I have been a loyal customer of Joss for more than 13 years and a resident of Annapolis for more than 20. After the service I received at Joss on Friday night, I have decided I will no longer patronize Joss Cafe and Sushi Bar. I will also discourage all my friends and acquaintances from patronizing the establishment. Before I would gladly regale my friends with how Annapolis had the best sushi place in the world. My review used to be 5 stars, now it is 1. I used to tell friends how I had eaten sushi in China, Japan, and Canada and no place compared. No Longer.
The place does not take reservations so I waited 20 minutes to get a table. I expected that on a Friday night. Once seated we had drinks. My family ordered cooked food and I ordered a large order of sushi. It took about 20 minutes for my family to get their cooked food. They finished eating and I was still waiting for my sushi. The waitress passed our table repeatedly and said nothing. After about 30 minutes she told me that she was sorry for that delay and that it would be a few minutes longer. Other tables nearby us that ordered after us got their sushi first. I sat conversing with my family.
After about 50 minutes total, finally the sushi came and it was delicious.
We asked for a to go box for about 30$ worth of sushi that was leftover and they obliged. We put our coats on and left for less than a minute, when I remembered that I had forgotten my to go box. I rushed back to the table, it was not there. They were already seating another group at the table. I asked a waiter that looked like Peter Lorre with bad facial hair whether they had found the to go box on the table. He said, ""Yeah, good luck with that, buddy."" Then he told me to wait on the ramp and that they would get back to me. I saw my waitress pass by repeatedly and could not get her attention. I waited about 10 minutes on the ramp and got no response about my to go box, so I left. I felt ignored. The waiter was rude to me and dismissive. I presume that the waiter thought there was no tip in it for him and went to other customers. Most places would have called out, ""hey you forgot your box,"" and chased after me. That would have been excellent service and I would have given a cash tip if they brought me the box. Instead I was neglected, made to wait an outrageous amount of time and treated impolitely by the staff. This experience soured my opinion of a place that I normally love.
Great food albeit expensive, 20 to 30 dollars a person generally. Try the spicy tuna rolls, dynamite rolls, firecracker rolls, unagi, ama-ebi, and fried shrimp heads. The lemon-ginger salad dressing on the house and avocado salads has a clean and bright flavor. The chicken and pork tonkatsu are always excellent though a little dry. The tempura is crispy and savory and has a very sweet dipping sauce. Horrible customer service. Thus the one star rating.
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