Honestly, I’m an incredibly fussy eater, so eating out with me can be a bit of a nightmare. I try to avoid causing a fuss as much as possible, by ordering something simple and picking out anything I don’t like, so a lot of people don’t really notice, but my lovely closest friends know eating out can be tricky for me and always (despite my protestations) go out of their way to make sure I’m happy with a restaurant choice. When one of my besties suggested a group outing to Teppanyaki, I wasn’t sure as I had never tried this type of food, but she assured me it would be right up my street.
All I had heard about the place in advance was that it was quite pricey, and that the chefs cooked the food in front of you on a hotplate. This sparse information was nowhere near enough to prepare me for the experience I had that evening!
~~~Getting there~~~
We went on a Saturday night, and as there were six of us we had booked in advance. The restaurant is right on the edge of Leeds city centre, about a fifteen minute walk from the train station and ten from the bus station. There’s no dedicated parking but plenty of street parking and private car parks nearby. It’s just round the corner from Leeds Grand Theatre, down an unassuming flight of stairs underneath a bar called Sandinista. When you go in, you cross a little bridge over a fish pond which is nice to look at, and you reach the bar/waiting area. When we got there we took a seat to wait for the rest of the party, have a drink and peruse the menu. The waitress was really attentive, coming over as soon as a new party member arrived to take a drinks order, and the drink came promptly. Even though the last member of our party didn’t arrive until twenty minutes after the time our table was booked for (which we felt terrible about) we weren’t pressured to get started without them.
The waiting area is screened off from the dining area, so that we couldn’t see what was going on. This really heightened the anticipation for me, as through the screen we could hear flames rushing up, chefs shouting and the guests roaring with laughter. Suddenly I started to feel a lot more excited about the visit! The waitresses in kimono, the Japanese style furnishings and the trickle of the fish pond all added to the atmosphere, making it all more of an experience than the usual meal out.
~~~The menu~~~
When it comes to the menu, there’s a choice between picking out appetisers and mains separately, or going for a set menu. To get the best value I’d really recommend going for a set menu, as you do get a lot of bang for your buck when you do. It’s a huge menu and there’s absolutely tons of choice, though. Appetisers include dishes such as filleted chicken wings, deep fried breaded pork (sounds healthy), soups, king prawns and meat skewers and range from £4-£8 per dish. There’s a tempura section featuring seafood and vegetables (£8-£11), and a sushi/sashimi section featuring various unsavoury sounding dishes (including ‘poached spa eel’ which will set you back £17.
95). If you want to order a Teppanyaki style main meal, there are plenty to choose from. Most are around £18 per dish, but the lobster tail and jumbo scallops are £28.95. There’s prawns, tuna, monkfish, chicken, beef, seabass, salmon and even breast of duckling among others so you’re sure to find something you like.
As I said, though, the set menus are where you’ll get your best value. There are six to choose from, with plenty of fish options and one completely vegetarian choice featuring the choice of aubergine fujiyama or tofu steak for the main course. Of the six of us, five went for the Teriyaki Toranaga at £26 per head, and one chose the Teriyaki Samurai at £31. Most of the set menus are quite similar, so I’ll talk through the courses below.
~~~Our meal~~~
We all placed our order in the waiting area, then we were taken through to the dining area, which I couldn’t wait to see! It’s a relatively small space, with six tables that each seated eight people. Each table was the shape of half a square, with four people across the back and two more on each side. In the middle was a large stainless steel surface which was clearly the hot plate. We took our seats – there were six of us, plus a couple we didn’t know, at the table – and got settled in. I noticed that other groups seemed to be a mixture of bigger parties, and couples that had been grouped together to make a table of 8.
After a couple of minutes while we got settled down, our waitress began bringing over the food. From this point it pretty much kept on coming. First we got a salad, which was pretty basic. It came in a small white dish and was mainly iceberg lettuce, with a couple of slices of tomato, cucumber and grated carrot. All the ingredients were fresh and tasted great, but it was really just very basic. Luckily shortly after this came our zensai, and I enjoyed eating these two dishes together. The zensai consists of a fishcake, a skewer of chicken and a spring roll. I couldn’t say what was in the spring roll but it was delicious – the outside was crispy and not too oily, while the contents were tender and tasty. The skewer of chicken was perfectly cooked, and coated with a slightly tangy sauce that gave it a really nice depth. The fishcake was not quite so much up my street, but it was still tasty and I managed to polish it off. The inside was soft with a nice blend of fish and potato, while the breadcrumbs on the outside were really crispy. It was really well cooked but I’m just not much of a fish person. Everyone else loved it, though. Finally we had our bowl of miso soup. After giving it a quick stir we sipped at it for a while, but this definitely wasn’t for me! The flavours and the texture of the watery soup with the soft slippery tofu chunks didn’t suit me at all, but I would definitely put this down to my picky palate as everyone else gobbled it up.
