Review: Sapporo Teppanyaki, Merchant City

• Restaurant Reviews

  Kate McIntyre

I will admit I had a certain apprehension when I was told about Sapporo Teppanyaki and how the food was cooked and served, it sounded far from appealing. But needs must and when this was the chosen destination for a celebration meal for a colleague it was in for a penny in for a pound as I joined a group of eight for the night out.

On arrival the friendly staff welcomed us and we were promptly seated at our table. All of the tables are made to accommodate large numbers so if you are a smaller group it would mean sharing a table with other diners. This is in keeping with the restaurant style and it really isn’t the type of venue for a romantic couple only night out.

Although the restaurant is pretty vast, the atmosphere really has to be created a the table. Fortunately, ours was a hoot. We chose the Early Diner Menu which costs £14.95 for three courses. There was a good choice of starters, which included a couple of vegetarian options. Our starters were well received and nicely presented including Nigiri Sushi (fish), Aubergine & Smoked Chicken Salad, Spare Ribs and Smoked Chicken Rolls. They were enjoyed by all and accompanied by a selection tasty dipping sauces on the table.

The mains on offer were a variety of ‘Japanese cuisine’ perhaps with a few wee tweaks for us Glaswegians, cooked on a teppan, which is an iron plate and griddled/stir-fried before your eyes.

The show began when our teppanyaki chef, Superman, showed off his ‘skill on the grill’. Firstly we were treated to some sauté potatoes and stir-fry veg which were enjoyable enough, though make sure you eat this when served as I was trying to keep some to accompany my main but it turned out to be more of a second course.

Superman (seriously, that was the guy’s name) then proceeded to demonstrate his skilled manoeuvres with extremely sharp knives and a few near misses with his potato slices - fortunately he managed to keep the knife firmly in hand. His knife skills were superb which he also used to juggle eggs before making the omelette for the egg fried rice.

Our mains consisted of sirloin steak with a choice of sauces, scallops with ginger and garlic and salmon fillet with Japanese seven flavour chilli pepper sauce, all expertly cooked in front of us and the steaks cooked to request. A large bowl of the fried rice was presented to each of us just before the meat and fish. I had ordered the scallops and was a bit concerned as they were on the grill for as long as the steaks, but strangely they were delicious and cooked perfectly, not the rubber I was expecting! The salmon was lovely too as were most of the steaks. We could’ve done with a shot of Superman’s knife for the medium cooked one though, as it was a bit chewy and tough to cut through.

Just one choice for desert on this menu which was ice cream served in a tuille tulip basket - a nice refreshing end to the meal.

Sapporo has an extensive wine list with a range of prices from £14.95 (£3.75 a glass) to quite a bit more expensive, along with a good range of Japanese cocktails from £5.95 and a couple of mocktails for the non-drinkers. They also have a decent selection of Western beers and boast about their range of Japanese whisky (I didn’t partake.)

For a non-believer, my first time at Sapporo Teppanyaki turned out to be a great experience. At a restaurant like this it would be very easy for them to give in to the gimmick, however the quality of the food really was up to scratch too. Definitely one for a big group of friends though!