Flaming Onions...

Due to scheduling, stomach bugs, and weekday craziness, we have not been able to get together with J, D, AW and AM for way too long. We wanted the kids to get some face to face time, so instead of being selfish and having an adults-only dinner out, we decided to head out to Needham for a little dinner and a dog-and-pony show to boot. Where else can you be fed while being entertained, you ask? Why at a Japanese Steakhouse, of course. Growing up, B always loved going to these dual-purpose restaurants - he wants CR to follow suit and love them as well.

I personally am afraid of consuming food prepared in this manner. Benihana. Bisuteki. Fuji...all the same in my book. It stems from one of B's and my dates early on in our relationship. We went to the old Bisuteki - long story short, I had the scallops and shrimp, while spending time on the huge skillet-top they danced around with some undercooked beast, and voila! A digestive nightmare!

Anyway...

When you first walk in, there is a roped-off mini coy pool...not a pond, but a little indoor pit with large goldfish swimming around it. The movie theater-esque ropes didn't really prevent little people from leaning in, but it deterred them enough from trying to dive head-first into the shallow body of water. I did cringe when CR rested his slightly-open mouth on the draped cylinders...as a self-proclaimed and outwardly open germaphobe, I could only imagine how many strains of nastiness could be lurking on the red plastic surface...eh, the germs can battle the salmonella he'll have in his belly post-dinner, and maybe they'll cancel each other out...

The chef arrived, and began his routine. AW took off for the coy aqua-hole once chef lit the fire, and came right back once the flames died down...I would too if I were a little person (no short jokes, please). Once the proteins hit the grill, I was immediately reminded of my reason for ordering off the cooked sushi menu...D's scallops were immediately having a dirty affair with CR's chicken breast, so much so that D had to intervene...enough said.

All the kids inhaled their dinners - AW loves seafood, so down went the shrimp and crab meat. CR stuck with the offending poultry, teriyaki-style. And AM dined on everything in between. They capped off the meal with fried ice cream - dinners of champions.

All in all, it was a great evening. We got to catch up with J and D, and the kids had fun. Win-win. I would even venture back to the cross-contamination cookery again in the future (don't get me wrong - B would dine here morning, noon and night if I let him...it's just not my cup of Pepto). Next time, however, I am all about sashimi...once this baby girl is on the outside, Momma is going to put some raw fishies on the inside...

(image from here)