10/12/09

Waiting 1 hr, 45min. for food? Not in this town!!

by Odessa08

We have been regulars at this restaurant since the day they opened, and have brought dozens of people to eat there. Mica used to give attention and care to the food, and seemed appreciative of his customers. Sadly, for the last two years, the food and service have been in a steady state of decline, i.e forgotten entrees, inattentive wait-staff, and declining food quality. We kept hoping they would regain the quality they had begun with. The last straw came recently when we had a reservation for a table of ten. We waited almost 2 HOURS before ANY food was brought to the table, and not a dime was comped off of an almost 500.00 bill! This is Portland people! I eat at PACKED restaurants in this town every week, and have NEVER had to wait more than 40 minutes for food, and NEVER that long for an order that included appetizers.

Perhaps the chef/owner is too busy with new ventures to maintain the quality of what was once a fine establishment. What a shame.

• Pros: nice neighborhood
• Cons: Poor service, forgotten food items, no apology for long wait

09/21/09

Food was awesome, cocktails severely lacking!

by MandyBarrett

We went here only because Portland magazine said it had the best burger in town.

On that front, it was AMAZING! The burger is top-notch, we each had one along with a scallop and dungeness entree. To that end their sushi is fresh and flavorful.

HOWEVER- this is a big knock on the place. How can a trendy upscale restaurant completely drop the ball on the cocktail and wine service? This is Portland, last time I checked. If you do not come to play with wine and spirits in this city, you simply are not going to survive.

I looked over the menu before going, the cocktails they did have looked awful. The only one that looked appetizing was their pomegranite, which, coincidentally enough, they did not have on their menu.

I asked if they had something with Midori in it, you know, this being a Japanese restaurant and everything. Nope.

So we settled on wine. They had a whopping 2 to choose from, and after we chose the Reisling, they ran out after the first bottle and we had to order cabernet for our second glass.

This was on a SATURDAY NIGHT, and they ran out of wine? Are... you... kidding me?

Anyway, the food was awesome, and as a local burger afficionado the burger absolutely lived up to hype!

But if anyone involved with the restaurant happens to see this, be warned- your absolute disregard for providing patrons with an ample wine list or cockatils may cost you repeat business.

• Pros: The best burger I have had in awhile, lived up to hype
• Cons: Cocktail list is awful and limited, wine list was miniscule

08/21/09

second try not the charm

by smoopers

I was grumpy and was looking for something other than our usual standby's, yakuza is in the hood…I had been before, right after they opened and remembered it had been tasty-so we decided to give it a shot. Problem one, I was already grumpy, problem two-it was 8p and I was hungry. We ordered the burger, shrimp tempura roll, the squash, and the house roll. The squash, shrimp tempura and house roll came out first after 70 minutes. 70. I had heard that they had GIANT rolls; these were smaller than other places and mediocre. I was ravenous-trying to figure out if they had something-anything I could order quickly to nibble on, like edamame…Nope. The waiter did say he had comped my drink and asked if I wanted another-sure. 3 drinks no food. Awesome. I worked as a waitress for a thousand years and I can tell you it is not fun to have a dining room filled with hungry people who don’t have food and a slow kitchen, that is when I put on the charm and beg forgiveness-“”I am so sorry you are experiencing a wait- the kitchen is slammed I apologize…” Nothing from our guy. Just a comped drink. No explanation. No apology. After 90 minutes the burger came out. It was delicious. But I was still hungry. And irritated. I will never go back. The squash was completely bland and uninteresting, the shrimp tempura roll mediocre and the house roll okay. The burger was perfect. The service sub standard. If you are looking for a place to sit around and drink, and aren’t really hungry, this place may be for you. If you have a matter you need to discuss with a friend for several hours and want your food to trickle into your conversation every hour or so…But it is loud in there too…Nevermind. I say don’t go. We did get all of our drinks comped though.

• Pros: burger
• Cons: Sloooooooow and unapologetic service