ONI Nikkei - sushi medellin — Restaurant in Medellín

Pros: The food we did eat was great, and the cocktails (38,000 each) the best we had in Medellin. We were able to walk in without a reservation, and there were plenty of tables available. Cons: Service is the worst I had in 2 months staying in el poblado. One of the dishes came with ground pork and something else, chicken maybe, and when I took a bite I saw the meat was still pink. One of the friends I was traveling with had recently gone to the hospital with food poisoning, so I wasn't willing to risk it. I discretely spit that bite back into my napkin and kindly let the waiter know we would not be able to consume the dish because it was not cooked thoroughly, he left and came back. Using Google translator (because we are beginner spanish speakers and he was speaking way too quickly for us to keep up, but had been speaking clearly and slowly in spanish with us up to this point) speaking too rapidly for google translate to make out his words properly, the broken translation sort of let us know that the pink was due to some strip meat which is pink.... I politely let him know my friend recently went to the hospital due to food poisoning in el poblado and we would not be able to eat pink pork or chicken. He took the dish away. He later came back, and let us know that we would still be charged for the dish, that he took away with one bite missing. We told him that we did not receive the dish so if they wanted to charge us, they need to remake the food and cook it properly, and we were pretty shocked at this point at the lack of hospitality at this price point and them not even bothering to try to make it right. He was not happy about this suggestion, but they did bring it out (very slowly). I was very surprised that he then bounced back to being a happy waiter, like he forgot what just happened and asked if we would like more drinks or food, as if they weren't super rude by trying to serve undercooked pork then taking the dish and still charging. I had enjoyed the cocktails and had planned on ordering anther round and dessert, but it just feels terrible to be treated poorly. In the end, they got 31,200 on an appetizer for gyoza (which they remade anyways), and lost an order for at least 2 more drinks plus probably more small dishes and dessert, and I don't like leaving bad reviews but you should be warned. Oh and the service charge at 10% was mandatory.

My advice: check out the bar in front and skip...

Me and my friend made a reservation at this restaurant to try something new.

This was a Saturday night.

As it was a new restaurant I made sure to inquire about valet parking and not make assumptions, they notified me that none was available so we decided to take an uber.

Unfortunately we got delayed, and it didn't look like we would arrive even within the 15 minute grace period. It would be very assumptive of me to presume that the grace period itself has a grace period, especially during the busiest night for a new restaurant.

As such, I decided to communicate with them our delay and they said they would hold the table for a little longer.

Again, I didn't want to assume that I was entitled to a table even though I would show up over 15 minutes late with no communication.

The host was very accomodating.

My friend and I are business professionals and have lived in Medellín for years (not that any of that matters.)

We know that common courtesy and communication is pivotal to ensuring your table when showing up over 15 minutes late to a reservation for a new restaurant on the busiest night of the week.

I would be embarrassed otherwise, fortunately I'm not so entitled.

We came down from Llanogrande which is far from the restaurants location (not that that matters at all.)

I HIGHLY recommend communicating with this, and any, restaurant if you're...

This place is terrible. All the way around. Service is terrible. Food is terrible. Avoid the waste of time and money and go to Cuon or Moshi Sushi Bar.

The kitchen team here lacks very basic culinary skills. They’re completely careless about their jobs. And the food and bar directors are equally as unskilled, unprofessional, and disinterested in any sense of service or quality.

Specific examples include a rib dish they describe braised for 50 hours. That meat was so tough, it’s impossible it was cooked more than 2 hours. The connective tissue hadn’t even started to break down. Pretty sure the staff didn’t start cooking it when they were supposed to. So instead of saying it’s not available for the day, they served presumably thinking no one would know. What’s worse when we pointed it out, they tried to correct it stove top on high heat.

We visited at the request of the bar director and we shared our experience. His response was that it’s not his job. This is emblematic of the 3 other restaurants from the Sinmente group we visited. Completely incompetent service, food, inconsistent quality on drinks, and a staff that’s unprofessional and just don’t look like they care about trying to even do any semblance...