Empire Oreintal Japanese Grill Restaurant

We visited last weekend. It’s where Soho used to be on Northgate, opposite the old Art College. The food and service was very, very good. One of our group had the stonegrill beef beautiful meat. The rest shared various Japanese dishes, all were cooked to a high standard sushi, sashimi, tempura, udon noodles etc. Service was impecable. Pleasant, informative and attentive without being over the top. Wine list is limited but OK, unfortunately they didn’t have Sapporo beer available on that night but the green tea was good. Average prices stonegrill menu was @£12−28; Japanese dishes about £5−7 each. Wine @£12−18 a bottle. They offer larger dishes to feed a crowd and set menus. The restaurant is in an old building and can be drafty near the doors; but they do have portable heaters to keep the chill off. It’s also quite echoey hopefully they will get some soft furnishings to warm it up a bit. Don’t be put off by the typically Japanese menus sheets and sheets of photocopied menus with pictures! Our new favourite Darlington restaurant we’ve finally found somewhere good to go other than just Meze!

got to say i’ve not been to anywhere like this in darlington ever! exceptionally friendly and really helpful. those not familiar with japanese food with advice etcthe food was AMAZING and you guys were so friendly and welcoming .was above and beyond brilliant!!! I’ve got to say i would recommend your restaurant to everyone !!! well done .on what you’ve done. far and keep going .you could be the best in the north east !!! and nice touch with the birthday cake for helen surmathat was lovely !!! thank you once again!!! xxxxwe all had a fabulous time !!! by martyn pickles

ate at the restaurant with family. Kids (aged 10 and 8) nervous about japanese food, but rachel helped to recommend kid friendly food — fabulous service and food — try the stone grilled steak!
Sushi and sashimi excellent — well worth a visit

This Japanese Restaurant is the «new kid on the block» in Darlington & is totally unique in the town.
It has only just opened, so don’t confuse it with the Soho Chinese Buffet.
Offering a great choice of food which is excellent value, served by really helpful, friendly & polite staff.
The Stonegrill option is something new where you can cook your choice of meat in front of you to your own personal taste. The smells are fantastic.
The various choice of Sushi is fresh & delicious.
A good choice of mains, with either rice or noodles, is again full of flavour that will suit mosts tastes.
I think this will be strong competition to the Eastern Bamboo as it offers much more choice & much better value.
I would recommend you give it a try. We certainly will be back.