For those that know nothing about Japanese food, teppanyaki is a style of Japanese cuisine that utilises a hot iron plate to cook food. “Teppan” literally translated from Japanese means “iron plate”, while “yaki” means “grilled”, “broiled” or “pan fried”.

There aren’t too many Japanese restaurants in Adelaide that do Teppanyaki, and the only one that I’ve been to is Shiki at the Intercontinental Hotel. While dining at Shiki is a very pleasant experience, it’s also an expensive one. The point of difference with Samurai Teppanyaki is that they’re offering the teppanyaki experience at an affordable price.

Prior to visiting this restaurant, a friend had told me about their $29 banquet that she had had on a previous visit. I’m not sure how long ago that was but the cheapest non-vegetarian banquet price on the current menu was $55. Their banquet offerings had been revamped to include more dishes, but in doing so, increased the price point dramatically.

I guess I can only speculate on the reasons behind the menu revamp. The establishment is considerably small and seats exactly 24 people. During my visit there, there was only one sitting for the entire night. If everybody eating there is required to spend at least $55 instead of $29, then the business becomes more profitable.

The dining area at this place is incredibly cramped with the cooking area taking up most of the floor space. There are two teppanyaki iron plates with very large ventilation fans. This won’t prevent you from smelling like the food when you leave, so it’s strongly recommended that you wear clothes that you’re about to wash. I also thought the seats were too close together. There was hardly any shoulder room and some of the waiting staff kept on knocking into my chair as I was eating.

I understand that you’ll only see the big flames on the grill when the wagyu beef is being cooked. The banquet with the wagyu is the most expensive at $75. The grade of wagyu beef used is 6+, which is not the best I’ve seen in a restaurant. None the less, the cooking of the beef is a good spectacle and makes a great photo.

The Miso Soup was earthy and light with a very distinct flavour. The soup was nice and hot, and perfect for a cold winters evening. The bean curd at the base of the bowl was soft and delicate, while the seaweed was firm and chewy.

The Green Seaweed Salad was very refreshing. The seaweed had a firm and chewy texture which complimented the crunchiness of the cucumber. The onion capers dressing provided good balance by adding a natural sweetness.

The Japanese Coleslaw was also very good. I enjoyed the crunchy textures from the cabbage and carrot. The horseradish was both sweet and intense, and added complexity to the salad.

The Takoyaki was some of the best I’ve had. The balls were fried to a nice golden brown until they had a thin crusty exterior. Inside was a soft and delicate floury dough which was almost like mashed potato. Right in the centre was a firm piece of boiled octopus. A real pleasure to eat.

One of my main dishes was the Atlantic Salmon with a Citrus Ponzu dipping sauce. The salmon was perfectly cooked with light pink centres and beautiful crunchy skin. Unfortunately the salmon was bland and lacked any sort of flavour. The citrus ponzu sauce was very weak and didn’t complement the salmon at all.

The Beef Tenderloin came with a Garlic Peppercorn dipping sauce. The beef was lean, tender and cooked medium rare. The meat was juicy and succulent, and worked perfectly with the spicy dipping sauce.

The Calamari came with a Spicy BBQ dipping sauce. The calamari was tender, succulent and cooked to perfection. The dipping sauce added a lovely sweet spicyness to the dish.

The Chicken Thigh Fillet came with a Sweet Teriyaki dipping sauce. The chicken was well marinated, tender and moist. The sweetness of the dipping sauce balanced out the dish well.

The Assorted Vegetables was nothing special in my opinion. The vegetables were well cooked but were bland and a little on the oily side.

The following are the dishes that the other members of the group had. One of the members of the group, who has eaten here on three previous occasions, noted the serving sizes were smaller. After looking at a picture taken by a fellow blogger of the Moreton Bay Bugs that he had on a recent visit, I can confirm that this is true.

For dessert, I had the Black Sesame Ice Cream. This ice cream was not sweet but creamy with strong flavours of black sesame. All the sugary goodness came from the rockmelon which is totally natural. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Two members of the group had the Taiyaki Pancake with Green Tea Ice Cream. Inside the pancake was a red bean filling. One of my friends didn’t particularly like it, but I imagine this dessert was more of an acquired taste.

The staff were friendly and the service was good. One of the waiting staff took the time to explain the menu, drinks were efficiently provided and constantly refilled, and plates were cleared as we finished. In our group of four, three of us got our dishes within a reasonable time while one friend had a considerable wait for her main meal. The atmosphere was relaxed, and the closeness to all your friends and neighbours made the experience rather cosy.

While I know teppanyaki is a bit of a novelty dining experience, the banquet options are priced between $50-$75, which is certainly not a cheap dinner. My particular banquet was the Salmon Teppanyaki which set me back $55. Most of the dishes that I had were very well executed with the exception of one. It’s definitely not the experience you would get at Shiki, but it is still is 25-50% cheaper.

WHERE: 210 The Parade, Norwood