Ken Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Melbourne

My wife & I went for tuna tartare & edamame as the entree (the former was listed as “Special” in the menu & the latter wasn’t in the menu & offered by the waitress), we had wagyu as the main, and finished with green tea ice cream as well as tiramisu for dessert. The quality was so so (especially the wagyu beef which was much more tender in other restaurants we’ve been to before) & the portions were too small. Surprisingly we got charged for our sparkling water which is usually complimentary when they offer it at the start. Overall it’s a one off for us & undoubtedly recommend this place if you wanna waste your money. Btw, my wife shared her thoughts in a review & she politely mentioned that the quality and portion size didn't match the price. The owner's response though was quite rude, suggesting that we should stick to places within our budget, rather than addressing the service issue. It's crystal clear they have no idea what customer service is & obviously they have a long way to go to get professional. I give them 1 star for their tiramisu which was good enough but it’s much smaller than what you'd usually get at other restaurants. This place is trying to be like a fine dining with portion size of degustation menu but in a la carte style which obviously...

Dined here at a local Japanese restaurant in the neighbourhood of Beaumaris and ordered the following dishes: Seared wagyu rolls; meat was tender and tasty and the onsen egg was good too but couldn't really use the egg as a dip as it wasn't runny Seared salmon belly nigiri; very flavourful with a nice touch of lemon to cut through the rich fattiness Assorted nigiri; there was six pieces consisting of salmon, tuna and kingfish. Fish was alright but the sushi rice was plain; couldn't really taste the vinegar season Green tea ice cream; sweet and creamy with a decent amount of matcha flavour, garnished with some meringue, fresh cream, berry sauce and strawberry Houjicha crème brulée; was expecting a houjicha flavoured crème brulée but it was just a regular crème brulée topped with a scoop of houjicha ice cream. Ice cream was good but the crème brulée was sort of runny instead of a creamy custard

Overall the meal was alright; the seared wagyu roll and salmon belly nigiri from the chef special menu were tasty but the assorted nigiri paled in comparison. Desserts sounded very appealing but was just mostly ice cream with barely any toppings, very small portion for the price. Staffs...

Edit: the Visit was at 7:30 PM 7 Oct 2023, which was also recorded in Google Timeline*

My partner and I visited Ken for dinner. First impressions weren't the best as we waited around 10 minutes to be seated for our booking. After checking, we were seated, only to be told it was the wrong table and moved towards the back near the bar. This was just the beginning. We waited a further 20 minutes just to order, and then were told that this was also the wrong table and were moved back near the door.

After all this, it was a further 40 minutes before the food arrived. The food was okay. Not bad, not good, just okay.

Despite our visible frustration at the musical chairs we played that day and the slow service, a waiter offered us dessert on behalf of the manager. This was a positive gesture until one serving with one spoon was presented to us.

In summary, this was something we were looking forward to, but honestly, I don't think we...