There's nothing else quite like Sapporo in Liverpool. As far as I'm aware, this Duke Street institution is our only Teppanyaki restaurant, and it's certainly the only restaurant with it's own Superlambanana. Inside, you'll be seated around a traditional hot-plate with a gaggle of strangers and watch as your meal is prepared in front of you by your own dedicated Teppanyaki chef. When we went on a busy Friday evening the whole place was an absolute riot of noise, people and fire but even those of a nervous disposition (like myself) would find it extremely hard not to have a good time here.
To avoid having to make decisions about the frankly enormous menu, we settled on a set banquet called 'The Emperor'. The starters are all produced from the kitchen and ours included a light Miso Broth, Namasu Salad and a tasting platter of Nigiri Sushi, some crisp Smoked Chicken Rolls and super soft BBQ Ribs. As much as it pains me to admit it online (again), this was my first proper go at sushi and, aside from the slight smear of wasabi I got on it accidentally through my terrible fumbling chopstick work, I really enjoyed it.
As nice as the starters were, the mains (the Teppanyaki) is where this place comes to life. Your dedicated Teppanyaki chef will take up centre stage as you sit back and watch him get to work, spinning knives, chopping veg and sending huge plumes of flames up in to the air...do you see why I was nervous now? In fact, the most work you'll have to do is try and catch one of his flying potatoes in your open mouth like you're part human, part sea-lion. It is loads of fun and frankly I wish there were more restaurants around that would be happy to sling the food straight into my mouth.
Our mains included the most incredible Grilled Lobster and Prawns, absolutely drowned in garlic butter as well as freshly seared Fillet Steak and Chicken Breast. All of which is cooked in front of you on the grill to the delight and applause of yourself and your new table-mates. We enjoyed everything we ate, my only slight gripe would be that it was all incredibly buttery. I imagine that's due to the amount of oil needed to set everything on fire so I guess it's a fair compromise.
Let's be real here, it wasn't cheap. Our banquet was £42 a head, though I imagine a standard starter-main-dessert scenario would be slightly less extravagant. But I suppose you're not just paying for a meal here, you're paying for the show as well, and honestly I don't remember the last time I had such a laugh at a restaurant! Sapporo is so much fun, the perfect place for special occasion, a first date, a Birthday and to somewhere entertaining to bring the kids.
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*Our meal at Sapporo Teppanyaki was kindly gifted in exchange for an honest review and as always all words, thoughts, opinions and photographs are my own.