The Pricey Chain Restaurant With The Worst Store-Bought Frozen Meal

If you've ever been to Benihana, you know how iconic this chain restaurant is. Known for teppanyaki, not to be confused with hibachi, Benihana has turned this style of cooking into a true art form. Not only has its chefs mastered the art of Japanese cooking, but they know how to put on a show. From flaming towers of onions to disappearing egg tricks, you are in for an exciting, but pricey dining experience. This endearing show is usually paired with a five-course meal that features Benihana's signature onion soup, which has been around since the restaurant opened in 1964, and its classic hibachi chicken rice. When made fresh, this mouthwatering, savory dish, which features rice, grilled chicken, chopped vegetables, eggs, and garlic butter, is a fan favorite. Its frozen counterpart, however, doesn't live up to that reputation. In fact, in Tasting Table's ranking of 14 restaurant chain frozen meals, Benihana's Hibachi Chicken Rice came in last place.

Priced at roughly $7 a box, this frozen meal is supposed to bring the Japanese Steakhouse experience to your home. It even advertises this rice bowl as an experience, and the packaging promises juicy chicken and a delicious aroma of sizzling meat and savory vegetables. Unfortunately, the moment you take it out of the box you are greeted with disappointment. The meal looks nothing like the photo on the box. It looks dull in color and lacks half of the vegetables it's supposed to have. It doesn't even resemble the photos Benihana posts of the rice. And that's not the only thing wrong with this sad frozen meal.

This worst store-bought frozen meal lacks the flavor the garlic butter brings to the original dish. The frozen version has a hibachi sauce that features an array of ingredients such as reduced-sodium soy sauce, roasted garlic, roasted sesame oil, butter, sesame seeds, milk solids, and skim milk powder. Together these items should create a flavor bomb, however, this dish lacks some much-needed umami flavor. Despite salt being present in the chicken, soy sauce, and butter, the meal lacks salt which enhances flavor. It even has an unusually sweet flavor that is both overpowering and unpalatable. After reviewing the ingredients list, you'll be shocked to see that nothing in this frozen meal would cause an overtly sweet flavor. The only sweet ingredient is dextrose, but that makes up less than 2% of the ingredients for the chicken.

The overall textures of the Benihana frozen hibachi chicken rice are just okay. The chicken is tender and the carrots have a good amount of crunch to them. However, there is nothing special about any element of this dish. Nothing stands out with its own unique flavor. And to make things worse the egg, which is advertised as cage-free, is rubbery. Rubbery eggs are usually a result of overcooking them. Since you're instructed to cook them for no more than four minutes, it means the eggs were probably overcooked when placed in the bowl. As a whole this meal is subpar, you're better off transforming it into a flavorful burrito or making hibachi-style steak fried rice at home.