Review Showchef Teppanyaki Restaurant - Sydney

The place is so dirty. They let us wait for 30 mins for the next cooking with no explanations. We had to wait our food during other people were eating. Also, the food was so bad. Especially, the cook doesn't know how to cook. How can they open the restaurant? He started to throw bowls and foods to the customers even we were drinking miso soup. What will they do if the bowls or food hit us? What is the entertainment? Show the entertainment by cooking. And onion was not cooked at all. I don't think the price there is not worth with the food at all. I went to many teppanyaki restaurants in my life, it was a first time I felt anger so much. We went to the restaurant by Groupon. I believe the picture they posted was fake. Looks totally different place. I don't want to make other people feel same. Hope you don't waste of your time and money.

Food was decent and the night was entertaining, as it was teppanyaki, but definitely not as great as it could be. If you're looking for a teppanyaki experience, other places would be better. The staff were at least nice and friendly however cleanliness was an issue for me. Table had a funny smell and floor felt sort of sticky, making me paranoid about whether the cooktop had been cleaned often. Overall, was an okay night out but was only just worth the price as we had a groupon voucher ($25pp).

Terrible! We tried the place by using a voucher deal. They really cheeped out on the food. The salad was iceberg lettuce topped with Italian dressing. The mixed vegetables were burnt onions, and the last dish was fried rice, similar to what you get formChinese takeaway. I would have not paid more than $5 for what we ate. The voucher was a complete rip-off. Not to mention, there was no show by the chef, he was very young and appeared to learning as he went, but that is not his fault. We walked out after our chicken was undercooked because we did not want food poisoning. This was one of the worst dining experiences I have had since school lunch, I don’t really know why Urban Spoon has so many positive ratings.

We went after getting a living social deal - the food is definitely good for what we paid, but I was a tad disappointed in the restaurant. I've been to plenty of Teppanyaki places and they lack the same flare and showmanship at ShowChef that I had seen everywhere else. Seemed a little ironic considering their choice of name. Still, good food for what we paid.

Well after 4 phone calls, text message and 2 walk bys I was able to reserve this place for a birthday dinner. On the day of I got a text stating the cook was sick and they were closed. This was after I already pre purchased Groupon and confirmed with all my friends location and times. Thought I’d give this place a chance as I went years ago, but they failed and I should of listened to the reviews. 2 stars for poor management since I did not get a chance to try the food

Long prep times, staff isn't actually Japanese, they're all Chinese. The food tasted pretty good, seafood was fresh, meat was tender and cooked well. Great for a night out but if you're looking for something authentic, I suggest looking elsewhere.

Rubbish! If you're thinking about going here....don't do it! The calamari & prawns were cooked within an inch of their lives and were basically cremated...the fish & chicken were stewed and the fried rice was left on the hot plate so long that it was done to the point of crispness. I would also have to mention that it's preferable that the chef doesn't wander off, away from the hotplate while he has things cooking....leads to an overdone, cremated or stewed mess!

The fresh sushi here is really good and the service is fast and reliable. The miso is fantastic and it's always an enjoyable hands on experience. The prices are pretty fair, but can be a little expensive sometimes. The service is good and friendly. Would recommend it.

Had a birthday party, 5 persons together. Nice experience all together. Friendly staff and good food. Strong 3 starts. Probably good for partying!

Not good an experience.The pics shown in groupon deal are misleading. The menu spread is quite scarce. The location of this restaurant is however on the main road.

Came here as a group of 4 on the groupon voucher, which in the end was worth the money. Interior decor isn't a site to behold at all, looking like most standard medium-low budget restaurants.<br/><br/>The initial 3 'courses' of the groupon deal were nearly laughable in their volume, which to be honest may have set our expectations low. Whether this affected the main courses or not, I will definitely say that the meats were done right. We requested our beef medium and it was done exactly to perfection. The meats were succulent and the sauces melded well, although were definitely a bit on the salty side. Dessert was literally Woollies/Coles vanilla icecream and sprinkles.<br/><br/>However, for a groupon deal of $25pp, there were no regrets and left with our tastebuds satisfied and our bellies full.

