Sakura teppanyaki restaurant, sushi and noodle bar, 78 Fishergate, Preston

Tel: 01772 828588, www.sakurapreston.co.uk

While coach parties still travel to Tommy Ball's giant shoe shop in Blackburn, another discount footwear store with a similar name (but a different company) went out of business in Preston in 2005. Why am I telling you all this? Well, the tinted glass frontage opposite Preston station that once hid thousands of pairs of cheap shoes is now home to the city's first Japanese restaurant, and it's great.

If raw fish leaves you cold, try the teppanyaki (literally 'iron plate cooking'), a flamboyant display of barbecue as theatre, involving sheets of flame and the juggling of eggs. Sakura opened in January, the first of what the owners hope will be a chain.

Behind the impressive frontage, they've not only got rid of that rubbery shoe shop smell, but have transformed the place into a stylish, modernist space. The bar area in front uses the full height of the building and in the corner a sushi chef transforms rice and seafood into neat little food sculptures, while a long, tall fish tank separates the bar from the teppan tables. The three-sided tables seat a dozen each, with two hot plates in the middle, manned by two chefs who chop and cook what is basically a barbecue, with plenty of business involving knives, flames and condiments in between. What they do with a pepper mill would make most Italian waiters feel inadequate.

There were four of us, so we shared sushi, two set teppanyaki menus and a teppanyaki main course. Adam learnt all about sushi while touring a shadow puppet play around Japan, whereas I gained my knowledge in Marks & Spencer, but we both enjoyed the sushi selection (easier to say before you've had any Japanese Kirin beer), eight pieces plus some California roll (£15.95). Beautifully presented, it tasted pretty good too, with (cooked) tuna, salmon, mackerel and king prawn perched prettily on rice. Much nicer than expected, said Chantal the sushi debutante, and nothing like the cold rice sometimes found at the back of our fridge.

Both the seafood and the meat teppanyaki set menus (£28 and £25 respectively) start with miso soup, the Japanese equivalent of Bovril, a savoury, lightly spiced broth with pieces of tofu. Then the teppanyaki proper, which seems to involve butter, brandy and garlic, as well as good quality ingredients, essential if all you're doing is frying it on a hotplate.

Warning to any readers with bushy eyebrows or straggly beards: sit back when the brandy catches fire.

A succession of barbecued morsels followed, including rock lobster, scallops, salmon, chicken, steak and lamb, with egg fried rice and vegetables. The main course king prawn teppanyaki (£16.45 with rice) was a highlight and, with ice cream, we were all full so fears of having to buy chips and gravy on the way home unfounded.

Sakura is a much needed addition to city centre Preston, and I'll be back to try the daytime noodle menu. The bill for four was £111.95 including drinks. For that you could have bought 20 pairs of discount shoes, but for an entertaining evening of top quality food theatre, it's hard to beat.