SILK - Pan-Asian Fusion and Izakaya, Zagreb — Restaurant in City of Zagreb

[[Edit, in response to the owner's reply:

Obviously, writing reviews while still under a (good or bad) impression is a bad idea, the whole thing came across as venting, instead of concrete issues, which were many.

By 'boss' I was reffering to the person in charge, manager, your liutenant, right-hand-man, voditelj... in short, the service was terrible I won't go into details as it would be too long and I understand the difficulties of staffing anything in august here, especially a restaurant (only positives were the the english speaking sous chefs and helpers which were super polite and friendly, even though that's not even their job, unlike all croatian speaking staff) The tap water was denied using an excuse that there is no glassware, which is absurd. Instead of 45kn for a single Jana (which I always do order at first, if offered, thinking that I somehow fullfill my duty as a guest with this gesture), payed 90 for two... That's streetfood for you, I guess, which takes my to another point... Currently, 160kn for a main whose ingredients and quantity are almost identical to multiple "City Wok" (southpark refrence) establishments nearby doesn't exactly scream streetfood or casual, since all those are under 100 kn. The price is not the issue at all, value for money is. Thank you for your concern about my hair, it is bad, but I don't stress about it at all, especially in restaurants. :)

Hopefully you'll be able to visit your northernmost venue more often and keep things in order here, since the one on Korcula is excellent (in Split not so much but still ok, unlike this one).

In any case I sincerely wish you the best of luck, the competition here is stiffer than on the coast.

Thanks for the reply, you seem fun and the Silk concept is great, just very rough around the edges. Will come back at some point and edit the review again, hopefully upwards.]]

Disregarding a lot of pain points regarding service (it only just opened, so that's understandable). Although bosses publicly scolding their staff in front of customers is appaling. In any case it's sub-par value for money when it comes to asian cusine in Zagreb (and not just asian cuisine). The quality level of dishes is very similar to restaurants half its price range. Everything is set up to aspire towards "fine dining", except it fails to be fine in everything except the interior decoration.

Another thing, it claims to be an "izakaya" yet outright refuses to serve tap water (we're in croatia, btw). This is (for me at least) a matter of principle. I'll literally spend hundreds on a bottle of wine if I choose to, but to be forced to drink bottled water is a red flag. Offer it politely, I'll take one out of respect, but do not pretend you don't have glassware if I insist. That's just super-lame and scammy (esp.in this price range).

(Note: this relevant at the time of writing, always make sure you rely on...

Atmosphere: a great place in terms of the mood, lighting, interior decoration and music. Everything was great, loved the asian themed paintings and table layouts. Very unique in Zagreb.

Food: The Uramaki (vege) and Siu (Siew) Mai as appetizers were excellent, very tasty and could have ordered more. Kimchi was very refreshing, although a bit too mild, but we still loved it. And that was where the good things stopped. We had to give up on the Okonomiyaki, the flavour was all over the place and an overpowering fish smell made the taste worse. We all tried it and none of us found it edible. Pad Thai was good but teriyaki sauce was too sweet (the overall taste of the meal was not balanced). Salmon teriyaki - salmon was made well but again teriyaki sauce was too sweet and ruined the taste balance. Asian tastes are usually a good balance between sweet and sour/salty, but not at this restaurant.

Service: we were greeted by a waiter who was indifferent, mockingly throwing comments throughout the evening. What tipped the evening was when we asked to order another main instead of the Okonomiyaki (we did not return it or ask for a refund) the waiter started avoiding our table. He didn't return for the new order, or offer any simpathy, instead his colleague jumped in, noticing that we were waiting. The colleague was much more pleasant and professional, but our waiter continued to mostly ignore us.

Cost: the quality of the food is not on par with the attached price, especially considering many nearby restaurants that offer similar foods where the taste profile is on point and balanced. The beverages are also insanely overpriced (6.6€ for 0.33 beer for example, even restaurants in Belgium are cheaper at 5€). When combined with the level of service, I'd say this place is overrated...

6 of us came for a dinner. We explored the pricing and food beforehand and were hoping for a unique experience.

Atmosphere and interior: Staff was a bit unorganized, three of the staff members approached us before we got to our table. Throughout the whole dinner we were cold - it was like some cold air was blowing on us from the vents. There was a guy playing a guitar and singing - much too loud for the dinner setting and didn't match with the vibe of the restaurant. Interior design is tacky - fake plants on the wall, too much styles mashing.

Food: All six of us drank one cocktail each recommended by the waitresse, we had three appetizer, one main course dish each and we had two desserts (total: 212€). We were very excited about the crispy duck and few of us wanted to order it but the restaurant was out and we weren't able to. All of the food was very average (either to much or not enough seasoning, pork had a stale aftertaste, rice had to much fish souce...), portion sizes were small. Desserts (rice cheesecake) was maybe the biggest disappointment because it was small, flavorless and a bit stale as well. Cocktails were most exciting (unique and original) part but still a bit overpriced (11€ each). Visually all the food and the cocktails were very instagramable and attractive.

Service: The waitresses that was serving us (blond with tattoos) was extremely nice and helpful. But the restaurant could benefit from person dedicated for organizing worderobe and welcoming guests.

For now, definitely would not recommend since the restaurant didn't fulfill our expectations. Quality doesn't fit with the pricing. You can get much better food and experience in much cheaper...