My sister bought the discount voucher on groupon. The chef is a Chinese girl and changed to a trainee boy at the end of the course meal. Its seems like not that professional by the way.We offered a close to door seat when my sister had a cough. About the food.…the green bean is too salty, the beef is tasted not good, even the fried rice was cold.

Great food, the chef did his best to give us a good experience, the place was clean and the food was fresh and very tasty. recommended +++++

We got a groupon voucher for this value . Seemed like value for money . We came in at 6 pm and they were setting up and getting ready . <br/>The food was fresh . And the food was ok . It seemed like the same sauce was being used to cook the prawns , beef and chicken . They were tasting the same to me with a load of sesame on top of it ! But when you come down to it , the beef with eggplant was AMAZING , juicy and delicious , he cooked it just right! Even the squid was super good , so well cooked and perfect . The chicken was ok . The seaweed salad was nothing to write home about, just a load of lettuce with a bit of sea weed . The miso soup was yummmmmmmmm ! Do taste the miso soup . The fish was alright . The fried rice was dreadful ! The meal ended with a choice of green tea or ice cream . <br/>Basically the food was average . The real disappointment lay in the chefs cooking performance . I've had great teppanyaki experiences before this . A lot of the evening depends on the ability of the chef . Unfortunately ours seemed like a novice , he seemed shy and stressed 😞<br/>So there weren't much of fun games or the theatre which is usually an essential element to an enjoyable teppanyaki experience ! I won't be returning .

A very enjoyable meal. Casual; a good introduction to teppanyaki for my family. Votes in: the food was delicious! Teppanyaki is always an enjoyable and entertaining meal.

We were a party of 5 . The food is fresh and delicious (beef 👍🏻 chicken 👍🏻) the 'games' are great fun. we used a Groupon coupon which makes it good value. Our booking, made by phone and text message, did not go through - so it was a shame that we had to wait. Not great service - no offer of drinks while we waited.... I suggest triple checking your booking.....

I went here with a group of friends. We purchased a groupon which gave ten dishes for $30. <br/><br/>The dishes included:Seaweed salad<br/><br/>Miso soup<br/><br/>King prawns (two pieces)<br/><br/>Calamari<br/><br/>Fish fillet<br/><br/>Teriyaki chicken<br/><br/>Wagyu beef<br/><br/>Seasonal grilled vegetables<br/><br/>Fried rice<br/><br/>Ice cream or hot green tea<br/><br/>The seaweed salad was pretty basic and given in a small bowl but was pleasant. The miso soup, was quite tasty, it didn't have an overpowering miso taste which was a surprise to me. <br/>The prawn pieces were the first main dish we got that was cooked by the chef. The were juicy and flavourful.<br/>The the seafood components were also cooked well and given in small portions to the table. <br/>The wagyu beef was definitely the highlight as it was cooked well and moist on the inside. <br/>We didn't receive any grilled vegetables unfortunately .<br/>The chef who made the fried rice must have been a  new one as he calculated the portion incorrectly and one of my  friends was left with the crispy bits and leftovers as the chef had not poured enough rice. <br/>For dessert the table got the ice cream option. It was a relatively small scoop of vanilla icecream with some hundreds and thousands on top for decoration. <br/><br/>Unfortunately the chef didn't do any flame tricks or games at the table and that left us disappointed as we paid for that experience. The table beside us had a more experience chef who did more tricks.

