Sakura Japanese Restaurant

gumburt

Thoroughly enjoyable 7th March 2009

0 found this helpful

My God!

So there we were wondering what to do....'MMM What to do?" I thought. Let's go to durham. Yup let's go to durham have a few tipples and a bite to eat and you can't say fairer than that, can you?

So. Off we went taxi at 7.30 at Dunelm House by 7.45. A short stroll over the Kings footbridge and into Varsity for a refreshing beer before haeding in to another bar Before i knew it I had called sakura and booked the pair of us into their place for a spot of Teppen-yaki. Not knowing what Teppen-yaki was but all the more excited because of that.

We arrived at just before nine and were seated at a wobbly table by the bar, given some menu's and asked if we would like a drink, which we would like.

"Oooh Look. Japanese beer" I said to the missus excitedly. She wasn't quite so enthused and had an orange juice. The menu looked good and not being an afficionado on Japanese quisine we both decided that eating one of the set meals would be a grand idea. Upon further inquisition we found out that we could order separate set meals and share. So the wifey indulged herself in lamb, beef and chicken whereas I was looking forward to the prospect of salmon, Bass, Scallops and king Prawns.

A moment or two later a kimono'ed lady beckoned us around the corner. "Woohoo! Geysher girls" I thought ... but alas no. However what there was, was a big six foot hot plate and daintily set places around it. We sat on the tall chairs wholly excited at the prospect of someone cooking infront of us, but what lay ahead was truely to be a memorable evening.

4 More people arrived, two couples from Murton and then just after them a couple sat next to me. He had wild hair and was very dapperly dressed.. this was beginning to be great... Real Communal eating, meeting and eating with people you never knew existed. FAB!

Out came our starters accompanied by a couple of jugs of nice warm sake and my word did these starters look good. Don't worry not all sushi but also cooked filo parcels and little sticky chicken strips all presented perfectly.

Then the chef arrived "haro. I chef!" he said with the most fantastic grin on his face. he set away cooking egg fried rice. Then he piped up again "wash de egg. dis egg for egg flied lice" he placed three eggs in their tracksuits (shells) on the hot plate and proceeded to flip them up in the air and catch them in his chefs hat, each time accompanied by a yell of "In da hat!" We all applauded.

Out came our mains a board with diced lamb, beef, chicken, scallops, king prawns salmon and bass all raw. We were asked for our approval before I Chef began to cook. I must say it was all very fresh indeed.

Over the course of the next two hours we were fed, bit by bit our meals, first the salmon, then the bass, the king prawns, the lamb, the scallops, the chicken and so on. It tasted gorgeous and all interspersed with sporadic antics by 'I Chef' including his condiment drumming and juggling...you had to be there... followed by whoops and wows from his adoring eaters. you can conclude that we had great food, great entertainment and a great night.


10/10 from Gumburt Very Happy