Originally Posted by GrandeEater

Glad you enjoy Benihana. It can teeter between fun and annoyingly corny, depending on your chef. Sometimes it's even boring if your chef has no personality. It's interesting, but it's not Hibachi. A Hibachi is a small charcoal grill. Benihana is "teppan yaki" which is grilling on a big hot steel plate - usually fired by gas. It's a cuisine that blends western flavors with Japanese flavors, so I think of it as not authentic. But there are Teppanyaki places in Japan, so I've got to admit that it's "Japanese" even if it's a fairly recent hybrid invention.
Realy good Japanese food is tastier in a good Japanese restaurant.
I'm glad you're picking up tips, which is always fun. I like to cook too. Just realize that lots of the tips are not very Japanese. The last teppan place I went to fried everything in butter on the skillet. Butter is NOT a traditional Japanese cooking ingredient!
I think that Benihana is to Japanese food as Taco Bell is to Mexican food. It's cute, it's tasty, but it's not authentic. My friends from Mexico will eat Taco Bell because it's quick, cheap, and even tasty. But it's foreign food to them - an American invention - and not like anything they ate in Mexico.
Try a good sukiyaki cooked at your table in a traditional Japanese restaurant - where you sit around a low table on tatami mats - where the server in a kimono quietly tends to your needs and cooks your food before your eyes - now THERE'S a great show - not flashy, but far more satisfying for me.