sizzling, aromatic river, layers of bright and tangy, subtle and earthy, salty and savory--all stacked--level upon level, flavor upon flavor, creating cacophony after crashing, complex cacophony of delectable taste combinations; a dance of deliciousness with all the breathless energy of a seething, political rant!

You are a feast---a feast for all senses! Well-played, garlic! Bravo, butter! Soy sauce, you subtle fiend! Ladies and gentlemen...I give you...Benihana's Hibachi Supreme!

The next day....

I relish your memory with a fervor; you were good yesterday, but today you are even better! For today, your flavors have truly intermingled, your tastes amplified, your aroma has been magnified!

Wait! Take caution!

Be certain no one else is around, for when the steaming, overpowering, all-encompassing fragrance of butter and garlic come wafting-forth from the microwave, there will be no denying the existence of foodtopia--here!--tucked in this little take-out container. And a true savage may stop at nothing to separate you from your leftovers!

#Benihana #Japanesesteak #Hibachisupreme