Hibachi experience.

Last week my husband surprised me by taking me to lunch at a Japanese restaurant.  I have had sushi before, but this restaurant also had a hibachi grill for cooking in front of the customers.

 I had only heard of this style of cooking.  My friends told me you have to go in a group in a hibachi restaurant, but the hostess seated us with a couple strangers and we all enjoyed the experience together.First I shared with my husband a couple of traditional Japanese appetizers.  We had a calamari salad and lobster roll.  Both were as pleasing to the eye as were delicious. I made a picture only of the salad.

Then the show began.  Chef Peter brought his cart with a mis en place out and began cooking lunch for us.  To start with he flamed the grill with oil. I was really impressed!

He also entertained us with an onion volcano and rolling and tossing eggs with his spatula.

He began making our lunch by preparing fried rice. I did not realize that all fried rice has egg in it.  It was interesting to watch him grill the rice and quickly made us a tasty start to our lunch.

Next he grilled vegetables for us.  It was a combination of mushrooms, onions, carrots and zucchini. While the vegetables were cooking he again entertained us by trying to toss zucchini into our mouths.  He missed everyone, but my husband almost caught his bite.  It was all very much fun.  Chef finished our vegetables with a teriyaki sauce.

Lastly Chef cooked our entrees on the grill.  I had calamari and steak, while my husband had shrimp and sukiyaki, which is a mixture of steak, onions and carrots.  Again Chef made a show of cooking our entrees.  He finished all our dishes with soy sauce and teriyaki sauce.  He also provided us with two dipping sauces.  One was from ginger and the other was mayonnaise based.

The hibachi restaurant is a delicious and fun experience I look forward to repeating.