Went to the Bush Inn shop and was not very pleased with my experience. Everything is deep fried and covered in too sweet sauce. Expected cheaper prices considering the impression that the type of service gives and how it is promoted as a casual eatery on the menu. Had to ask to find where the water was, most places it is easier to find. I went with a vegetarian friend and the only hot meal available to her was an overly sauced, over cooked udon noodle stir fry with not many vegetables, and the majority of it was just cabbage! I had the salmon don, felt like it was slapped together flimsily in a bowl with a pathetic amount of salad! (One leaf of lettuce and a couple of sprouts) I paid over $15 for this! The service seemed strained! Considering only two staff seemed to be working doing everything from serving to cleaning tables, and I saw one of the girls that served me on the till even washing dishes when the kitchen door was left open upon me leaving the restaurant. I had even seen her making sushi up at the beginning of our visit. Was very hard to relax and enjoy my meal in this place when the staff seemed overly stressed and running around like crazy chickens. Has anyone ever told restaurants that staff happiness is crucial to customer loyalty? These people look like they are miserable sweat shop workers, definitely don't want to support a business that appears to be be mistreating staff, while at the same time serving OVER PRICED bowls of rice and sushi. I do have to say that the decor was very nice, but music very annoying, and really cheesy, I get that this place is Japanese, I don't need cheesy music to remind me of that, I want to feel relaxed.
When it came to ordering we had much difficulty due to my friend asking for vegetarian food. Usually menus state which meals can be changed for different diets, but we had to ask a staff about it who had very little english skill and it took longer than it would at other restaurants. Maybe consider hiring people that can communicate better? Or is it cheaper and easier to hire staff who can't speak english well?
Overall, impressions do not match the result. Never seen such miserable workers in my life, especially in what I thought was a well established restaurant. Sorry, but this is not Asia, hire more staff, and give your staff members something to genuinely smile about, then us customers can sit there without feeling guilty and feeding off the stressed energy from your staff. And finally, the food needs to match how much we paid for it, I saw heaps of unfinished bowls of food on my way out, the other menu items must not be that delicious either. So not worth the money! Never coming back here or any other restaurant under the same name. As New Zealanders we need to support businesses who put customer satisfaction before quick profit and the illusion of value. So disgusted! read more