Was a bit apprehensive from the reviews.  Took the family of 6 there using a living social voucher. Cost was around $100 and worth every cent.  Mr 9 had the 'best birthday ever'.   The chef was young and obviously not as experienced as some Japanese Teppan chefs but he still made it fun for all He was happy to chat with us, take photos and throw food and bowls around..  Even the 2 yo was glued to his seat. And that's a miracle.  The kids even tried prawn heads, gotta be having fun to do that.   Ultimately would I recommend this place to families - most certainly.  Normally I walk out of restaurants with my kids a nervous wreck, I walked out of ShowChef with a smile on my face and a hoard of 4 really happy kids..

We came here on a voucher. We came with a group of 10 and the chef/owner (big boss) This is the best service and show we have ever received from a teppanyaki restaurant. I would highly recommend coming, so much fun <br/><br/>Matt

Unbelievably and Incredibly Bad....save your money and don't waste your time. There is nothing good to say about this place.

No "Show", No "Chef". I have never written a bad review about any restaurant i've been to in my life, but feel so compelled to do so after suffering for about two hours at the hands of this place. Having experienced Teppanyaki about 5 times in the past 5 years, I would say that I have an average understanding of a Teppanyaki night - fresh food cooked with skill, delivered at a regular speed and the chef making a bit of fun with everyone as the meal progresses. I took my wife, kids and my Mum for Mothers' Day into a tornado of unorganised, unsupervised, unskilled indifference. In fact after waiting for an hour and fifteen minutes, the "chef" (who definitely had his training wheels on and was armed with a luke-warm grill and blunt knives) handed out my starving five year old daughter's first morsel of food to another customer! And what's worse is, he tried to take it back after they had eaten some of it. After politely asking for things to be rectified to the waitress (who appeared to be the manager), we got...absolutely no reaction. Asked again, no reaction and so on and so on and so on. <br/><br/>I could go on about the dead service, the bland food, the minuscule portion size and the fact that this whole episode just sucked the life out of all who were present and killed Mothers' Day but I won't. In short, DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS PLACE. For the first time in my life I paid them half what they asked me for and I still felt ripped off.

This place should be closed down. We all left starving. One BIG CON OF A RESTAURANT!! don't waste your time and money. Feel totally ripped off!!

It was our first time having teppanyaki, so we didn't have any previous experience to compare it with. We were probably lucky to be the first diners there, so there was no hassling by the waitstaff to clear the table for other patrons (as others here may have experienced).<br/>The Lilliputian-sized portions were just a little too salty for my liking, but the chef was friendly, and tossed eggs and fried rice to us. <br/>It was quite rushed as well; I didn't know about the 30min thing, may have missed it in the groupon t&c. <br/>At the end of our dinner, the chef sprinkled salt on the [cooking area] and wrote out "Thank you", which was nice of him. (Another lady diner panicked when she saw the salt poured out, which she thought was to be used to cook her food haha)<br/>Overall, I felt a little let down by the quick and small meal, especially the small lobster tail, which I had looked forward to. We left the place with our stomachs just nicely filled. I wouldn't say I'd go back, as the location is quite inconvenient. But it wasn't too bad :).

Completely Dissatisfied and Offended Groupon User. While I understand that when paying for a groupon, we may get different service for a meal, the intention would be to attract new business to a restaurant. The treatment that I received incurred the opposite. <br/><br/>After making a reservation for 7:30 pm, we were told "30 minutes" which we were happy to wait. After 2 minutes, we were ushered to a table and a chef arrived. We quickly realized that the 11 courses that we paid for were to be consumed WITHIN 30 minutes. While the chef did a good job, I tried to tell the server/manager (?) that we would like something to drink, even water, to go along with our 11 courses. She nodded and then ignored me. After 10 minutes (in a restaurant with only one other active table) without even water, my boyfriend asked for water, and the request was accommodated. <br/><br/>After the meal (which while well cooked, was clearly rushed as we had to stuff our faces with beef, chicken, <br/>seafood, rice and dessert within 30 minutes) I decided it was best to speak with the manager. Working in hospitality, I know that tables must be filled, and dining times must be adhered to. We were not given any alternative options to following our reservation and eating like it was a sprint. <br/><br/>I was highly disappointed that after a reservation, we were given 30 minutes to eat, while the table beside us had a full teppenyaki meal (with bowls thrown etc). After the meal, I tried to communicate my frustration to the manager, and she shrugged her shoulders. I tried once again to tell her that this was honestly unfair that we were only given 30 minutes, when a reservation was made, and she walked away from me. <br/><br/>It took my boyfriend saying "chef - very good. You - very rude" to get the message to the manager. <br/>I was offended and belittled as I walked away from the restaurant. Language barriers happen in many restaurants, but refusing to listen to the female customer is offensive.<br/>I would never recommend this restaurant to a friend and highly advise others to avoid. Especially if any females expect to have a conversation with the female manager. She does not have any respect at all.

