Sumibi Yakiniku (formally Kashiwa Yakiniku) — Restaurant in Sydney

I booked a table (in Japanese) and explained that in the past I had booked we were still made to wait 30min + & that this particular evening as it was a school night and I had young kids eating would like to be seated at the time I book for 6:30 (even if it meant coming earlier) the person on the phone said come at 6:15 When we arrived we were greeted with such rudeness by a man who later found out was the owner. There was def no broken English/culture barrier we are a half Aus/Japanese family. There was 5 of us dining stepmother and 3 sisters we sat outside as this place does become smokey and you are left going home smelling of yakiniku. The man told us while he was putting the two wooden tables together that we were lucky as these table are for 8 (if anyone recalls these square Ikea table) there is no way 8 people would fit unless they were children. At this stage we were already confused at this mans words.. When we sat down we initially ordered 4 starters and 4 selection of meat & only one BBQ came out for 5 people. He stormed out after the waitress took the order to explain to us there was a $26 min each person & we would be charged if we don't meet this?!? I told him to calm down for a start we don't have space on the table and yakiniku is cook whilst eating that we would order more as we go along. He then made it very clear we could only stay for 90mins (it was a Monday night & v quiet!) My sister who is a well know chef asked this man why he was so upset as you very rarely see Japanese in hospitality behave like this (slamming plates, no "irashaimase" greeting, asked how may serviete I would like when I asked for more?!) we later found out that this guy was upset as I asked him on the phone to be seated at the time I book for. He told me I was not "a queen" we explained to him that this is why people book (reading the past review its clearly obvious others have had an issue) & Kashiwa has been struggling in the booking department. Being a hafu & understanding the culture this man has stepped over the line I'm absolutely disgusting & will not...

I have a review from 3 years ago and my most recent review.

Updated review: I have been going to Kashiwa for 5 years now. Ever since their expansion, the quality of the meat and their service has gone down tremendously. Most notably, the pork rib option which used to be thicker and more tender slices of meat (you can see a photo from the restaurant 3 years ago) but now it is so paper thin that it burns quickly on the grill. I've been two times since they expanded the venue and thought maybe it was just a one-off with the meat quality but when I went the second time it was exactly the same. The portions have gotten smaller and the prices have gotten more expensive and not on par with quality. Very disappointed as a long-time customer and quite sad that my local Japanese BBQ joint is no longer my favourite place to eat. Some other cons: they are still a cash only business which is inconvenient especially after operating for so long and they are only open 3 hours a day now. Pros are that they now serve alcohol when previously they didn't.

Original review from 3 years ago: My favourite place for Japanese bbq!! The meat is top quality and the marinade is so tasty! I really recommend their pork and short rib wagyu, it melted in my mouth! Their prices are really good for value compared to other places and service is good. You do need a booking though as you won't be seated without one depending on how busy it is. The only reason why I give it 4 stars is because of the 1 hour dining limit, I usually don't spend more than an hour eating but I felt pressured to constantly look at the time instead of just enjoying the food and atmosphere. The hour limit should probably be extended for people who order more food or for larger groups of people. I'd love to have a dinner here with my friends or family but the time limit turns me off. However, I do understand that they are only open for a few hours unlike other BBQ places and why the time...

This is my third time coming into the restaurant but I had an extremely bad experience this time. I called the restaurant at 2:18pm and wanted to ask whether we need to book a table or just walk in is fine. She replied “yes”. I took that as walking in can still find seats. Later 3:48pm, she replied that”6pm is fully booked and 7:30still has table”. I called back and she told me that it’s very unlikely to have a seat if I just walk in. I asked why didn’t she just let me know about this at 2:18pm so I can book table early. She raised her voice while explaining and started yelling at me very loudly. I guess she wanted to end the call so she is been very impatient and rude. She kept emphasising that our shop is busy and no time to text properly while she screamed at me over the phone. After that I tried to explain something but she just hung up the phone.

I’m very disappointed and sad because this is the first time that a staff yelled at me over the phone call. I used to a very good impression on the restaurant because the food is good, but she ruined everything. I can’t believe that a person with such terrible customer service can be employed in a restaurant. Later another staff called me and explained in a nice way which I’m really appreciated. I asked if I can talk to the female staff who just yelled at me and hopefully she can apologise to me for being rude and giving attitude to the customer. But the staff refused.

Overall I’m feeling sad and wronged, all I want is the lady who yelled at me apologise to me. Almost all restaurants that I have been to are nice and polite, I can’t believe one day I’ll be treated so badly like this.

Anyway, the food in the restaurant is good but I’m not coming again because this lady with such terrible way of treating people is...