Each dish was just brought out after ten minutes or so whether you’d finished your last dish or not. Some people might see this as an effort to rush you but it didn’t feel that way at all.
I enjoyed eating the courses together, and it meant that the waitress was out of the way in time for when the chef came over to start cooking our main dishes. While we were watching him cook, we had plenty to be nibbling on, and I enjoyed being able to dip in and out of each dish. Although we were offered cutlery, I stuck to the wooden chopsticks as that was what everyone else was doing! They were pretty easy to use as one side of each chopstick was flattened, making it much easier to pick up food with them.
Next up was the absolute highlight of the evening, when the chef came over for the main course. He started off with a bang, by squirting oil and pouring wine over the hotplate and setting it alight so a huge flame shot across the surface. It definitely got our attention! He went on to prepare the egg fried rice to go with the main course, then the chicken, the steak and the vegetables. He did all this with tons of flair, tricks and incredible showmanship. I have decided in the end not to share too much about what exactly happened, because I think part of the fun is going with no preconceptions, like I did. All I’ll say is that you should be prepared for audience participation, and you should possibly practice your aim, and catching things in your mouth before you go. This part of the experience absolutely made it for me, and I was laughing so hard that my face hurt by the end of the preparation. I’m pretty sure that I burned off most of the calories of the meal, because my stomach muscles were absolutely killing when I left!
The food itself was, again, incredible. Because it’s all cooked right in front of you, you get to see the ingredients, which was great. The vegetables were fresh and vibrantly coloured, but most importantly the meat looked fantastic. The chicken breasts were perfectly coloured with barely a gram of fat on them. Meanwhile the sirloin steaks were huge and looked mouthwateringly good. I’m really not a steak fan but when I was given the chance to try a little bit, it just melted in my mouth and I wanted more immediately! The meat was all cooked in a teriyaki sauce that complemented it perfectly, and was seriously moreish. All the sides were really well cooked too, and I just couldn’t get enough of what was on my plate! I kept eating until way past any natural stopping point and I felt so full afterwards!
Dessert was not quite as impressive. The set menu included a choice of melon, icecream or fresh fruit. We all went for icecream, which was just one scoop with a little bit of sauce on the top. One of the people in the couple next to us chose fresh fruit, and I didn’t get too good a look at it but he said it tasted really nice and fresh. Although it wasn’t the best dessert in the world, the restaurant isn’t exactly the type of place you go for a dessert, and I could never have managed anything more substantial than that icecream.
~~~The Service~~~
The waitresses were really helpful and very quiet. They were extremely efficient – we never had to wait for anything.
They weren’t the kind of servers that were in your face with their ‘bubbly’ personalities all the time, which fitted the restaurant perfectly. They left the personality stuff to the chefs! The chef on our table was absolutely fantastic. He made jokes that had us laughing, and really got our group warmed up. He pulled us up for audience participation and added some amazing flair to his cooking that made the whole experience really enjoyable. There was so much theatre involved and I felt a lot of respect for the chef who was a fantastic cook, had amazing dexterity and goes out into the restaurant every night ready to put on a show.
~~~Overall opinion~~~
Overall I thought this was a fantastic experience. I loved every minute and I am already planning my next visit! Although this is an expensive meal out, it’s perfect for a special occasion – and it would also be a fantastic place for a first date. There’s plenty to talk about, so you’d never struggle for conversation, and the audience participation element of things would give you the perfect opportunity to impress your date – whether with your dexterity or with your good grace upon failure! It would break the ice really quickly, as well!
If the price puts you off, then I would recommend keeping an eye out on discount sites. They do occasionally have Groupon deals, and they’re usually a pretty good deal. Don’t forget that you don’t have to order a full set menu – you could just order a main course and enjoy the show for a slightly lower price. Finally there’s also an early bird menu at £19.95 for three courses, if you order before 6.30pm on any evening.
I didn't see any young children there (although we did go on a Saturday night) and it probably wouldn't be the best place to bring them. Although I've no doubt that the staff would do their absolute best to accommodate a young family, the tables wouldn't suit a highchair and with a hotplate in touching distance you'd have to be constantly alert. I also didn't see a children's menu, but obviously they wouldn't have offered one to a group of six adults. I'd say children over the age of twelve would enjoy eating here, as long as they're not too picky with their eating - it really just depends on whether you're willing to pay those prices for yourselves plus children. I'd recommend giving them a ring beforehand if you're concerned.
I’d recommend this to anyone, apart from young children, and despite the small drawbacks – the lack of choices for dessert, the fairly dull salad – I would absolutely go again and I’m giving it 5 hearty stars. Although the theatrical performances are really fun, the food speaks for itself - everything is cooked to perfection. Next time you’re in Leeds, you should definitely give it a visit for a dining experience that’s unlike any other.
~~~Contact Details~~~
Teppanyaki Japanese Restaurant
Belgrave Hall
Belgrave Street
Leeds
LS2 8DD
0113 2453345
www.teppanyakirestaurant.co.uk
Tip top teppanyaki 
