JUGEMU Banff / Modern Japanese Dining — Restaurant in Banff

避雷！大伏！🚩

Service was good, and the atmosphere was nice, it’s a new restaurant and the space is clearly designed with care (even features a Japan-style toilet). But unfortunately, good design doesn’t make up for food that was, honestly, a huge letdown.

After a long day of hiking, we were craving for comfort food. We came in excited, expecting a satisfying meal, and left feeling frustrated and disappointed. I’m honestly shocked at all the 5-star reviews, maybe the chef was just having a bad day, or maybe their strength lies only in fried items like karaage (which I didn’t order). But based on what I had, the taste was just… bad.

Here’s what I ordered: Chicken Teriyaki Rice Bowl ; Add-on: 4pcs Pork Belly ; Mouth-Watering Chicken

Chicken Teriyaki Rice Bowl: The chicken was dry and bland like its unseasoned, it felt like chewing rubber. The teriyaki sauce tasted more like some overly sweet fruit jam than anything resembling actual teriyaki. I’ve eaten teriyaki all my life growing up in Asia, and this just wasn’t it... maybe it's a fusion or something, but not for me.

The rice was another problem. It was overly wet and mushy, more like sticky rice than proper Japanese rice. I mentioned this to the server, and the response was, “It’s because it’s Japanese rice and the sauce .” I cook Japanese rice every day at home, this was just poorly cooked, with too much water. Drenched sauce doesn’t change the texture that much.

Add-on Pork Belly: It tastes good. However, the menu said 4 pieces. We were only served 2.No one informed us about the change until we asked, which was honestly quite frustrating. We were then told it was because they were “thick-cut.” 🫨 I’m sorry, but if the menu says 4, we should get 4 — or at the very least, be informed of the change when serving it. Or maybe… just cut it thinner?

Mouth-Watering Chicken: On Menu marked as Sichuan-style, but tasted nothing like it. $11 for 5 dry chunks of chicken breast topped with sauce. I’m all for creative fusion, but this just didn’t taste good, and it definitely wasn’t Sichuan style.

In short , nice service, nice space, but the food didn’t meet even basic expectations. We finished all the food as we don't want to waste it and we were starving, except the rice as we seriously can't deal with it. I really hope they improve, because with some refinement in the kitchen, this place could live up to its hype, but right now, I won’t be coming back.

Reply to the owner:

Sharing feedback, both during our meal and in this review, is not about seeking discounts or harming your business. We paid in full and left a tip despite our dissatisfaction, simply sharing our honest experience for your team and future guests. Many customers, like us, prefer not to argue at the table and share their experiences afterward.

We did share feedback during the meal about receiving only 2 pcs of pork belly, the rice being overly wet like sticky rice, and the sauce being very sweet. The responses we received (“it’s Japanese rice” or “it’s teriyaki sauce”) felt dismissive, so we chose not to add further feedback at the time and decided to just eat and leave, as we had another long hiking day ahead.

For clarity: 1- We gave feedback during the meal, not when we “almost finished", or if having half a bowl left counts as almost finished.

2- The third photo was taken after the first bite, as we were immediately disappointed but chose not to create a scene. We provided feedback when your staff checked in. We didn't ask for anything, but just provided our feedback.

3- We described the rice as “wet like sticky rice,” not just “too soft.”

Reviews are meant to share honest experiences and are a normal part of dining out. Feedback should be welcomed as an opportunity to improve. We wish you all the best in...

Don’t trust the 5-star reviews! My experience here is a perfect example of why I'm starting to lose faith in Google reviews. We picked this spot based on its high rating, but it was an utter disappointment from start to finish. To put it simply, there was nothing special about the food. We ordered the Creamy Garlic Miso Ramen with extra grilled chicken and the BBQ Pork Belly Rice Bowl, with sides of fries and Edamame with Truffle Oil. The ramen was no better than a package of instant noodles. The biggest issue was the grilled chicken we added – it had absolutely no seasoning and the texture was so off it felt like eating raw chicken. The BBQ Pork Belly Rice Bowl was shockingly small for a main course, with just three small pieces of pork over a meager amount of rice and some greens. The fries were clearly just standard frozen fries you could get anywhere. The only bright spot of the entire meal was the Edamame with Truffle Oil. It was well-seasoned and genuinely tasty. We were so unsatisfied and still hungry that we actually went to another restaurant immediately after to get the taste of that chicken out of our mouths. I’m giving it two stars, and those are solely for the delicious edamame and for our hostess, who was very nice and friendly. Otherwise, this was a...

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