Food, 'entertainment' make Saito's a winner

My husband and I love taking our kids to Japanese restaurants that offer Hibachi dinners.

With that in mind, we paid a visit to the newly opened Saito's Japanese Steak House in Palm Beach Gardens' Mid Town.

We arrived early on a Friday night and were ushered immediately to a table that seats eight.

After being seated in between two couples, we took a few minutes to look over the menu before selecting hibachi chicken ($15.95), hibachi steak ($18.95), and a kids' hibachi chicken ($9.95).

The hibachi meals come with Saito's salad and soup, and we immediately dug in. I've always loved the ginger sesame dressing served at Japanese restaurants, and Saito's version was as good as any I've tried.

After we finished our appetizers, our plates were cleared quickly. Our chef arrived soon after and began working magic with meats, vegetables and seafood.

Our kids were entranced by the chopping, slicing and dicing as well as the "volcano" our chef created out of raw onion rings.

Our meals were prepared to order, and everything was delicious. The chicken and steak were tender and juicy, while the vegetables were crisp and flavorful. Our daughter and I chose steamed white rice, while my husband chose the fried rice, which was prepared table-side. He loved it.

Even our son, who does not care for Japanese food, had something to rave about at Saito's. Concerned that our son did not want to share in the meal, our chef prepared him a scrambled egg on the grill. He smiled widely as he dug in.

So did we as we watched.