Republik Asian Eatery And Bar - Kitchener — Restaurant in Kitchener

Lunch buffet under 27 dollars was advertised outside of the restaurant. The idea of an “Asian Fusion” caught our interest.

We came in at around 1 pm on a Saturday, and the place was empty except for us at the beginning, but we set our expectations. The restaurant had friendly waiters ready to take our order and bring our food. The first order came, it was a shrimp tempura but it was cold inside, we weren’t off to a great start. The spring rolls were good they were vegetarian style. The biggest negative was the sushi, it was not sushi rice, and the fish quality was not great. The tuna in the spicy rolls were ground up mush with spicy orange sauce, likely to hide the fish.

A good hand roll should have crispy seaweed wrapped around a nice piece of fish with vinegared sushi rice, unfortunately this was the worst hand roll we ever had, the nori looked soggy and sad and the taste was not great, we never ordered another after that.

The vegetables were good, we ordered greens a couple of times though it was a bit oily. The best things on the menu for us were: karage, bokchoy, edamame, mochi ice, California roll, and teriyaki salmon.

The mochi ice was good, and it was an enjoyable desert on the menu.

We were there for about 2 hours, and saw two other groups. The lanterns and decor around the room were neat, but the random Asian lady in various outfits pasted everywhere on the restaurant walls to imply “Asian fusion”, was a bit tacky. The quiet atmosphere of the restaurant was appreciated.

My opinion is that if you want sushi or thai, pick one and not necessarily both. At the end we paid for two persons, it was about $67, and for the price it was very reasonable for buffet.

If you are in it for just filling up your stomach and not food quality, then I can suggest as a possible try, but only for its price point. I don’t know how the other locations of this franchise compare, but this was our experience at the this location.

My score for food is 3/5 Service was...

I wanna start this off by saying Allison is such an amazing server and she deserves to be acknowledged. She was patient, kind, responded well, and made us comfortable.

However, the food was not good. The food was salty, and the manager tried to gaslight us that it wasn’t even though someone in the kitchen tasted it and admitted to us that it was indeed too salty.

The manager came over and said "it is not THAT salty"…. I was shocked. lol

The ambience was dark, couldn’t even see the menu properly; and it took forever to get the food.

Edited:

I try to be fair in my reviews while maintaining honesty because if you are going to pay your hard-earned money for a meal, you deserve to get your money’s worth and you deserve honesty.

Yesterday, I was told by the restaurant’s manager to "edit" my review because it made them look bad. They came up to our table after I had posted the review and told us that the last sentence about tips wasn’t favourable to them even though it was the truth.

I did oblige and deleted it. However, waking up this morning I feel it was unnecessary and just disrespectful for them to make me edit my honest review because it didn’t favour them…

So I am adding the last bit back…

Allison was the only good thing about this place. I was disappointed to hear that her tips wouldn’t go to her, instead they’ll go to a more senior server or the manager (both of whom didn’t serve our table of 5).

If Allison did all the work, Allison should be the one to get her tips, it doesn’t matter if she is a new server or not.

That is exploitative and asking me to not disclose this on my review is offensive.

I will not be...

Look no further for a great dining experience at Republik’s new location in Kitchener, which just opened last week!

A beautiful patio section led into an intimate dining experience, with pleasant lighting and music.

I was happy right away with the fact they carry Pepsi products! We ordered to have things arrive as they were made. Everything had great pricing! The Tom Yum soup came with a bit of a kick, but the cucumber and tomato toned it to a perfect amount! The side salad had a dressing that was a perfect touch. They have a grand opening promotion of $1 chicken karaage and it was so good, perfectly fried. Get it while you can! My husband had the Crispy Fried Calamari and loved it. We grabbed the Alaska and California roll, both were very fresh tasting and rolled to perfection. I got the grilled teriyaki chicken and my husband got the crunchy salt and pepper shrimp. The chicken was cooked perfectly and was not at all dry. The veggies were seasoned so nicely! My husbands shrimp dish was fantastic and the side noodles beat out some of the best noodles we’ve had! They have Green Tea and Mango Cheesecake, I loved the Mango, it was so light and creamy!

We finished our dinner with a Jasmine tea, a perfect ending to our dinner! All the food came rather quickly and everything was prepared as it should be.

The staff were very friendly and attentive, always ensuring our table was clear and our drinks filled. Fantastic hospitality!

We...