Okami Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Melbourne

Having eaten at numerous different locations and have always had a great experience, on this evening I brought my family to join a booking I had made.

There were 2 incidents, as I was checking out for payment. My receipt showed $105 for 3 containers I requested (as we had to leave shortly after ordering due to my son falling ill), that was the least of the problem as I recognised the over charge right away, in which it was immediately rectified.

When I went to insert my card, I was advised there was a chip error, after multiple attempts the young lady walked away with my card without my permission to discuss with another person. When they both came back, she said my card had a chip error, which I clearly knew couldn't be the case as I had used it throughout the day successfully. She said I would need to pay 1.5% surcharge to tap it, I said no issues with tapping, however I won't pay the surcharge as it's not a credit card, it's a debit. I suggested to try entering manually as I had worked in the merchant banking industry for over a decade and was very familiar with these issues, however she said machine does not allow that function. Nevertheless, she suddenly taps it aggressively onto the machine, prints out the receipt to show me it says 'visa debit', 'which is credit' she claimed, I tried to explain doesn't mean credit, however she had stormed off already in anger. Other diners waiting nearby, witness the incident and started scrutinising her also for her rudeness & being unprofessional. There was no need for her behaviour, particularly a paying customer. They need to be trained in a way to work with challenging situations, customer service comes foremost in particular for a growing business to continue to develop its branding and establishment. Situations like this only creates bad experience, poor word of mouth to others, poor reviews in time will only discourage others as we now live in a society strongly impacted by social media and reviews.

For your information to relay back to the business owner there, in educating their staff in understanding customer service and difference between Visa credit and Visa debit.

Debit cards are cards with funds available to be drawn from an associated bank account. Visa Debit cards do the same thing as debit cards, however you cannot access borrowed money or have access to a credit limit. Visa debit uses the Visa network and is branded by Visa. Although Visa cards bear the Visa symbol, they are not issued by the...

I am writing to formally express my disappointment regarding the unacceptable experience my family and I had at your restaurant last night 25th of July which was meant to be a special celebration for my mother’s first day in Melbourne.

As a family of six, including three young children under the age of 10, I had taken the extra step to book a table in advance, expecting a comfortable and welcoming dining experience. Unfortunately, what we encountered was far from that.

Upon arrival, we were led to a table that was extremely close to other diners, with barely enough space to walk through. More concerningly, our table was situated right next to the door, which was consistently left open, letting in a strong draft of cold air. This made it particularly uncomfortable, especially for our young children. We politely asked to be relocated due to the cold, only to be told that it was not possible as per the manager’s instructions. Instead, we were told the door would be kept shut — which never happened. Time and again, our children had to get up to close the door themselves, disrupting their meal and making the experience increasingly unpleasant.

Toward the end of our meal, while we were finishing dessert and visibly cold, we again requested to move, and only then were we told we could — but with the condition that we were not allowed to order anything further. We were appalled to hear that, especially considering that the tables in the back remained unoccupied until after we finished. It was clear that customer comfort was not a priority.

The lack of consideration and empathy shown by your team — especially towards families with children — was truly disheartening. Dining out should be a pleasant experience, especially during family celebrations. Instead, we were made to feel like an inconvenience.

I hope you understand the seriousness of this matter and take steps to ensure no other guests are made to feel this way. A simple gesture of relocating a family — especially when better seating was clearly available — should not have been met with such resistance or indifference.

I would appreciate a response to this complaint and to know what measures will be put in place to improve customer service and hospitality at your restaurant...

I am not one to leave a bad review on someone’s business, but this is the most disgusting experience and horrific place I’ve been to. Online they were open till 10:30pm, we walked in at 8:20pm (2 hrs & 10 minutes before closing) and they said the kitchen was closing at 8:50pm. We had barely even sat down and they asked us what we wanted without having even looked at the menu and had to order on the spot. I stated clearly, as well as pointing to the vegetable gyoza, THE ONLY gyoza advertised on the menu and confirmed the order. The food was brought out and there was 4 in total, 2 green, 2 white, I didn’t think anything of it as I had trust in this company and was being rushed since the moment we walked in, my friend went to have hers and we noticed the colour difference and tried to look at what was inside, we couldn’t tell, we hoped it was cauliflower not seafood. Prior to this we had made our final order before the kitchen closed and when another plate of gyozas came out, once again it was green AND white so I asked what was in it and SHE SAID PRAWN. I told her that we had asked for vegetable, although she returned the new plate back to the kitchen, it was FAR TOO LATE. I am a vegetarian with a prawn allergy and I had ate this prawn gyzoa, something that wasn’t even advertised on the menu as a ‘mix & match’ and very clearly just a picture of a green ‘vegetable gyoza’. This was no mistake has we had ordered it twice and were brought the same plate. I am sick to my stomach (literally as I have been throwing up all night and have severe stomach pains) as well as being a vegetarian even to begin with. Not to mention the alarm going off while dining, the sesame ice cream tasting like nuts, being served food without cutlery and having to wait for a singular fork (not even a knife or chopsticks), everyone shoved into one small hot dining area at the back while the entire restaurant was filled with other tables available, staff were rude from the minute we walked in and taking our drinks and food before we were done without even asking first. Will not be returning, and no one should...