Shokudo Gigiri — Restaurant in Nairobi

This is a service situation I can’t be silent about anymore. On about 6+ occasions we’ve had to sigh in disbelief at the antics of bad service at this location. The only reason we kept tolerating it was bc the food is excellent. Poor service at establishment - server has consistently shown they should not be waiting tables; once we were told the balcony was FULL and they sat someone else up there so I looked and it was EMPTY. Best part is the two managers sit and hang out at a table next to you the whole time making it super awkward while you are trying to flag down the staff which ironically spent more time upstairs than they did downstairs! We’ve stopped going there to try to eat bc it’s honestly the worst service and you have to babysit the staff telling them how to wait tables. Uber Eats - the menu is inconsistent and not uploaded correctly thus making it not possible to get correct menu offering without ordering directly. Direct take out - this does it for me, this is what’s made me have enough. We have consistently checked with staff that an item has no mushrooms in it and this time they made it with mushrooms. My throat started swelling after one bite and I saw there were finely chopped mushrooms. Has the menu changed? No. When we messaged the manager about it he just pretended to not understand what we were saying and ignored the issue. Still no reply. After working 15+ years in hospitality I can tell you unequivocally that this is symptomatic of a much larger problem and it’s a shame that poor management and terrible service has let down an establishment with such good food.

Edit to reply to Manager’s post, which they have taken down after being repeatedly called out and refusing to be accountable - They said our waiter was a man. Our waitress was a young woman, not a man named Sammy. Perhaps service would have been better but we’ve never had male waitstaff there, it’s always been young women. They said that their rooftop wasn’t open/finished. There was at least 2 empty tables, with chairs, in the upstairs area… how else would other people have been sat up there? Hmm? They said their dish has always had mushrooms. Your staff then it seems like didn’t know the standard prep of the Veg Gyozo the other times or just pretended to and then made it without mushrooms before, and the other dishes you mentioned nobody ordered. Nor did I say anything was delicious 6 times, I said your service was horrendous 6+ times. Details are important in the restaurant business. Being defensive when your service is clearly sub-standard is exactly the symptomatic problem I’m talking about. We gave you an opportunity to fix it when you messed up but you choose only to do so when I publicly do so? This is what’s wrong with your approach to the hospitality business. Take the feedback, fix it, and stop trying to make excuses when...

Since the restaurant started at Gigiri Courtyard in 2021, I can definitely assure you that I eat here once a week. Imagine 20 years ago, a Japanese lady started a grocery shop serving a range of Japanese ingredients in East African countries. Now, the Kenyan owner mostly keeps the original spirit and taste. To be honest, as a Japanese person, sometimes, I want to say something that can improve my taste, but it is primarily OK for me. I recommend Raw Fish Sushi, we have never ever gotten food poisoning at Shokudo, Karaage (chicken fries), Gyoza dumplings (I recommend more to get frozen Gyoza to cook at your home from Kilimani grocery stores.), Tonkotsu premium ramen (taste is average in Nairobi but great taste), Tonkatsu curry, and Japanese sweets are only available at the Kilimani grocery store...

The maki was okay. But they put some cooked can salmon on the top of mine with crunchie pieces in it and it was not good at all. Had to force it down.

They didn’t have several choices of wine and what they brought was a sparkling red and it was awful. Service wasn’t anything great but they didn’t drop the food if that’s a consolation. My partner just stopped eating cause she didn’t like it and I was forced to finish it. I take great pictures so don’t let that fool you they need a new sushi chef. And the food was over priced so...