Benihana in Al Bustan Rotana, Garhoud, Dubai - Restaurant Reviews

Benihana

A luxurious fish restaurant with exquisitely prepared sushi, sashimi and makimono 5 Reviews

Meal Deal

Benihana

Free-flowing sushi for Dhs99 (Thursday)

'Eatertainment' offer

Sushi at Dhs159 Timings: 6.30pm-11pm (Tuesday)

Tucked away around one of the many corners of the ground floor at the Al Bustan Rotana is Benihana, a luxurious fish restaurant sectioned off into a room with sit-around cooking stations – perfect for parties – and a regular seating area. Each section is divided with floor to ceiling glass and there’s a sit-to bar to boot.

Seated in the area away from the knife-tossing and other culinary high jinks, you can order from a lavish pick and mix menu of fish. There are no bento boxes here, although there is the Sushi Sashimi Imperial entrée (Dhs156), an assorted platter including grilled eel wrapped in seaweed, slabs of salmon, calamari strips and the obligatory sliced wasabi, the sinus-clearing, blow-your-head-off condiment. The Sushi Sashimi Imperial is a great option if you’re not a fish expert: the waiters are quick to suggest this option at the first flummoxed look from any customer, though explanations for each type of ‘aki’ and ‘imi’ are provided if you feel like taking longer over the menu.

We started with palate-preparing miso soup, which got our tastebuds ready for the fish to follow. The soup at Benihana is cooked to perfection, with just the correct amount of bite on the seaweed and dainty chunks of tofu. Sushi, sashimi, makimono, futo maki (a jumbo roll cut into eight pieces) and hand-rolled pieces of temaki shaped like ice-cream cones were all sampled and enjoyed. They aren’t cheap, but the pieces are exquisitely prepared and go hand-in-hand with extremely friendly and knowledgeable staff who are more than willing to adapt the menu to suit you.

Floating in the background is a non-intrusive mix tape of music, anything from ‘Bold And The Beautiful’ sax riffs to soft rock medleys. There is no particular clientèle – you’ll find anyone from family groups to couples turning up to sample the piscine treats on offer.

By Charlotte McDonald