Eating Out
| TALKING POINT | | | EATING OUT |  | | | EATING IN | | | | PAST TIMES | | |
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Sakura, 69-70 Crossgate, Durham
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| COMMUNAL DINING: You will likely find yourself seated with other diners around the hotplate to see the chef in action |
USUALLY, dining out is all about
the food. Come to Sakura, though,
a Japanese restaurant tucked on
the end of Crossgate, and it's
about the experience.
I ventured to Sakura on a Monday
night, always a quiet time for
restaurants and which can sometimes
lead to a lack of enthusiasm
from the staff. Not here - where
the staff could not be faulted in
their attentiveness.
My fellow diner for the night,
Ruth, had been wary beforehand,
worried that this would be sushi,
sushi and more sushi. She need
not have fretted about that, although
deciding on an option
from the extensive menu was a
tricky process that saw us through
a couple of drinks while we made
up our minds.
Eventually, Ruth - who edges towards
vegetarian tastes - plumped
for the harumaki, or Japanese
spring roll served with soya mustard
sauce. She murmured approval
without getting too excited,
but after all, a spring roll is only a
spring roll.
I was altogether far more keen
on my starter of zensai - a selection of Japanese appetisers, the
highlight of which was a pair of
gorgeous salmon fishcakes that
positively burst with flavour. I
could have happily gobbled those
up all night.
Dining at Sakura is a little different
to most places. First of all, be
prepared to wield chopsticks or
have the nerve to ask for knife and
fork if you admit defeat. Secondly,
you will likely be seated at a communal
dining area with other diners,
set around a hotplate.
This is the real treat here. The
chef - in our case, an affable chap
by the name of JR - will cook your
food in front of you, ensuring you
can see exactly what is going into
it, and exactly how much care and
attention is afforded the preparation
by the chef.
JR was the Tom Cruise of the
cooking world. Stepping straight
out of Cocktail, he cooked with a
flurry of implements. Salt and
pepper shakers were tossed casually
behind his back to be caught
in his other hand, while he
cleaned the surface of the hotplate
with a belch of flame that could
leave eyebrows lightly toasted.
Eggs left standing upright on
the hotplate soon got flipped in
the air only to be caught in his
chef's hat and the prepared rice
was swiftly shaped into a heart.
This is as much a show as cookery,
and really adds a huge
amount to the night.
For the main course, Ruth cast
aside her vegetarian tendencies to
be lured in by the grilled tuna
steak with peppers, onion and
mange tout, all swiftly seared to
just the right amount in front of
our eyes. Ruth was much keener
on the main course - tucking in
with abandon and with many
murmurs of approval.
I opted for the usuyaki - thinly
sliced sirloin of beef. The beef is
swiftly cooked on the hotplate and
then folded into parcels stuffed
with mushrooms, spring onions
and garlic. Served with egg fried
rice, I soon found myself defeated
by the amount of food on offer, and
set my chopsticks down to rest.
I often find myself being picky
on a restaurant review, but I honestly
couldn't find anything to
fault here.
If you're looking for a value
meal, this is not the place to go -
the usuyaki was £18.95 for example,
and the total bill for two of us
came to £73.84 including drinks.
But you do get what you pay for,
and the food and service were
splendid. One little quibble - the
service charge is included at
around ten per cent, which I always
dislike, though I'd honestly
have tipped more than the charge
here for the genuinely superb service
we received.
We couldn't bring ourselves to
tackle dessert - mostly a selection
of ice cream dishes - and so retired
contentedly full for the
evening.
This is a decidedly different
venue for an evening meal - and
one well worth exploring.
2:14pm Friday 16th May 2008
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