Some of you might be familiar with Benihana, a teppanyaki restaurant that you find in various countries around the world. The concept is simple; you sit around a grill upon which the chefs cook, with the idea being that they entertain you at the same time. They tell jokes, sing, encourage guest participation and generally try to ensure people have a fun experience that compliments the food.

Benihana recently opened a restaurant in Kuwait (the 17th country it’s expanded into), and as frequently happens when new places pop up – people have started visiting and writing about their experiences. One such person is Mark from 248am.com, a popular blog among expats and others in that market. He posted a short review and video of the ‘entertainment’ on his blog.

Mark was underwhelmed by Benihana. His review was by no means a Cowell-esque put down, and it’s by no means the only negative review that Benihana Kuwait has had. Maybe it’s the fact that the restaurant is still relatively new, but the food just doesn’t seem to be that good. For a chain restaurant, that’s pretty unacceptable.

What’s even more unacceptable is what happened next. The general manager of Benihana Kuwait – someone calling themselves Mike Servo – posted a comment on Mark’s review threatening to sue. A threat that he later followed through on.

There’s a good synopsis of the issue on Alexander McNabb’s post on the matter, but the key point is Servo’s specific comment that follows. “Our rights and name is being used in a wrong way and broadcasting the video without a proper consent from us is really annoying, specially as Benihana is just opened up its doors to the public. We are seeking and consulting our legal dept. on how we can form a type of law suit against your website to be brought up to the Kuwait authorities.”

The full comment meanders on for a while, covering elephants, Subway, CID and a question about whether or not Mark is Lebanese before finishing up. Although this seems like an elaborate joke – it’s not. Mark has been served papers and faces a court date in March.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this has generated no small amount of chatter on Facebook and Twitter in the MENA region. It’s spawned blog posts, a multitude of coverage and is responsible for the wave of negative comments that have been left on the Benihana Kuwait page on Facebook.

Every so often I wonder how incidents like this still happen in a world where people are so aware of their digital footprint on sites like Twitter and Facebook. Mike Servo’s outburst and Benihana’s lack of any official comment at a corporate level has shown that there are still people out there who assume that hectoring, threatening and throwing toys out of the pram are preferable to relationship building and conversation.

This is something that could have been dealt with so much better with an invitation to come back in for a free or discounted meal. In fact, there may even be time to sort this out like adults. Instead, Benihana’s in Kuwait is intent on committing something akin to social seppuku.

Eamonn is owner of URBN, a digital media company with offices in London and Dubai. Images via ads2blog.com and 248am.com.

Tags: 248am, alexander mcnabb, bad practice, bad review, benihana kuwait, blogger relations, blogging, Customer reviews, Eamonn Carey