Siam Thai & Teppanyaki Restaurant, City Road, Chester. Tel: 01244 403222

Ambience: 8/10

Service: 10/10

Food quality: 9/10

It's great to live in a city with such an incredible array of restaurants, but to experience fantastic food two minutes away from your home really is a treat!

My boyfriend and I visited Siam Thai Tappenyaki Restaurant, Chester, a few days before Valentines Day for our date night and we were amazed at our dining experience.

At the City Road restaurant, visitors are given the option of the Tappenyaki style dining downstairs, which is Japanese cuisine where chefs use an iron griddle to cook food right in front of you, or the Thai restaurant upstairs on the two other levels. 

As we had never experienced Tappenyaki before we decided this was the one we had to go for and we certainly were not disappointed. 

The waitress who served us was very helpful and explained how the whole thing works and we were delighted to hear we'd be able to watch a chef cook our food on the small kitchen area called the teppan grill, which each table in the restaurant has, as this was something we were definitely not used to. 

There are a lot of choices on the menu, from sushi to tempura, it was very hard to decide!

But in the end I went for the chicken breast and my boyfriend decided on sirloin steak with a teryaki sauce and we shared the chicken satay starter. 

The main courses involve your own choice of meat which then comes with egg fried rice and vegetables, as, from what we were told by the really friendly staff, in Japanese, Teppan means an iron plate and yaki is stir-fried food. 

The restaurant's staff were very attentive to my allergies and provided a gluten-free menu, a variety of special sauces and offered lots of advice on the food I can eat, which I was really impressed with. 

There were several bigger parties in the immaculate and well-decorated restaurant, which added a great buzzing atmosphere to the experience. 

As we were a party of two, we sat with other diners around one of the teppan grills which I know some guests may not want if they are looking for a more private dining experience so if this is the case I would recommend visiting with more than five others. 

However this was something we didn't mind as it was all part of the Teppanyaki experience. 

The best part of this experience was definitely the showmanship of the chefs. 

Our chef was truly amazing and hilarious to watch, presenting his juggling, balancing and percussion skills whilst cooking the delicious fresh food.

It was great to have a show whilst watching and waiting for your food to cook and the chef even threw potatoes he was cooking for our meals into the air which we had to catch in our mouths! 

Unfortunately I failed this task but it was such good fun and so different the usual dining experiences which I could sometimes label as quite mundane. 

The portion sizes are huge and everything on the plate was a taste sensation - I will definitely be coming back soon to try the many other options on the menu, and possibly the Thai restaurant upstairs. 

There are also set menus for parties of eight and above which seem perfect for any occasion and a decent price for the quality of the food and the show you get in the mean time! 

I'll definitely be returning with my friends and family, there's something on the menu for everyone and it's a brilliant experience that I think everyone should try. 

I'm disappointed I hadn't tried it sooner!

The Bill: 

Chicken satay skewers £5.95

Chicken breast teppanyaki £15.50

Sirloin steak with teriyaki sauce teppanyaki £18.85

Medium rose wine with lemonade £7.15

2 x Corona £7