Kaniya Sapporo Crab House Main Branch — Restaurant in Sapporo

If it was possible to give 0 stars I would as this restaurant has given me one of the worse experiences I’ve had so far in Japan and I didn’t realize I was a part of a kitchen nightmares episode.

tldr: Low quality of service, Low quality food, Long wait times and incredibly high prices. Would highly not recommend.

Previously I’ve been to other restaurants that served crab so entering this restaurant I was expecting the same quality of food and service. Unfortunately, I was mislead as me and my family did not know what we were walking into. Upon arriving at the table we were placed among many customers which was a different experience from restaurants of a similar style in both Hokkaido and Osaka as we were placed in a more quiet setting. This was understandable given that it seemed to be a busy night.

Looking at the menu we immediately noticed way too many options for crab ranging from sashimi style, boiled, grilled, and sukiyaki. As it was our first time at this restaurant we didn’t know what dishes were good and went for one of the sets which costed about 13000yen per person. The set included sashimi style queen crab, boiled hairy crab and various other dishes. This order was placed on the tablet that was at the front of the table. At this moment we did not realize that we walked into a nightmare.

As said previously it seemed to be a busy night at the restaurant, so long wait times for food was expected. However, after about 20 minutes we began to worry about whether or not our food would arrive as customers who sat after us were already receiving their food. At this point we tried communicating with the employees, however they either did not speak English or decided to completely ignore us. After about 10 minutes of back and forth through broken translations with google translate, the employee apologized and said we would get our food in another 15 minutes. By this point we had already been waiting for our food for about 45 minutes and many of the customers around us who had ordered after us were well into their meals. Shortly after speaking to the employee the first dish finally arrived, however it was about 9:15 and the restaurant closes at 10.

With mediocre service we thought the food would at least be good, but as the dishes finally arrived they were not only mediocre but began to get worse as more of them arrived. In particular, the crab siu mai tasted worse than instant ones I’ve had, and the fried crab shell just tasted like crab dough. We were also forced to finish our food as quickly as possible as it was evident that the employees were trying to quickly get everyone out for close at 10. To make matters worse as we reluctantly paid for our food, the restaurant decided to take our shoes hostage as we had no idea where they were until after we paid.

If I come to Hokkaido again I will definitely not be coming...

We went there as a party of 4 of which 2 are kids. At the door front we are told no table can accommodate us and when they see behind us a party of 3 adults they seems to be more interested as chatter were heard to accommodate the 3 adults. I asked that since 2 were kids they don't need so much space and we dont mind being squeeze a little. They relented and when we went in the restaurant have lots of seats and it is definitely not reserved cos I have called in to do just that and was told only walk in. We saw a set menu of 10 dishes and was interested and asked the server if the menu is good enough for my family and she said yes so we ordered. When she started serving us we noticed something amiss when our Portion was a lot more than the next table and that's when we realised that she multiply the set menu by 4 times. Ending up not able to finish the crab and such waste plus a 49000yen bill!!! Becareful of the language barrier and also i have this hunch they are more keen to take in big diners and definitely the indiscretion of the server not asking if we can finish 4 times 10 course of the set. This shall be the first and last time I will...

Sapporo Kani-ya Main Branch is a crab restaurant in Sapporo, Japan. I made a 5 pm reservation on the 29th of Feb. After sitting down, I did not see any waitstaff for about 10 minutes. Finally, I called and a waitress showed up. I asked her to help me to find something on the ordering tablet. She was very inpatient. She kept telling me that I needed to find items on the tablet by myself. I understood the ordering should be done through the tablet. I also expected the waitress should have the patient to explain and assit the customers. She even started to explain herself in Chinese to my friends. I asked to speak to the manager on duty. She said the manager was not available. We decided to leave and went to Kani Shogun next door. While we were about to be seated, a waiter from Sapporo Kani-ya came in and told me that the two restaurants are the same. He wanted us to go back to Sapporo Kani-ya. The whole situation was very confusing. Of course, I stayed at Kani Shogun. Luckily, I had a very nice crab dinner at Kani Shogun. Japanese is known for their politeness. That impatient Chinese-speaking waitress...