A JAPANESE restaurant in Salisbury city centre has enjoyed rave reviews since it welcomed its first customers last Friday.

Mountain Spring is located at 2B Market Walk, which owner Shizhao Wang bought earlier this year.

The unit was left vacant in November, when Jenny’s Restaurant rebranded to become Jenny’s Bistro Café and moved to bigger premises within the same shopping centre.

The new restaurant's menu offers meals including sushi, ramen, donburi, yaki udon, katsu and other curries, fried rice, soups and salads.

Inside Mountain SpringInside Mountain Spring (Image: Newsquest) Mountain Spring had several lunchtime diners on Thursday when the Journal visited to meet Mr Wang – who is also the brains behind Noodle Camp on Catherine Street – and restaurant manager Alan Yeun.

Mr Wang, who now lives in Laverstock, used to live near Beijing in China. Mr Yeun lived in Hong Kong before moving to the UK. He now lives in Eastleigh.

They said business is building, and they are expecting more customers through the door when they launch their first promotion.

“Not everybody knows we are open,” they said.

“Only people who have seen there is a new Japanese restaurant go in. We will be running a 50 per cent discount at dinner.

“We will put it on Facebook and on a notice in the window.

“The reaction from our customers has been good. They have been very nice. We've had very good reviews.”

The restaurant has been praised for its ‘friendly service and delicious food’The restaurant has been praised for its ‘friendly service and delicious food’ (Image: Newsquest)

The kitchen is run by Fujun Zhang, who learnt the art of Japanese cooking in Israel before working as the head chef at a London restaurant.

“Our chefs have very good experience working with Japanese food,” said Mr Yeun.

“Our objective is to make traditional Japanese food. There is no fusion with Korean, Indian or Mexican – it’s traditional food.”

Several customers have taken to social media to share their experiences.

One wrote: “The food was amazing, can't wait to go back. I highly recommend it.”

Another said: “We went today, and it was lovely!

“Friendly staff and delicious food. Give it a try.”

Mountain Spring is preparing to launch its 50 per cent discount on food in the evenings (between 5.30pm and 8.30pm) but the dates have not yet been announced.