Don't go!!!!!!!. Let's start from the beginning, we had to wait over 40 mins before chef was avail, seems there was only 1 chef catering 3 teppanyaki tables. The lobster tail was a joke, way over cooked as the 1 chef ran around from table to table. In fact everything was over cooked, the set menu includes miso soup, we were served the soup right at the end after desert (which the pancakes were undercooked). The menu also states sashimi selection, non were served!!! Pls do yourself a favour don't go there. I felt like I was in the twilight zone, never have I had such a horror dining experience!!!<br/>Btw don't bother emailing for reservation, another joke, got no replies, called and was answered by a very abrupt voice.

DON’T GO THERE!!! TASTELESS FOOD, DISORGANIZED STAFF, WORST SERVICE EVER!!!. My friend and I went there on a weekend night with a Groupon 11-course voucher. It turned out a total disaster. We were asked to move from our table to another TWICE, although the dining area is half empty! Teppanyaki dishes (Calamari, Basa fillet, Lobster tail, beef, chicken, fried rice & vegetables) are literally tasteless. Chef didn’t care if we were still having the previous dish, just rush cooked all the dishes and piled them into our plates. Serving size is so tiny, probably won’t satisfy a cat. My friend only got 3 tiny bits of Calamari and a half tiny bowl of rice. Our miso soup and appetizer (Seaweed salad) didn’t show up until the very end, when we queried about what 11-course were. <br/>The entire dinner lasted less than 30 minutes and we were rushed out with a half empty stomach and a full load of disappointment. Trust me, you’d be better off spending your $69 on anywhere else but here.

It's a disaster! Horrible experience!<br/><br/>I bought the groupon vouchor of $69 for two . But it was a nightmare for me!! The food was tasteless and so small. As a girl I still feel hungry after the dinner . It only took 30 mins for the whole dinner and I was asked by the chef that my friend and I have to leave the main table to have the dessert at the side table . I asked why and I was told that it was Japanese tradition to have the dessert at the side table. It was so rude !!! I believe the real reason is that some other customers were waiting for the main table . I can't believe that it only took 30 mins to have a dinner for $69!!

WORST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE! :(. Never have I been treated with such bad customer service in my life...<br/>I also bought my voucher from Groupon and thought it would be nice to take my partner there... It was probably my fault for not looking up this place on Urbanspoon beforehand ... <br/>Getting seated and all up there was only 1 other couple in this restaurant... when they had asked me if I had a voucher, I gladly pulled out my phone to show them ... they then took my phone for a good hour <br/>After a while they came back telling me that the code wasn't working on their phone when they tried to redeem it. They ended up telling us to do it ourselves. After a while of not been able to redeem, I had asked them to contact Groupon as the voucher money would've fallen into their account regardless... but no ... they said it was my duty to contact Groupon to sort out the mess.. <br/>A staff member of the restaurant had called their boss as he just poopped out of the restaurant a little and proceeded to tell him that we already ate everything ... SO INFURIATING ... We haven't even had the chance to nibble on the food because they kept walking over to us saying the voucher doesn't work <br/><br/>Fast Forward to perhaps an hour later ... we managed to take a nibble on some of the food... and might I say I have never tasted anything as bad as this place. The white basa, lobster tail (Not even as big as a 50cent coin) was dry and tasted like rubber.. the only thing that I'd manage to swallow was a bit of the fried rice and chicken ...<br/><br/>By the end, my partner and I couldn't stand been hassled by the staff and didn't even get to the end of the course and got up to cop a bill totalling approximately $150 ... $69 I paid for Groupon and $150 yesterday night... you guys can do the math... One expensive worst experienced meal I've ever had.

