When this place first opened a number of years ago it was fresh and charming with some really nice staff. Even the cooks were friendly. I walk past this place every day.
Today however It looks really tired on the outside; the paint and wood peeling away and the rotting Japanese symbolic flags flapping limply in the wind. It is clear their kitchen fans need some major work as well; I would say it’s lucky they haven’t set the building on fire with all the smoke and grease that is disgorged when they are cooking.
Anyway I went in there 3 days ago to get some takeaway. It’s certainly not cheap for a bowl of pork noodles - $98 - R6 on their menu. But when I paid they decided to whack a 10% service charge on top. Frankly I had never heard of that before - the manager pointed at the plastic bowls as if to say that was for the service. Honestly that was ridiculous.
I was thinking about taking back the cleaned plastic bowls and getting my $10 back - but simply couldn’t be bothered.
Given the lack of maintenance, poor service and bad attitude I would reasonably guess they are a victim of a major rent increase and this has put the pressure on. Of course their response in dealing with that by taking it out on their customers is entirely out of proportion.
In fact it has forced someone like myself who is normally quiet about this sort of thing, to put together 200 words to tell you all about it!
Given what it was like when it first opened and what it is now, it was incredibly disappointing. I will still walk past on the way to and from work everyday, but I certainly won’t be going back to be treated like that again. Especially for that kind of price when there are far better priced options nearby.