Big night out at Benihana, Chelsea

The Benihana chain has been going strong now for nearly 50 years since it's founder Rocky 'Hiroaki' Aoki opened his first restaurant in New York.  As the pioneer of the Teppan-yaki style of dining, he built up his chain of restaurants offering customers great fresh ingredients, cooked in front of them by talented and theatrical chefs.

The Chelsea branch is on the Kings Road, found behind an unassuming door you follow the staircase downstairs to an underground cavern of delight.

The sumptuous bar served us cocktails before we were led to our table to experience the talented chefs cook our food on a gleaming hibachi stainless steel grill.

Our chef was charming, funny, talented and hugely entertaining.  Watching his deft knife skills and he cracked jokes (and eggs) was brilliant and I think children would really enjoy the experience.

He was mesmerising and showed off some great tricks, like catching an egg in his hat, and making the steaming onion 'train'.

Benihana is a great place to go if you're celebrating a special occasion.  They make a BIG deal about birthdays - expect cake, balloons, applause and the entire staff singing to you!  You can also book a private room if you want a more exclusive party.  Want something more romantic?  They can cater for that too!

The food was delicious - we were served miso soup to start, and prawns, chicken, vegetables and steak all theatrically cooked right in front of us.  You can see the full menu here.

It is a little pricey - or maybe not, I'm not a regular diner in Chelsea - but for a special occasion I would recommend it, both for the atmosphere and the experience.

Disclosure: I attended a blogger event free of charge.  All images and words are my own.
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