Restaurant gives you rare chance to watch your meal being made

A chef readies the iron plate for preparation of a meal as customers watch in awe. (Photo:Wangeci Kanyeki)

Teppanyaki is an interactive Japanese Cooking method which uses a flat griddle surface iron plate to cook foods such as rice, egg, vegetables and fish which are displayed and cooked infront of customers.

Urban Grind Coffee and Grill restaurant located at Highway Mall, next to Nakumatt Mega on Uhuru Highway has introduced in Nairobi this concept which is usually found in Japanese high end restaurants.

Here, guests watch the chef cooking their food and even get to try out Japanese cooking.  Chef Sylvia Njogu, a specialist in Japanese cooking begins by making a ‘volcano’ fire on the iron plate.

The blazing fire that spreads across the iron plate definitely catches my attention and fills me with a mixture of fascination, wonder and fear lest my hair strands get burnt, but to my relief, the fire quickly quells down as the alcohol evaporates.

Pre- cut ingredients are laid out in readiness for cooking. The meal begins with pancakes made from finely chopped chives, carrots and chinese cabbage mixed into the pancake batter. Once cooked, the chef decides to toss it in the air for me to catch with my mouth. I miss my piece and opt to be served on the plate so that I can be sure that my food is captive enough for me to enjoy the subtle flavoured pancake.

Tangy and tasty

The next meal to be prepared is a tilapia fish fillet. The fish is dust coated with flour so as not to stick to the iron surface. It is then sprinkled with black pepper, soy sauce and teriyaki sauce. The griddle surface is oiled a bit as fish is cooked.

The result is a well-seasoned, light greased fish served with a tangy and tasty onion sauce as well as an avocado sauce made from tabasco, mayonnaise and an avocado as the name suggests.

The fun part is when I get to try out the Japanese cooking myself by frying the already steamed vegetable rice with chives, cabbage, sliced green pepper and carrots. I also get to prepare beef and chicken in the same way. The meal ends with Ice-cream vanilla dessert prepared by Chef Kevin Kirigu.

Icecream is served with banana cooked in a sugar and cinnamon syrup. The hot and cold mixture makes for a fascinating palate blend and a sweet end to my experimental experience of fun, interactive and deliciously sumptuous teppanyaki cooking.