It was my second time visiting Bisuteki Japanese Steak House in Cambridge. I came back this time to celebrate my 20th birthday, because as I knew that with your ID, this restaurant will give me a free meal on my birthday! I love hibachi and you truly cannot beat eating somewhere for free. Most chain restaurants will give you a dessert or appetizer for free on your birthday, but Bisuteki will give you Hibachi for free! You have to go with someone else and have them get a meal to receive yours for free, but that’s easy enough to find someone to join you for a birthday dinner. 

I went to the restaurant with four friends and we went on a Wednesday night. There was no wait, so we were able to be immediately seated, which can be rare for Hibachi. As we sat down, one of my friends ordered a Scorpion bowl, and I longed to be turning 21 rather than 20. But, one year closer! We all took a look at the menu to decide what we would be getting. One of my friends decided on sushi, another got crab rangoons and tempura, while the rest of us got various forms of Hibachi. I decided on steak as that is the only thing I like to eat Hibachi style because I’m very picky. Along with each Hibachi entree was an appetizer—a salad with ginger dressing, and a mushroom soup. One of my favorite things in the world is ginger dressing so I was really looking forward to the salad. Unfortunately, it didn’t taste exactly how I remembered it to be, or at least expected it to. It wasn’t bad, but I didn’t go crazy for the aftertaste. I also don’t like mushrooms, so I passed my soup to my boyfriend who does. He seemed to enjoy it, but the same thing happened with the soup that did with the salad; he didn’t go crazy for it either.

Our Hibachi chef was amazing! One of the best parts of going to this style restaurant is having them cook it in front of you and do all their fancy tricks with the spatulas they use to cook. He yelled “saké!” as he poured it into our mouths, and flung the vegetables he was cooking into our mouths as well. Many of my friends opted out of catching flying food coming at their face, but I happily obliged. The meat cooking on top of the Hibachi stove was chicken, steak, and shrimp. There also was fried rice with egg in it that the chef so graciously broke—something I can barely do in the kitchen without messing up. For vegetables there was zucchini, carrot, mushroom and squash. Separately, he cooked bean sprouts to go along with the meal as well.

The meal was delicious. I especially loved the fried rice and the steak. Usually I like lo mein style noodles on the side as well, but I didn’t see any on the menu, so I didn’t bother asking. I helped myself to as much of the meal that my stomach could handle, and saved the rest to bring home for later. To my surprise, at the end of the meal, the restaurant brought out a frozen cheesecake slice with chocolate syrup and a candle on top. My friends sang to me as the waitress hit a Chinese gong to celebrate. It was so sweet and unexpected! I did not expect a free dessert on top of my free meal so I was very appreciative, and it was delicious as well! I felt really lucky to celebrate my birthday at such a welcoming and accommodating restaurant. If you decide to visit there as well, be warned that they are inside a restaurant so it can be confusing to get to, but it is worth the trip, especially for a free birthday dinner!