This used to be my favorite Japanese restaurant in Alpine but it has been several years since I was last there. I had a visitor in town from the mid-west, who had never had Japanese food before, so I wanted her 1st experience to be memorable. Yes, it was but not as you might imagine.
We walked in around 5PM on a Saturday evening without any reservations but there was no wait . We were told to find ourselves a table which was a bit unusual and awkward. I noticed the servers appeared to be young, not dressed what you would imagine a clean server should be but instead looked like they were moon-lighting from their car mechanic day-job. (Just my impression)
A server came within 5 minutes and asked if we wanted any drinks while giving us menus. We ordered two bento boxes, which came with hot soup (she had the egg drop soup and I had the miso soup. Both arrived promptly and were piping hot. About 3 minutes later she got her bento box, even though she just started her soup. I finished my soup and waited, and waited, and waited for my entree before it finally came.
I was impressed with the quantity of food in the box, the flavor was excellent, and it was hot even though the entrees should have been timed together. That was the last I saw of our server. Later I had to flag down a neighboring server and request take-home boxes. He came back with them and then I also requested a serving of green tea ice cream for us to split. About 15 minutes later it arrived with only one spoon so I requested a second. We waited and waited and waited. Finally I got frustrated and went looking for the waiter only to find him playing some game on his phone. When I requested the 2nd spoon for my melted ice cream, he became belligerent and started making excuses. The proper thing would have been to apologize and get a spoon but no, I had to listen to him arguing with me and giving me "the look". We finished the melted ice cream and waited another 20 minutes for the check. When it didn't come, we got up and headed to the door where the cashier was. It turned out to be our server, still with an attitude. No "Thank you for coming and we hope you come back."
After effects:
Within 20 minutes of eating there, I developed a massive gas attack. Was it the food, was it waiter retribution, was it my reaction to the food? I have no idea nor am I implying anything detrimental however, I am wondering what caused it.
Now let's talk about the environment:
1. The restaurant has gotten very run down over the years and is desperately in need of renovation.
2. Two tables away were 2 very drunk and very loud women who started to get into a cat fight. I don't think either could have landed a punch but I was wondering why they kept serving them liquor?
3. Then there was the table with 8 kids under the age of 6, all screaming and pounding on the table while their parents pretended not to notice. Their father wanted to know if one of them had a wet diaper or a dirty diaper because it smelled dirty. Not exactly the conversation you want to visualize while eating.
In summary, I was extremally disappointed in what this once great little neighborhood Japanese restaurant has become. I think it just lacks good management and needs to be fixed quickly if it is to survive. Poor management is the biggest reason businesses fail. It is really a sad thing to see. Personally, I'm not ever coming back nor can I recommend it for anyone else. read more