Sushi Tengoku (ST) had always been one of my favourite restaurants since I discovered it back in 2012. The food has always been exceptional, which had kept me coming back over the years. But the experience I had tonight at the restaurant was utterly atrocious and definitely had changed my preference in restaurants; that is, food can only taste as good as its service.
Tonight was Friday; a date night for my partner and I. When we arrived, it was around 7pm and noticed the restaurant was only partially seated with customers as we walked in. Given that we've been to ST in the past, we were familiar with their menu, knew what we wanted and made our order quickly - 1 x soft shell crab roll, 3 x Aburi Salmon and 1 x Spicy hot pot.
After 30 minutes, we noticed the surrounding tables of customers already had their food served (even those customers who were seated after us) and we raised the concern to the same restaurant manager who I handed over my order sheet initially.
Moments later the manager came back looking puzzled and presented us with an order sheet of another table. I quickly corrected him and clarified the order with him in words. He exited and came back a moment later with a new order sheet, claiming that they had lost our order!!! I held my breath, refilled the order sheet quickly and handed back to him.
The next second you know, another manager came over to our table serving a hot pot, which we saw them handed over to another table at least five minutes ago! My partner and I both had a good look at the hot pot and we were sure that the food had already been touched by someone and I questioned the manager how long ago the food was made.
He replied, "It was only made just a moment ago but went to the wrong table." There was no apology and no sense of remorse in his tone. At that point, both my partner and I felt unwelcomed and undervalued as customers. We stood up and left our table. As I walked towards the door, I told him to cancel our order. He looked at me in the eyes and his final response to us was "OK".
I WOULD NOT recommend Sushi Tengoku to anyone if you want a restaurant that values their customers and treats them with respect. If you don't mind being undervalued, by all means. read more