Kinjo Sushi & Grill Dalhousie — Restaurant in Calgary

I generally refrain from posting negative reviews due to my awareness of the potential negative impact on businesses. However, during tonight's visit to this restaurant with my family, an incident occurred that prompted me to share my feedback. My brother, who severely dislikes cucumbers and an aversion to even the scent of cucumbers, informed our server to ensure that cucumbers were not included in our dishes.

When our Deluxe sashimi plate arrived, we immediately noticed the presence of cucumbers. We returned the dish through our server, emphasizing our request. The server brought us a replacement and offered an apology, which we accepted as mistakes can happen. We had no issues about this after the replacement.

However, our overall experience took a negative turn due to a few subsequent occurrences. We had to request extra wasabi from several servers since we were initially provided with only one portion for a party of four. Furthermore, not only did our drink orders experience significant delays, but any additional requests, such as ordering sheets, also took an excessively long time to be fulfilled. Our disappointment peaked when we received our Kiss Dragon rolls, only to find cucumbers once more. We had to involve a food runner to locate our server, and the service was still slow.

We eventually ended up with speaking to the supervisor, who inquired about our no cucumber request, and it seemed there was no single note about our request on our order. We confirmed it to ensure more caution in future orders. Waiting for the replacement was another lengthy process. The server failed to apologize until the replacement rolls were served. Given the extended wait, we opted for takeout and left, feeling deeply disappointed.

The supervisor visited our table and offered a single Pocky as a form of compensation. We emphasized that we had requested no cucumbers three times, underscoring the importance of taking such allergies seriously, especially considering the potential risks. I left the Pocky behind and asked to pay right away.

Our overall experience at this restaurant was extremely disappointing, and I sincerely hope that the management takes such situations more seriously...

I had a disappointing experience at Kinjo on Sunday night. I arrived at 9:15 PM to order 10 pieces of chicken (ginger crispy and spicy BBQ) and was told there was no chicken left. The staff assured me a fresh batch would be ready by 9:35 PM, so I decided to wait. At 9:30 PM, I saw half of my order brought out in a ramen bowl by a worker in a white chef jacket. Instead of bringing it directly to the serving counter, the worker made a right turn to some where afrter 30 second and returned with the bowl, and I noticed his ungloved thumb inside the bowl. When I pointed this out, the server didn’t respond immediately, and eventually, a higher-ranking staff member asked if I wanted to wait for a new batch—leaving me with no real option but to extend my wait even longer after already waiting for 20 minutes. I patiently waited, expecting the fresh, delicious chicken that Kinjo is known for, and hoped the delay would be worth it. But when I got home, I was extremely disappointed. The chicken wasn’t freshly made as promised but had been refried. The uneven color and texture clearly showed it wasn’t cooked in the pressure deep fryer Kinjo is famous for. Instead, it seemed improperly fried without full oil coverage. On top of that, one of the pieces was a surprise golden crispy flavor I didn’t even order, making me question where it came from, especially since I was assured everything would come from a “fresh batch.” Waiting patiently until after the promised time might have been worth it if the chicken had met Kinjo’s usual high standards. Instead, I left feeling frustrated and let down. I’ve always appreciated Kinjo for its quality, but this visit fell far short in terms of service, food hygiene, and meeting customer expectations. I hope this feedback helps the team address these issues and ensures better experiences for others...

To the Management of the Dalhousie Branch,

You may not know us personally but we have been regular customers of yours for quite a time now. If you put premium on customer satisfaction and building good rapport with your clients, hear us out.

We've thus far been very satisfied with the quality of food and hospitality of your servers... until a fateful experience today. We were a group of 6 waiting for 4 of our orders, only to discover that one of your new servers, Devina, missed putting it in.

When we politely brought this to her attention, she rather simply said, "That's only 4 orders, right?" This isn't the response we were looking for at the very least. Does that mean she can miss more than that? We were looking for her to at least own up to her mistake by proactively issuing a sincere apology for making us wait as we were beginning to lose our appetite.

We had to elicit an apology from her by saying we were waiting forever, to which she responded, "Sorry, that's just a mix-up." When she handed us the bill, first thing she emphasized was that she was inputting the 15% mandatory tip for our group of 6. It was all about the money and never a hint of remorse.

We still honored the 15% tip of course, albeit with a heavy heart. We could've reasonably argued against it. But no.

Sure, it's good food but this unfortunate experience left a bad taste in our mouths, having to be on the receiving end of this poor approach at customer service, or the lack thereof.

I think the management needs to train these new servers better. If they mess up, they don't simply brush it off like it was nothing, because it's not, in the eyes of your loyal clientele. It's customer service 101. Servers are frontliners of your business and a huge part of the experience. Poor service is a poor reflection of the restaurant. This was truly very...