Shin Sen Teppanyaki Restaurant — Restaurant in District of Canberra Central

We had teppanyaki and ordered a few meals. The waitress seemed like she was not in a happy mood and just overall not happy to be there. The chef was okay but main reason we go to teppanyaki is the entertainment for the kids. It just was not as engaging and energetic as you would generally expect. I would even dare say he was ignoring the kids and hesitant to throw anything at them.

The main reason however for the low score is the food. One of the fish we ordered smelled horrible and clearly off. I discretely let them know and I was offered another to be cooked. However the issue is the food was off not that it was not cooked correctly and cooking another from the same batch is not going to make a difference.

On my way out we were not offered a sorry or can we compensate with this or that. Just very dry and very poor service.

As a post note my stomach is playing up since eating here.

I would not recommend this place.

The additional comments below are in response to owners response.

It’s not that your food did not meet my expectations, it was clearly very out of date. I even took the time to discretely go and highlight this issue with your staff. As a matter of fact I do not even recall if your waitress “apologised” but rather I will talk to the chef. I even asked her to smell it to show her what you are serving. The food should not have been presented at all. There was no other resolution offered except to recook it. It wasn’t that it wasn’t cooked to my liking, it’s that this food is off and could make me very ill. I hope you understand why I wouldn’t want more spoilt food to be recooked and served. Further while paying there was no “apology” offered for the spoilt food presented or any form of responsibility or basic hospitality response provided.

As for the baby that threw the plastic, I apologise that occurred, however unfortunately that’s what babies do and I would be very surprised if this is the first time a baby has thrown anything in a family restaurant. I would also urge you to provide the cctv footage clearly showing the babies parents both jumping up and cleaning the grill as soon as this occurred. You will also notice your waitress looking quiet upset/angry in the cctv when this occurred but not actually doing anything, once she realised it was cleaned she returned behind the counter. I also do not recall the chef “excessively clean” the grill. Like I said, the baby threw it and within a seconds we both jumped up and grabbed it and cleaned underneath it. These are the facts as you will clearly see on your cctv as you have pointed out. So please speak the whole truth.

With regards to your waitress, the intention is not to upset her. I am providing first hand account of my experience and what I observed. The waitress interactions with myself did not seem open and inviting. A simple smile goes a long way.

Further I am not undermining your restaurant, I am providing truthful feedback as a paying customer and the experience I underwent. How you move forward and take this feedback to improve is solely up to you and your passion to try and improve or not.

Lastly, and most importantly None of my statements are false accusations as you have stated in your response. All statements I have made are based on first hand account of my experience during our time at your restaurant. The main reason I went public is the fact we felt no sincere apology or attempt provided (besides remaking the same dish again) by your staff for the food that was...

Would not recommend.

The food itself was average. Although, 2 seafood items were very old and inedible. One of which we informed the waiter of.

The teppanyaki experience was very disappointing. The chef only threw a piece of scrambled egg and a bowl of rice. He didn’t do this to everyone though, he picked who he would engage with.

At the end I expected an apology or a complimentary drink for the off part of the menu we received, unfortunately not. I paid what we owed in full and walked away, knowing I would never return.

P.s. To the owner, while I understand many people did it tough in covid, that’s not my fault. Nobody abused you or your staff. Maybe look up what that word abuse means. Please stop play the victim card. You served me off food and we respectfully paid in full and walked away. We even told the waiter discreetly so as not to embarrass the staff in front of the other guests.

I understand you are quite defensive and pride in your restaurant, I encourage you to seek out how 5 star restaurants receive their rating. I stand by my 1 star for your grumpy waiter and foul smelling seafood. Im surprised you expected more than a 1 star rating, kind of seems greedy don’t you think? If I was in an embarrassing position where my food was presented to a customer in that form, I would have tried my utmost best to show my sincere apology. For example, a complimentary drink or a discount on the $290 that was charged or better yet a more welcoming waiter. Instead, the waiter was frowning at us and you offered to replace the Morton bay bug with more seafood from the same batch, which was not fresh at all because even the scallops had a smell. I knew you’d deny this which is why my husband told you to smell it, so you can’t deny how bad it was. You should be lucky I’m not reporting this to the health inspectors. You did not ask us how you could improve your service, in fact, when I was paying, there was no apology or hardly any exchange in words or eye contact. Pretty rude really.

I’m not sure which part you feel is false? Even other reviews have mentioned you don’t go there for the food. I encourage you to look at your own cctv footage that you brought up and use it to your learning advantage instead of deflecting and making out that everyone is a liar that gives you an undesirable review, that’s not how you grow...

My first Teppanyaki experience. It was very good. The chef was fun and friendly, and the lady working with him also did a lovely job helping out. The food was incredibly delicious and the chef had some activities throughout the courses. People caught eggs in bowls, we caught rice bowls which also did flips through the air.

I had the most expensive option, the Goka(?) and it was certainly worth it. That scallop at the end was to die for, and my first time eating tsushimi, dip that in some soy with the salt and chilli salt(?) with a chunk of wasabi, wow wow wow! Also the dessert was delicious, I don't usually eat banana but it was cooked so fancy like I had to try it, and yum!

Definitely worth checking this place out if its your first Tappenyaki experience or even if you're a...