I write very few reviews on Yelp, but really felt inclined to offer my opinion on this place. I have no idea what about this restaurant warrants the 4 star review it currently has on Yelp. I understand that Walnut Creek - especially this end of Walnut Creek - really lacks good, authentic ethnic cuisine, but there is no way that this is a four star restaurant. Compared to what? A Wendy's? Either yelpers have no idea what qualifies as a star these days or the people writing these reviews have had very sad culinary experiences in life, but this is a 2 star place, AT BEST. I have been there 3 times since it has opened and it has been satisfactory to downright poor each time. 4 stars? Never in their wildest dreams.
First, their service is horrendous. Sure, they smile when they greet you at the door (which is in a funky location to begin with) but is that all that qualilfies for service these days? Admittedly, the restaurant is still fairly new, but they are SLOOOOOOOOOW. I have been here when there have been plenty of people, a medium amount of people and no people at all. We have had to wait 10-15 minutes for water each time - when we ask for water immediately when seated. The wait staff has vascillated from being friendly but slow and clueless to rude and completely nonexistent for a dozen minutes at a time. Our last waitress (middle age Asian woman) was a doozy. Impatient, seemed irritated through the entire ordering process and put out to return to fill waters. I honestly wanted to leave during the ordering process because she was so rude, but our kids were hungry and it was too late to find a new location for dinner. The Owner might be a friendly guy, but smiles and handshakes don't make up for good food and drink service when customers are coming to eat and drink.
The food is even more 1/2 stars than than service. There is a reason why dual cuisines at a restaurant doesn't usually work. There is actually a nuisance and talent that goes into making most ethnic food - you don't just throw the ingredients together and call it sushi. And you certainly don't do that with Thai food. The sushi is mediocre - at best - and the Thai is the same. MyThai 2 on Clayton Road (granted, a bit of a drive from here but not far) blows this place out of the water as far as taste and authenticity goes. Not even close. And as far as sushi goes, even Toyo (which is no Japanese gem) across the street at Encina Grande is better than these bland and flavorless rolls. Oh and throwing some spicy mayo and fish eggs on top of a roll doesn't make it flavorful - again, there needs to be a reason why it is added. Those are merely condiments - the underlying roll has to tasty and flavorful on its own. Last, be aware the sushi roll sizes are small AF - especially for their prices. I understand that this is a big restaurant in new shopping center and they have a high overhead, but the prices simply do not justify the quality or quantity of food served here.
The last thing I will mention is the timing of service. If you order both types of food in your order, be aware that the ETA of your dishes will be completely different. We literally waited 22 minutes between when the Thai dishes and sushi plates arrived last night. One dude making all the sushi for the entire restaurant and likely several people working in the back on the Thai food. Ridiculous. Get your act together and figure out how to coordinate servce of the food at one time per table. If you can't figure out how important that is to a group meal, then you haven't thought this dual-cuisine restaurant concept through carefully enough. Customers are far better served by just ordering one cuisine or the other. However, customers are best served by skipping this place entirely.
Oh and to be clear, I'm not a foodie. I enjoy a good hole-in-the-wall restaurant as much as the next guy, but when viewed totally objectively, this place lacks in too many ways to deserve the rating is has on yelp. I see no reason why this resturant should last based on food and service alone. read more