I find this whenever we eat somewhere like this; service is poor, you sit on benches with strangers, the acoustics are terrible, music is blaring out of some over-exercised p.a. system. Food turns up in an odd order (more on this in a minute), it takes an age to attract the attention of the staff and even settling-up becomes a drawn out affair.
O.K. so, I can accept that there are cultural differences between the way we eat in restaurants in the West and the way they do in Japan, and these have been brought over along with the food to add an air of authenticity. Or, have they? Is it not simply that it is cheaper and perhaps more speedy to expect us to be happy that food arrives at different times and in different orders?
On to the food:
We asked for a glass of tap water each - they seemed surprised when we were not content with receiving just the one glass.
The Darling Wife ordered Sake Sashimi (raw salmon) and Tempura battered Soft Shell Crab, she seemed happy with this (she likes Japanese foods and seems unusually happy to ignore the short-comings). It seems they were supposed to be served together as the crab arrived about four minutes after the Sashimi and was plonked down alongside.
I ordered Ebi Tempura (deep fried prawns with a dashi-based dipping sauce) to be followed by Roast Duck and rice. My prawns arrived about two minutes after the Darling Wife's second batch arrived, they were good (can you go wrong with deep fried prawns - bar over cooking?) but the dipping sauce was totally without flavour (had the menu been more clearly presented I might have noticed another option among the side dishes, for the same, but with sweet chili, which would have been great). The next problem was that my "main course" arrived alongside my "starter" and so had to cool down while I ate the prawns. The duck, was, judging by its appearance, not only roasted, but had been deep-fried. On inspection, I think this happened at the start of the cooking process. The meat was dry and not very flavoursome, it had clearly spent a little time in a marinade as there was a hint of ginger about it. The rice was cooked satisfactorily (if a little over done for my liking, but it was fine), but where was the sauce? I'm not exaggerating when I say that there was only a tea-spoon full of sauce underneath the duck. It did not appear to have any flavour, but there was so little of it; how could one tell?!
It takes an awful lot for me to decline to finish my food, but I was so disappointed and irritated that I handed it over to the Darling Wife when she announced that she was still peckish. I am something of a human dustbin - this was a first!
So, what I want to know is:
- Why does the ambiance have to be so poor?
- Why is it so hard to serve both diners with their food at the same time, and in the correct order?
- Why was my duck and rice so poor?
- Why is the service so inattentive?
I also wonder why it is that we seem to be happy to accept this poor service? The Darling Wife is usually lightning quick to jump down the throat of restaurant staff if things are not absolutely satisfactory, and it tends to make me squirm with embarrassment. Why, therefore, is she so happy to accept it in these eateries? It is not just the Darling Wife either, it seems she is entirely in the mainstream in having lower expectations of Japanese restaurants than she does of Western restaurants and indeed Thai and Indian too.
Quite baffling!For info: http://www.hareandtortoise.co.uk/ they have several restaurants around London.
My rating - 2/10 (only because the Darling Wife was contented (which is the main thing!!))
I second your comments about the surprise of DW being satisfied by poor service. Most unusual ;)
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