The Local Benihana

Friday night we went out with Karen and Jason and our professor friend Gary. Since the Scotts will likely be leaving soon, Jason suggested we try a new restaurant one of his colleagues recommended. The Hilltop Restaurant is a teppanyaki-style Japanese place next to the Jurong Bird Park. Of course, we wondered how it would compare to the few places like it back home.

After seating us around the cooktop, the waitress helped us into our bright orange aprons (or bibs?). We looked a bit like Home Depot employees. It's possible the saki made this sight even more amusing to us.

We enjoyed a delicious meat and seafood meal and we appreciated the skill of the Benihana cooks back home because aside from some fancy knifework to shell and devein some King prawns, the cook's tricks were no more impressive than what we find back in the US. Jason even taught our guy how to make "beating heart" rice by forming the rice into a heart-shape on the griddle, sliding his spatula underneath and then pulsing it up and down to imitate a heartbeat. The cook was receptive to learning a new trick and our tablemates were delighted. 

Our meal incorporated more garlic than we had ever seen. The cook had a huge bowl filled with minced garlic and actually ran out during the course of the evening. We were certain we absolutely reeked of garlic, but that's to be expected when dining in Asia, right?

Our waitress invited us back to the lounge for complimentary dessert and as one would expect at a Japanese restaurant, there wasn't much to entice us. Jason and Brian had mango pudding that they described as "chemical-tasting," Karen and I went wild and crazy with ice cream and since Gary didn't want anything, we ordered him Chin Chow. The mysterious concoction that appeared in front of him in no way resembled dessert. Brian took one taste and strongly advised me to not even try it. Chin Chow is a type of grass jelly that gets mixed with ice shavings and as Gary perfectly described, "looks like black snot." I snapped a picture of him pretending to eat a big spoonful and we were laughing so hard we likely offended the employees.

Mmmm...Nothing Says Dessert Like Some Grass Jelly

We piled in our maxi-cab to head back to town and while we were discussing where we should go next, our driver sprayed air freshener into the back seat. We knew the garlic smell must have been overwhelming for an Asian to neutralize us. It was quite an accomplishment for a group of Americans. I'm glad we tried out a new restaurant outside our expat neighborhood. Aside from dessert, the food was good and waking up the following morning with sore abs from laughter always reflects a fun night!