The glossy appearance can't hide a crappy restaurant
Monday, April 16, 2007
I walk by Nijo everyday on my way to work -- it looks great from the outside -- and finally thought I'd give it a try for lunch. I even waited until past 1pm to avoid any possible lunch rush. There were probably six people in the entire restaurant when I was there. Even with such low numbers, I probably sat in my chair for a good ten or fifteen mintues before a server finally made it to me. I had a bento box with sashimi and kalbi beef. The dollop of wasabi was all dried out -- it looked like green plahdoh, actually. Not good. The maguro didn't look fresh, and the salad in my bento was absolutely drenched in dressing. The best was that I overheard the couple nearest me say while paying that they didn't want to pay for the tea they ordered because they never got it. I had just ordered tea as well (from the same server), and you would think their complaint would pretty much guarantee that my tea would actually arrive. Nope. Never got it, and I couldn't remind the server because throughout my meal she never came back to check on me -- there were no servers in the dining area, period. I guess I could've stood up and gone into the back of the restaurant to look for someone, but I can't say I wanted tea that badly. There is nothing here -- food, atmosphere, service -- that would possibly bring me back. It's worth a little bit longer walk from downtown to hike down to the ID....
Pros: um, can't think of any
Cons: absent and forgetful service, mediocre japanese food (at best)