Waste of Money. I bought a voucher on groupon for a 11 course Tepaniaki.<br/><br/>The courses was not even worth a 10 dollars take away.<br/><br/>we had 2 small piecies of salmon, 1/4 of cray fish, chicken, and vegeteble and rice.<br/><br/>there was nothing fancy.<br/><br/>paying 35 AUD per person is a joke, I do not recommend this restaurant.

SO BAD IT WAS ALMOST AMUSING. The WORST Japanese teppanyaki I have tasted.<br/>Far far too much salt in each dish to the point where 7 people at the table could not even eat the fried rice. I could feel my kidneys screaming just watching the chef pouring it on like Niagara falls.<br/>The only ingredients used were butter soy sauce and salt, I am unsure the complexity of Japanese cuisine boils down to these 3 ingredients and for the staple teppanyaki Japanese yum yum sauce they had no clue only a hideous brown paste. The service was also aligned with the food. <br/>It was so terrible it was almost amusing !<br/>Wouldn't feed it to my cat.

Frighteningly bad food. I haven't come across such muck in a very long long time. The health dept should really needs to inspect this place. Eat here at your own risk. You have been warned.

Best birthday experience ever!!! What an unforgettable night ! ! !. Combination set is rather fair, first fresh and delicate salad and delicious Miso Soup , and then Basa fish is really tender, calamari is tasteful , prawn is fresh and with sweet chili sauce , the flavor is wonderful ! Then Teriyaki Chicken is really tasty, I'm quite in favor of that special sauce, Wagyu beef you won't wanna miss it , cause it is fairly terrific , BTW that's my favorite. And at last course, fried vegetable and fried rice will definitely make you want more !~ So we ordered Sushi, and they are reaaaaalllllllllly yummy!!! oh I forgot, the ice cream with strawberry topping is advisable.<br/>This was my second time, chef wasn't same one, but they were all professional and humerous. Staff were friendly and polite to us all.<br/>This place is really nice and tidy, especially toilet, pretty clean, GOOD ! !<br/>That day was my birthday, they did a special arrangement for birthday cake, handsome chef held sparkling candles cake walked to me, meanwhile all my friends and restaurant staff sang along Birthday Song to me, it was a big surprise for me, but very sweet !!!!!! This place is really suitable for birthday party and every kinds of party !<br/>What an unforgettable night ! ! ! <br/>We will come back for sure, could you teach us how to cook teppanyaki ,plz...... pretty cool ! ! !

Terrible! Bad! Awful! This has to be the worst teppanyaki restaurant I have ever been to. The food was tasteless! The salad was water downed lettuce and the place was dirty! There were 2 staff in the whole restaurant and they are also the teppanyaki chefs!! She has to leave us half way cooking to serve other customers. The food was either over cooked or under cooked!! It was so awful that we had to leave before dessert!!! Just don't bother going there!!

