Bento — Restaurant in Mechelen

From 4 star to 3 star because this is a business which can’t take any criticism at all!

Read a lot of good reviews about it, however, from an Asian perspective (grew up in Asia), this is not the right convoybelt sushi experience. The normal convoybelt style sushi is that there are all the time quite a lot of sushi plates on the belt running for you to choose from. At this place they didn’t achieve this as you need to wait pretty long for some plates to come out and the owner also tends to make different stuff at his own pace (meaning if you arrive later than the majority of customers then it’s not likely that you would still get the stuff he made before you arrived. At the end if you are still eating, he would make some fancier stuff to cater to the last customers (which he would count how many people are still there and serve them accordingly, meaning it’s not likely that you would get the same thing twice even if you really like it) so for me, this is against the concept of the convoybelt. Other than that, I find that he put way too much rice for his sushi (feeling that they are trying to get you full by feeding you rice). If you can eat a lot it’s worth the price, downside is just that you need to wait really long for almost everything. Btw, I’m not Chinese (if that’s what the owner is concluding)

Yes I’m super ashamed of saying I’m Chinese because I’m NOT Chinese! Please go back to study history of how China becomes China and Taiwan becomes Taiwan today. the restaurant owner should be ashamed by trying to tell his customers what nationality their customers are especially when it’s a wrongful accusation.

For Belgian readers, this is like when you are Flemish and someone keeps saying you are the same as the Dutch because anyway Flanders use to be a part of the Netherlands and the language is also the same so there’s nothing to be ashamed about by calling...

They didn't want to let us in because we had no reservation. The restaurant was completely EMPTY, not a single customer. One hour later, the restaurant was still without a single customer - EMPTY.

--Update after owners reply: Dear owner, I hope you understand that calling me with a bad word as you did, is your signature as a person and as a restaurant owner. Showing to everyone how do you treat your customers and what do you think about them. Patronizing about how the restaurants are working in Belgium is funny as well, since you have absolutely no idea about how much time I spend in Belgium and how often I'm eating in the restaurants. I repeat, your restaurant was completely EMPTY, there was not a single person inside except the person behind the conveyer. Not at the moment we arrived, not one hour later. It wasn't the first time we had no reservation for some place, but for sure it was the first time ever to be denied entry in the restaurant without a living soul inside (except the man behind the conveyer). Why this happened, I don't know, and it doesn't matter any more. Therefore, your ''concern'' to keep distance between customers is just a cheap excuse which doesn't make any sense. Actually, it's rather funny :D

-Everyone can take nice reviews but only professionals will handle bad reviews with style, turning them in...

The conveyor belt is a clever gimmick and this place is a lovely experience overall. I agree that this is probably the best place for sushi in Mechelen, but this by itself means you need to manage your expectation a little. The fish and other ingredients are fresh, but to be absolutely frank the sushi are localised to the market's taste, meaning there won't be any wasabi in your sushi. I'm sure this would be a big plus to some. To be clear, there's nothing wrong with adjusting to the local taste, but you should know that you should not expect a supremely authentic Japanese experience for your visit here. Bookings are highly recommended. Service overall was good but not exceptional for our visit. My own very subjective personal take is that, when you look into the kitchen area in front of you and spectate the interactions and the meal preparation, to put it in the most neutral tone possible, it's like watching a captain running a tight ship. My final thought: worth a try as an experience if you live in Mechelen and do take the all-you-can-eat offer as it's...