Melbourne: Ginza Teppanyaki

I entered Ginza Teppanyaki not expecting more than well, teppanyaki, but I certainly went away feeling quite speechless with how active mealtimes can be. Maybe I've already gone way too far from childhood, but it's definitely more than just eating around here.

I only saw this sign when I was leaving, thankfully, or I might back away in fear. I kid. I love a good challenge every now and then. Especially when it has to do with food!

Ginza is unusually quiet during lunchtime, but soon I realized they were waiting for an entire table to fill up before they begin the teppanyaki cooking. We began with a simple bowl of egg fried rice first - thankfully, I was starving.

And then the feast began! The chef was really quick, efficient and incredibly neat in his teppanyaki cooking. We could see exactly every stroke he did, and yes, he is impressive in making sure every guest at the table has what we ordered, one after another, without stopping halfway. I had the rockling fish, squid, Maryland chicken and vegetables teppanyaki (beansprouts with teriyaki sauce) with miso soup. They were all really delicious, and just as expected, each of the ingredients tasted very fresh and I simply can't get enough - I finished it all...

We even got to play two food games - one of which is to catch flying omelette pieces sent from the teppanyaki chef's hotplate... with our mouths! It was easier than I thought, not by any credit of mine but because the chef's aiming is really accurate. Next, we got to catch bowls with a bowl in our hand, stacking them up one after another thrown by the chef. It was also not as difficult as it looks. The idea is to just trust the chef.

I have such a positive impression of Ginza's service - I forgot about the ice-cream (I know, blasphemy!) and was already almost halfway out of the door before they reminded me! It was pretty much normal vanilla ice-cream, but their kind service made it all especially sweet. The total damage for this meal was AUD20, courtesy of Groupon Australia which I highly recommend because out of all my Groupon dining experiences, I have never felt like I was provided a subpar product/service.