Teppanyaki cuisine is the best way to enjoy Japanese food. A method of cooking where diners sit around a hotplate while the chef prepares the food in front of them, Islington teppanyaki restaurant Sen Nin makes this sort of eating experience a total pleasure.

The Venue
Sen Nin occupies a corner site at the junction of Upper Street and Islington Park Street. It’s a long, thin room with a reception area just inside the front door and then three teppanyaki grills around which are about a dozen seats around three sides, focusing on the chef and his work. The back of the restaurant has smaller, separate tables for diners who may not wish to watch their food being prepared or who prefer a more intimate meal. The colour scheme is signature black, white and red. Black bamboo pipes dominate the room acting as pillars. The waiting staff dress in black, the master chefs in black with red hats.

The Atmosphere
If you do decide to be seated around the master chef’s arena, then be prepared to be entertained. Diners tend to be in twos or fours, although sometimes whole parties of ten or twelve can be accommodated around the hotplate. In fact, it’s a case of the more the merrier because the chef has the chance to really show off his abilities as he prepares the food, chopping vegetables, slicing fish and meats, throwing eggs in the air, catching and mixing them into the frying rice and moving all the ingredients around, generally playing about with the food but coming up with the goods in some amazingly presented meals and a little knife juggling on the side.

The Food
The teppanyaki set meals form the main courses at Sen Nin, although you can also order other dishes as starters or main courses. Begin with a selection of sushi and sashimi, the bite-size pieces of pressed rice with a raw fish topping of salmon, tuna, seabass, mackerel and seaweed served with pickled ginger and hot wasabi (like horseradish). They are really good as appetisers, setting up the palate for the rest of the meal. You might also like to try one of the other appetisers such as ebi tempura. These are delicious, freshly deep-fried king prawns in a crisp light batter, accompanied by a piquant dipping sauce. Other dishes include chicken yakitori (skewers of grilled chicken), calamari tempura (squid in light batter) and there are also salads and some vegetarian dishes such as edamame (steamed soya beans), yasai tempura (deep-fried vegetables) and yasai gyoza (deep-fried Japanese vegetable dumplings).

After the starters it’s time to return to the chef and his grill. While you are enjoying your first course he will be preparing the main teppanyaki meal. Choose from four set menus with prices reflecting the ingredients (from under £20 to over £35 per person, although there’s a special price for group bookings). The list includes sea bass, squid, red snapper, tiger prawns, chicken, salmon, duck fillet and sirloin steak. As you are watching the food being prepared, you can determine just exactly how you want it cooked. Only the best and freshest ingredients are used, there is no waste, everything is cooked quickly and chopped into tiny slices, served with flavoursome sauces and the results just couldn’t be better. The salmon is moist and fresh and of the highest quality. The duck is so tender and juicy, while the steak could not be more succulent. A splash of teriyaki sauce adds another layer of flavour that enhances the meat even further. All the set meals include a portion of delicious Japanese miso soup, grilled seasonal vegetables such as courgette and grilled or plain rice. At lunchtime there are special meals from £8.95 and an express lunch at £6.95.

The bonus is the theatrical display of knives being brandished, food being thrown about on the grill and, always at some point, huge tongues of flame that flare up and almost threaten to remove the chef’s eyebrows. It’s hot work indeed but great entertainment too. The piece de resistance of the meal is certainly the finale, a special dessert of fried ice cream (literally) sitting atop a carved-out orange with the quarters of fruit replaced in the peel, then covered in caramelised fried ice cream and surrounded by the freshest of fresh fruit salads: a lusciously fitting end to a magnificent meal.

The Drink
A good list of wines includes an excellent house white wine from £3.95 a glass, Japanese sake, hot or chilled, from £3, bottled beers and a wide range of cocktails (from £5.25), including classics such as Tequila Sunrise, Singapore Sling, Strawberry Margarita and a Black Russian as well as some Japanese cocktails made from sake and other spirits. There are also the usual non-alcoholic soft drinks and fruit juices.

The Last Word
Sen Nin means wizard in Japanese, and this restaurant is the last word in cooking wizardry, a place to go for an outstanding meal with a bonus of being entertained while you are there. You will get to know your chef, someone you usually only see on television, who is nothing less than a performance artist putting on a show as well as cooking up a storm.

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