Last week I was invited over to Liverpool to try out the new menu at the Sapporo Teppanyaki restaurant and took my mum along with me for her birthday treat. If you haven’t been to a teppanyaki style restaurant before then there are a few things you need to know before you book.
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1.It is a Japanese style restaurant
2. The food is cooked and plated up as and when it is ready and not always served as a complete meal as you would expect in other restaurants.
3. You may be seated with strangers, especially if you are dining in a small group or couple.
4. The restaurants can be loud
5. Despite the above points sounding negative teppanyaki restaurants are an amazing experience and somewhere everyone should visit at least once (a month).
This was my second visit to a teppanyaki but a first for my mum and I could tell some, if not all, of the points mentioned above surprised her, which is why I have chosen to point them out straight away so that you know what to expect, especially in regards to being seated with strangers which I know will not appeal to many. However, it is important to point out that the tables are different to what you get in “usual” restaurants so although you are seated together you are not on top of each and can still have conversations between your own group as the tables are usually square with one side missing which is where the chef stands and cooks for you.
At Sapporo teppanyaki this is done in spectacular fashion. Our chef was engaging and funny and went out of his way to make sure the little girl at our table was enjoying herself just as much as the adults. The whole cooking experience is a show, with sizzles and flames and even food throwing if you are feeling brave enough to try and catch it. You can’t help but smile and watch in awe at the whole process and even though you know the flames are coming you will still find yourself being wowed by their magnitude and heat.
Watching the food get cooked right in front of you is a real conversation starter and it also means that the food is literally on your plate within seconds – you can’t ask for fresher, hotter, food than that.
The new menu at Sapporo Teppanyaki is jam packed full of options that all sound delicious, some I have heard of and others I haven’t. We opted for the Samuri tasting menu at £39 each and although I know this sounds expensive let me assure you that you get an awful lot of food for that price and it is fantastic value for money.
We were given two sets of starters, the first was miso wakame soup and a namasu salad, both of which were lovely, especially the dressing on the salad.
Then came our second starters which consisted of a large tempura prawn and equally large and very well filled vegetable spring roll, as well as two pieces of maki sushi, again all delicious. However, it is important to point out here that the little green lump on your plate is wasabi – an extremely hot paste that is nice in very small quantities, it is NOT to be eaten in one go as my mum thought. Trust me, watching her trying to hide the red hot poker explode in her head was hilarious but I wouldn’t recommend any of you try it!
Once we completed the starter our chef took centre stage and starting cooking up our main meal which of sapporo potatoes, stir fried vegetables, egg fried rice, king prawns, sea bass and sirloin steak – I told you you got a lot of food for your money. The prawns were beautiful and so fresh and the fish and steak were cooked to perfection too.
I am not sure how we had any room left after all of this but the tasting menu comes with dessert so of course we couldn’t leave without giving it ago. We had a choice of ice cream, cheese cake of the day and chocolate spring rolls, between us we shared the cheesecake of the day which was mango and the chocolate spring rolls. The cheesecake was lovely but the chocolate spring rolls stole the show as they were so unusual and filled with white chocolate which was a nice surprise as for some reason I had assumed it would be milk chocolate.
An evening at Sapporos Liverpool is much more than just a meal out. It is an evening of entertainment, amazing food, and for most a new experience, one that I highly recommend you try as soon as you can. It would also make a great venue for your Christmas parties.
(We were invited to Sapporos Liverpool for a complimentary meal in exchange for a review, all opinions are my own).