Ken & Lori. It’s rare to find a restaurant that has terrible service perfectly matched with terrible food. If you want to find a place that combines these two, we recommend you eat here. <br/><br/>Even though the restaurant was empty it look ages for our first dish, a salad, to arrive. The lettuce was brown with a dollop of white ‘mayonnaise like’ sauce. Next came the Miso soup, looking and tasting like Oxo beef stock served in a western tea cup. Our spring roll tasted like it was from a frozen packet and it arrived floating on Masterfoods tomato sauce. <br/><br/>By this stage, we wanted to leave, but felt stuck as we had ordered the set menu. A couple walked in, sat down, then immediately walked out. <br/><br/>We have never seen so much seasoning and Masterfoods smokey bacon sauce applied to so many dishes. The teriyaki chicken was basically just BBQ chicken with cheap BBQ sauce. There was nothing teriyaki about it.<br/><br/>But it wasn’t all bad, our fish dish was tasty. Although the calamari was over seasoned masking true taste of the fish. Also our “Chef” seemed friendly, even though he didn’t say much to us, he was a little disinterested; even though we were the only people in the restaurant. The Wagu beef was well cooked - however over seasoned.<br/><br/>We didn’t get sick after the meal, so we were happily surprised about that. We recommend this restaurant if want your wife to ask you for a divorce.

Not good at all..... 2 yrs .... Not good at all.....<br/>2 yrs ago went to this place, it was excellent. Changing in management, make this place worse. The food tastes plain, not given any table sauces, the chef is not entertaining

DO NOT EAT HERE! !!! Just finished dinner off a living social voucher. Place was ghetto and empty on a Saturday night! (First clue) they could barely speak English. .salad was a Few pieces of iceberg lettuce with a drop of dressing, no sashimi as promised on voucher, burnt over sauced cabbage for"mixed veggies" tiny pieces of beef and chicken that he flavored with a squishy tube of bbq sauces and too salty of fried rice. We did not even wait around for our dessert. AVOID! !! Trust me..I never even leave reviews. Worst $50 ever spent! !!!

I'm still at this place, and I have never taken the time to write a review. The most horrible experience I have ever had. Overpriced....the worst is the water downed sake...rip off..be careful...don't eat here!!! Please I never write reviews!!

Just go somewhere else. There's plenty of good teppanyaki joints in sydney. This is not one of them.

DO NOT GO HERE!!! This is the worst tepanyaki place I've ever been to and Ive been to some pretty average places. The chef was TERRIBLE for a place called show chef the only show we got was a never ending stream on groaning, wingeing and complaining from the chef who blatantly refused to do anything 'showy' even though there was a little boy who's birthday it was at our table!! The food was just plain bad! the 'sashimi' (if it could even be called that?!) was indelible and the rice was tasteless, the prawns were OK, amd the chicken was microwaved! as in, we heard a ding just before it wasbrought out! But really the problem was the very slow service and grumpy old chef. Avoid at all costs.

No-Showchef. Food was wonderful, chef was very nice- however there was no show at all. We were looking forward to it too! Couldn't help but feel sorry for people who were there for their first teppanyaki experience- they would have wondered what the fuss was about.<br/>The waitress and her service was less than ordinary.

Had a fun time with the cute chef joking with us. He has impressive skills and lit our night up with the fun entertainment cooking style ;) its nice for big groups.

Worst dining experience of my life!. I had the worst experience of my life at this place. I waited AN HOUR AND A HALF while all of my friends had started eating. When I asked the waitress where my meal had gone she said that I would have to wait some more. ANOTHER FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER, I was finally served FOUR LITTLE PIECES OF TERIYAKI CHICKEN. I called up the waitress and explained that this is not acceptable because I had waited AN HOUR AND FORTY-FIVE MINUTES and this is just NOT THE SIZE OF A DECENT MEAL. She gave me THE RUDEST SIDE EYE and the "Chef" OPENLY LAUGHED AT MY FACE. The waitress just ignored me for the rest of the dinner, only filling up with water the others' glasses SKIPPING MINE! I have never been treated this way in my entire life. THIS PLACE IS JOKE! On top of being filthy, service is mediocre, value is ridiculous and ambience... well... ideal for whomever likes to be treated like in a fast-food restaurant.

Entertainment and superb food. Just remind your date / dinner Partners not to wear their Sunday bests because depending on theIr level of hand eye co ordination... They could literally have egg on their face!