Sushi Zanmai @ Pavilion Bukit Jalil — Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur

Came on a weekend at dinner time and there was a long queue. Was browsing the menu while queuing when a female server abruptly interrupted us saying we were too close to the dining customers. No problem for us to keep a distance, just kindly remind us as we didn’t notice. But the approach was passive aggressive with a fake nice tone screaming “Pls keep your distance!” In the first place you should have a better arrangement and seats provided for your queuing customers if you are so mindful about your customers? Waiting time was rather long, no seats provided, starving till we took our previous takeaway (halal) food.

Then at 9pm, they started going around asking people for last orders and actively collecting all the utensils. We took note of the hint and paid our bill first even. But at 9.50pm, when I was already finishing my last bit of meal, the server came yet again and said they will need to clean our table or they might not be able to exit the complex later! Incredibly pushy but with an insincere “nice” tone again. Also very uncalled for as I was obviously having my last bites already- Left at 9.54pm.

The last straw was when they didn’t even greet thanks or goodbye although many of the staffs were near the entrance when we left, confirming that we weren’t welcomed.

Overall very unpleasant vibe the service crew gave off which ruined the meal. One star purely for the decent food, manager who checked our order few times and a few staffs serving the food who were more courteous than the front service...

Overall their system and service can be improved for better dining experience. First of all, they have got not enough baby high chairs for customers. Maybe they can add more baby chairs for young families like us. I reminded their captain and staffs for several times in case there’s baby leaving please give us one to dine properly as my toddler not tall enough to sit on their couch or chair to eat.

Secondly, we were told to scan the qr and order our food. But upon waiting for more than half an hour and I saw other diners that came later than us were dining already, I asked if they have overlooked my order and only they realised they have cancelled/mixed up my order with other tables. Thus we were not served any food. And looking back at my order history on the app, it was already other diner’s order. We were really disappointed because we q-ed for 15 mins and waited for another 45 mins for the food.

The manager probably realised what went wrong and complimented us chawanmushi and green tea. Being a restaurant owner myself, I understand that certain glitch might occur during peak hours but if the staffs were more attentive or approach us to ask if we have ordered and realised the issue earlier, we might not have waited so long.

Sushi Zanmai used to be our favourite Japanese restaurant but this time food were not up to par. 🥹 My udon’s soup was salty and Edamame was quite raw 🥲 hopefully they’ll look into these few issues and could improve so we can have better...

Attentive staff, quick with tea refills. Wait time for food was not long either.

First visit (6:30pm), I ordered Hamachi sashimi and one of their special menu items (Unagi Nasu Tempura Don, I think). Sashimi was uber fresh, good-sized cuts, not small (photo for ref). The ricebowl was lovely, glad I tried it. The “nasu” eggplant had a compatible texture to go with the “unagi” eel. It was quite a big portion too.

Sorry, I came late on my second visit at 9:20pm. Last order is at 9:30pm. But you guys still brought out my order excellently. This time I had a Spicy Salmon Maki and Tori Karaage Don. The maki was superb, very pleased with the chunky sashimi pieces and generous sauce, each roll was a wholesome bite. The fried chicken of the Don ricebowl was so nicely done, it stayed crispy and also had absorbed the rich teriyaki sauce. Portion was big, so I’ll order a small size next time to try more things.

The shop feels big and spacious. Seating is well spaced apart. All tables are in booths with waist-high separators for added privacy. The tables have an electronic call button to call servers. Not too noisy with a moderate crowd. The hanging lights are pretty to look at too.

It seems to be attracting a good crowd already, even though it’s all the way up on the 5th floor, where many other shops are...