Abigail J.
Yelp
I was visiting from LA for the holidays and this place was recommended to me for their Chirashi Bowl and I wish I could've rate it and my experience higher.
Food: 2/10. I got the Chirashi Bowl combo and all of the appetizers were amazing! The Chirashi Bowl looked just as amazing! Unfortunately, as I got to the Chirashi Bowl itself to eat.. I picked up my first piece of fish and found a piece of hair. At first, I thought it could have been my own hair, but I have black hair and the hair found looked red. I have worked in the food service industry and have around 8 years of experience, so I completely understand that it happens. Though, when the waitress sent my bowl back, I overheard the sushi chef stating that what I found looked like part of the brush hair he uses and it shouldn't be an issue to eat. The waitress then said to him, "It's better to be safe than sorry." Again, I understand that wasting food sucks, especially with high-quality raw fish, but it's better to be clean and hygienic. The chef instantly remade my bowl and I was so excited. The bowl started off and looked absolutely amazing and beautiful, but I noticed that the cuts weren't as good. I noticed lots of salmon skin that looks like it should have been cut off. Again, I thought that maybe it was a one time thing in my bowl but no, there were multiple cuts of salmon skin that was hard and I couldn't even eat it because it was hard and inedible. Example: I would eat a fish, but would bite into it and it would be so rough/hard, I would have to spit it out to the side because it was inedible. I love sushi/sashimi and have dined at many establishments, but I have never been to a restaurant that kept on the salmon skin. While communicating to friends about the incident via text, they assured me that it was not a normal instance. Towards the end of the bowl, the fish started to taste sour to the taste as well. I assumed that my negative thoughts were getting to my head as the experience has started to go downhill, but my boyfriend got the same exact bowl and had absolutely no issue (no salmon skin nor hard fish or sour fish). He then tried my fish after finishing his whole bowl and also agreed that mine tasted sour/funky compared to his and urged me to not finish the bowl for safety purposes. Already finding a hair, I did not want to make another complaint and be a difficult customer and cause any more issues/inconveniences for the restaurant, so I simply just did not finish my bowl. Overall, I was not even disappointed at the hair being found, but felt very very disappointed at the quality of the bowl. I was so upset and felt sick to my stomach all night.
Service: 10/10. The one star is for the awesome service we experienced. The waitresses helping me and my boyfriend out were so incredibly kind and so attentive to all of our needs. When the waitress saw the hair on the fish, she seemed very empathetic and validated what I saw. The waitress was the one to apologize to me for the incident and to tell the sushi chef to remake my bowl. Another waitress helped us out when paying and she also apologized for the incident and gave us a 10% discount for "what transpired." It was a nice gesture because we were not expecting anything from the staff.
Ambiance: Cute indoor seating along with it being spacious and clean. I went to the restroom to wash my hands and it was pretty clean in there as well.
Overall, I am hopeful that I personally just dined on an off night. I do still wish success for this restaurant, but hope that this instance does not happen to another customer.