The first time I experienced dining teppanyaki style was on a particularly drunken hen night. It was a seriously long time ago, well before I started writing about food, and I hadn’t even heard of it before. Thanks to the shared tables around the teppanyaki grill, we had a great experience, so I was interested to see how it would translate with just two of us dining. We popped to Sapporo Teppanyaki to find out.
When dining in a smaller group, you still sit around a large teppanyaki grill but you share it with other diners. The majority of people at our table were part of the same group celebration so pretty much kept themselves to themselves, but it was nice to sit with a different group of people for a meal. It reminds me of the communal style of Vapiano and it seems a much friendlier way of enjoying a meal, particularly at Sapporo Teppanyaki!
If you are new to teppanyaki dining, you are in for a treat! Your table will be sat around a hot plate with a chef to not only cook your food, but entertain you at the same time! Our chef nearly singed my eyebrows by dazzling us with a wall of flames and then juggled eggs without a single crack.
My favourite thing about this style of dining is being able to watch your food being cooked. You can see whether it is cooked to your liking but also how fresh the ingredients are. You see exactly what goes into your meal, which can make it a fairly healthy option in terms of eating out.
Everyone on our table opted for a set menu and they looked really tasty. My friend is a little too fussy for that so we chose a few starters to share before a main each.
The Calamari was really different. There was no creamy dip, it was replaced with a spicy oil and the calamari itself was sprinkled with thin slices of chilli for even more heat. It was a really nice twist and the calamari was fresh and soft. The Grilled King Prawns were also a little different with a creamy garlic sauce. Plump and juicy prawns in a light yet creamy garlicky sauce, it just needed some chunks of bread to mop up the sauce.
Once we had finished our starters, the chef prepared our sliced potatoes, stir fried vegetables and egg fried rice. Everything is prepared in front of you and you are encouraged to eat as each element of the dish is presented so it doesn’t go cold.
The steak was so good, one of the nicest I have had in a while. Soft and tender, cooked as requested and well seasoned. The food itself is fairly simply cooked but the difference here is the style in which it is served. The chefs entertain throughout and the time absolutely flew by.
We were so full that there was no room for dessert but I will be back for the chocolate spring rolls that I saw others on our table enjoying, they looked so delicious.
If you are after somewhere a little different to dine I would definitely recommend you give Sapporo Teppanyaki a try. You will find them opposite the Museum of Science and Industry, so just off Deansgate. I’ll be there with the chocolate spring rolls.
I was invited to dine at Sapporo Teppanyaki and was not asked to pay for my meal.
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