I asked readers to guess how much dinner at Benihanna cost for 15 bloggers. The guess the came the closest to the actual bill without going over would win a signed copy of An American Hedge Fund by Timothy Sykes.
The post received 159 replies with guesses ranging from $350 to $4150.10. One person guessed $1 million but I ruled that out as a joke. Google Lady did some research by finding the Benihanna menu online and looking up prices. That was very enterprising and shows logical thinking. Vik Dulat gets the evil award for asking Zac Johnson, who was seated next to me, how much dinner cost. Zac saw the bill but refused to tell. So, how much did the John Chow Blogger Dinner really cost?
Congrats to Sean Walberg of Sean’s Obsessions. Sean’s guess of $975.50 came the closest without going over. Enjoy the book Sean! My next party is a the 2008 CES in January. If you don’t get an invite, it means you are not important enough. 
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{ 76 comments }
Congratulations Sean. That is a good way to treat your friends John. The price seems quite reasonable for all dishes that you had shown, the ambiance and of course the locale!
Holy moly that’s an expensive dinner
But not when you factor in how many people where there I guess. Congratulations on winning!!
Heck yeah it is expensive, I did not imagined it would be THAT expensive, its like $67 per person.
With that amount of money I could of rent a room, buy a good amount of beer, a good amount of meat and roost it over and drink until my lights turn off
(oh yeah, it could manage a good amount of weed as well, even tho it has been such a long time).
I know who I’m inviting over for dinner next time haha.
Darn, I guessed $900 =(
Darn, I was close at $1000 + $200 in tips…
lol i feel you
I would have guessed free because you seem to get everything else for free
I made an entry, it was somewhere in the 900s, but it got deleted
I know it was on there because I saw it after I posted it
Hmm maybe it was held in moderation. I know my first comment was.
congrats Sean
Nice of you to treat your friends John. Come to Toronto!
*shakes fist* Darnnn youuuu… Balthazaaarr!! I’ll win the next contest darn it… I WILL!!
Atleast I got the evil award
At least I got the link back from your Evil Award! haha!
LOL
thanks again, john!
I would have guess $1000, but even that would not have won. You’re good, Sean.
Congratulations Sean!
Congrats Sean! That was a real close guess
LOLz ::: If you don’t get an invite, it means you are not important enough. <–
this is real evil 
… pure evil 
Can u send me a plane ticket to malaysia? @@?
He is evil after all. Shoemoney said so himself.
I think the feeling was mutual.
Whatever works!
Congratulations to Sean. Nearly hit the nail on the head. Our guess was off by $77, at $898.
Congratulations to Sean. Quite big amuont of money
Oh darn I never win anything
Congrats to the winner though.
Wow, that was pretty expensive!
I agree. All the places he eats seem expensive.
Dang John, what a baller. You paid for everyone?
Indeed he did. To John, money is just paper with pictures on it.
Well… that’s pretty much what it is literally lol. But I know what you mean.
lol ~ so expansive
So…I prob should have read the contest post a few days ago considering benihannas is about 3 blocks from my office.anyway was looking at the pics from dinner and umm..why is the grass always greener on the other side? i swear the meal looks much better then the ones i get at the one here.
I’m glad to see you still have the receipt. Tax write off, that’s what I’m thinking.
that´s a lot of cash for just 15 people !!! wow next time you should just order pizza lol
And then all become fat and start a new site about how to lose weight. I can see it now…
Oh yeah, John could make millions on Diet Affiliates….
Damn, my dinner wasn’t that expensive! Must have been all that sake Danielle and Nate were downing
Wow that is like my blogs income for a month being spent on one dinner….
Click for Nick – Ways to Earn a Passive Income
But think of all the new friends haha. New friends… hmmm… I need some… because all mine are gone… gone!
I’m sitting home… all alone… and nobody’s home… to guide me.
Hey, I checked out your blog, nice music. Keep up the good work. Oh yeah, thanks for buying a page on One Buck Wiki.
may be because you are overdoing this in commenting on Johnchow?
Whoa! Your check for dinner is twice as much as my annual income! You must be wealthy, and therefor powerful. I applaud your success, which is obvious because you managed to run your american bill up to a grand. You must be very happy!
You say: “If you don’t get an invite, it means you are not important enough”?
Think again. Not getting an invitation simply means YOU are at the loosing end, but I have another offer YOU can count on.
Come to Denmark and I will buy you a dinner at a local Chinese restaurant you will never forget.
A bar has been redesigned into a very nice place and their peking soup is amazing. We ate there on November 3rd (our six years’ anniversary), and it was mighty good chow….
So when will we see ya…..
Look behind you.
The real question is – how many air miles did you get with Visa and did it pay for much of your next trip down?
I’ve got to make it next time, even the compensatory price would be OK
I`m more surpised that people think that paying ~$1000 is expensive for a 15 person dinner.
Hey I was there and I think it’s expensive. My dinner was only $35 or so, that averages out to $69.83/person for everyone else
Hmmm… you did pay for dinner afterall. You are a great guy John! :p
Hey where is CES going to be at this year John?
Las Vegas. It’s the only place big enough to hold it. Some of the booths will be bigger than then entire Blog World show floor. You will never see anything quite like it.
SOunds pretty awesome.
nevermind.. I just found out it’s at las vegas.
Noooooooooooooooooooo I lost
Ah well. Better luck next time. It was very good of you to invite them to dinner 
nice! although, a bit less than i would have expected…
CES is gonna rock and im sure your party will be even better than last years!
OOh, I hope so…
Not too bad really
DARN IT! I was off by almost $600
-Mike
I remember reading a review on that, it cost $67 for a seven cost dinner. but i thought you tip was generous, it was evil then..
damn, and i used to be a waiter.
if you are still a waiter there, i guess you can step up and introduce yourself to the rest. Will you be tipped off?
I think a lot of people came close? Congrats to the winner anyway!
I guess $975.60…
I guess $977.58, is that right?
LOL damn you!! Guessing closer than me…
I…. Lost.
that looks like a great end of the year expense…
Congrats to Sean!
Only $900 dollars?
This was in Las Vegas? Wow.. the US economy is really in shamble.
John you should have got many sponsors for your this expense. they were just few posts and few backlink away.
Sounds like it was a good meal!
I’m sure it wasn’t as nice as my £18 chinese takeaway (meal for 3)!
wow i cant imagine blowing that kind of cash on dinner!
You never know… with a last name of McKinlay… you could own your own finanial investment firm and be taking clients out to these sorts of lunches and dinners ALL the time in the future
Who cares how much a stupid dinner cost? YOu have all of these idiot zombies that think you’re rich and sit on your blog when compared to a REAL entrepreneur you make NOTHING. Loser.
what the. who is this brave and noble mystery guy. why even bother to comment jackass