Sagakura Calea Victoriei — Restaurant in Bucharest

We chose Sagakura for one of our four nights in Bucharest. We made our reservation for four people online about two weeks in advance. The food was really excellent — delicious flavors, beautifully presented dishes, and a cozy, stylish atmosphere. The decoration was elegant, and the staff were polite and attentive throughout our dinner.

I would have easily given 5 stars, if it weren’t for one unpleasant experience at the end of the meal.

When we received the bill (around 650 LEI, roughly €130), the waitress asked if we wanted to leave a tip of 10%, 12%, or 15%. We politely asked if we could leave a cash tip or enter a custom amount (for example, €5, as we usually do), and she told us no — those were the only options available.

We travel quite a lot and dine in many restaurants around the world, but this was the first time we’ve ever encountered such a situation. In every other restaurant we visited in Bucharest, we could always choose the amount we wanted to tip.

Honestly, it was an awkward and disappointing moment, especially in an otherwise wonderful restaurant. I find it unacceptable to force preset tipping percentages — tipping should be a gesture of appreciation, not an obligation. If our bill had been €200, would we really be expected to leave €20 as a tip? That simply doesn’t make sense.

Apart from that, Sagakura is a very good restaurant, offering great food and a pleasant atmosphere. I just hope they’ll reconsider their tipping policy and allow customers to choose how they wish to show their...

The service here was absolutely sub par and just flat out rude. We booked a table for a birthday dinner and when the food came out, the waiter spilled the food on the birthday girl and without even apologising was quick to blame the person sitting next to her when he in fact was not touched, the food fell from his hand. And this was just the beginning of the evening. Similar incidence happened again with someone sitting across on the same table, food dropping from the tray on to the customers and not a word of apology was issued. And when it was time to pay the bill, the waiter who spilled the first tray of food came back again and tried to gaslight and force the birthday girl into saying that she made him spill the food. He proceeded to put her in a spot, got in her face and almost started a yelling match with her while she tried to keep it together. It did in fact feel racist as well because as the group was leaving, the staff said very loudly and dauntingly in Romanian “They’re leaving finally” as they were under the assumption that non of us spoke or understood Romanian. I have never experienced such out of pocket behaviour from a restaurant before. The food was okay but it’s not worth going...

Restaurantul se vrea a fi asiatic. Mancarea este, intr-adevar, cu tenta asiatica, insa localul mi-a dat un vibe mai degraba arabic, cu lumina ambientala scazuta, ceramica peste tot si o paleta de culori pamantii.

Atmosfera a fost placuta, doar a fost diferita fata de ce ma asteptam sa primesc de la un restaurant cu specific asiatic.

Am apreciat nivelul de service oferit. Eram constant intrebati daca mai dorim ceva de baut, am simtit o atitudine profesionista din partea personalului. Ce nu am apreciat a fost atitudinea lor la primirea feedback ului cerut, lucru detaliat mai jos.

Pentru mine mancarea e pe primul loc cand merg la orice tip de reataurant, in special unul cu tenta asiatica. Din pacate, pentru mine (si ceilalti membri ai familiei, cu care am fost la masa), de data aceasta a fost pe ultimul loc.

Ma voi axa pe ramen, insa am inteles de la ceilalti ca nici Bao Buns nu au fost ce trebuie - chifla prea dulce, printre altele. In schimb, chicken noodles ar fi fost buni.

Legat de ramen, imi e greu sa il numesc asa, intrucat avea putine lucruri care sa faca parte din intelegerea traditionala a conceptului de ramen. Si anume: taiteii nu erau facuti special pentru ramen, ci mult prea subtiri si gumosi; ouale nu erau deloc marinate corespunzator (un ou corect marinat incepe sa capete culoarea maronie, de la marinada); carnea a fost tare, sarata si arsa; broth ul a fost cea mai mare dezamagire. Partea care imi ofera cea mai multa satisfactie la un ramen, in acest caz, a fost cel mai mare letdown. In mod normal termin pana si ultima picatura de ramen, insa acum nu m-am incumetat nici jumatate sa finalizez. Am avut predominant gustul de “ars” si prea sarat.

Overall nu a fost o mancare rea, doar nu a fost pe gusturile noastre. Si gusturile nu se discuta. Dar am tot fost intrebati “cum e mancarea”, asa ca le-am oferit acest feeback.

Sau cel putin am incercat, fiindca ospatarul a tinut sa “completeze” feedback ul meu si a tinut sa imi spuna urmatoarele:

”Sa stiti ca taiteii sunt de o calitate ridicata, si sunt chiar mai buni decat in alte parti”, a tinut sa imi spuna, cu un zambet care imi denota superioritate.

A continuat. “Fiecare local are o viziune proprie asupra unui ramen. Iar ouale sunt special facute pentru ramen”. Fara sa ma lase sa mai zic ceva, imi spune “Si carnea sa stiti ca e gatita special de bucatarii nostri pentru ramen”

“Va inteleg, ce pot sa va spun e ca ramenul nu a fost pe gustul meu”, am putut doar sa spun.

“Asa e, iar gusturile nu discuta”

Din ce am inteles de la feedback-ul la feedback-ul meu, este ca ramenul lor este reteta proprie, ca fiecare ingredient este “special” pregatit, si ca gusturile nu se discuta.

De acord, gusturile nu se discuta. In cazul acesta ma intreb care mai e rostul in a cere o parere de la clienti.

In final, daca as putea lasa un feedback localului, ar fi cel de mai sus.

Iar daca as lasa feedback ospatarilor, ar fi sa invete sa primeasca feedback (sau sa nu mai ceara daca nu il...