Ooki Pavillon — Restaurant in Zurich

New: in house review - still not great. The two stars go to the nice service even if they should be more organized when the place is full in summer - at times, very long waiting times (probably a kitchen issue).

I had already provided a takeaway review nearly a year ago. I recently went back to eat at the restaurant and wasn't expecting anything over the top, but also not bad. (it's close by and they a free spot. It was a sort of back up plan).

I restate that for lovers of Ooki in Wiedikon, the quality of the dishes is not the same. I had the Niku udon and it really had a much blender taste. I suspect that the broth is really standardized for all recipes. There weren't even all the ingredients inside.

But this was not the bad part. I brought a friend who wanted to try a rice dish. The price was the same as the udon bowl (29-). So we were thinking we would have received a main course (looking at the size of our bowls, which definitely filled us). Nope: my hungry friend received a small bowl of rice, some salmon, and avocado. Needless to say, he was starving. When explaining the service (who was nice all way through) from the kitchen they reported that “it just looks more compact, but this is actually a big portion. If you want to have more, you would need to pay the half”.

Just baffled because we really felt it was a waste of money. We have to pay on top if that - really? It's sad that there's no willingness to have trusted customers (a problem in many places in big cities). Of course no tip (the service was nice, but seriously having to leave a restaurant hungry is a no-go).

Please consider to either keeping the same standards of Ooki Wiedikon (in the main dishes as well because it seems different recipies completely) or to change name. When I go to a second store (or zweite Filiale), I expect a very similar quality.

Original, take away review : I love Ooki in Zentralstrasse, and was actually happy when I saw this Ooki on Smood. As a trusted customer, I knew already what I wanted: the tempura udon. After a good amount of waiting, we received our favorite dishes but they tasted nothing like what we expected. What I wanted, was a fish soup. Instead, my boyfriend and I received both the same broth (probably miso) which sounded like a cheap trick. No taste of lime in his Niku Udon either. Very bland taste overall. The yuzu mayonnaise was also non-existing in the squid. Won’t...

I've lived in Zurich for 3ish years and this was the only restaurant I'd visit if I wanted to eat out. Literally amazing food. Authentic flavor never dissatisfied with that ever! I repeat, you will love their food. Selection of sake is great too. The waiters know their stuff. So that stuff won't leave a bad taste in your mouth. I think the price are reasonable too.

Now all the waiters we so sweet and kind. They interacted with our kid's remarks and were quite nice when it came to sake recommendation. This they always do wonderfully.

So what is it that I'm complaining about? The atmosphere. It's almost like they know what they're serving is good so they won't hesitate to kick you about. They only let you be there for 2 hours. Yesterday our group was celebrating my wedding anniversary so we were looking forward to try all sorts sakes and do Isakaya style dinner where you order many many small plates. So the time Limit was a bit off putting. Bear in mind most tables inside were empty and we were there from like 5:30 pm, not like late night.

I also got this feeling that they were getting annoyed serving us. We ordered for the kids first. Then drinks, then first round of plates, then another round of drinks, then another round of plates... Yes it's not like putting in a full order at once but we Literally were trying everything on the menu. So every time we ordered we were spending 80-90 Francs. Plus we were there at 5:30 so it was not busy at all. The place was mostly empty. At some point kids got mochi. They were all put in one plate (the hostess brought them) and I asked if we could have an extra plate, they said no, everyone can simply poke theirs with a stick and eat it. This i found snappy. You see it's not that simple for a three year old. She'll bite it and put it on the table or on her dress, the ideas are endless like in Elon musks stupid brain.

So? Conclusion. The waiters were good and kind. The hostess, maybe a bit snappy. The food? Just kick me about and feed it to me, I'll still happily eat it.. I think they should revise the 2 hour rule. I get it, if someone chooses to sit there for 7 hours and is not spending money then they lose business. There I'd demand for ooki so they need to capitalize on that. I get it! But perhaps if you have a group that is spending plenty. Like out table was never empty and the place is...

I have visited ooki pavillion on 2 occasions and found the service staff to be not particularly attentive and not helpful in offering suggestions when making a complaint/concern. also requesting the bill takes an eternity and you have to ask 2 or 3 times before they finally bring it. i am quite a patient individual, but on the second occasion after waiting 10mins I decided to walk up to the counter and pay directly there.....usually I could understand a delay if the place was busy, however, the restaurant staff were not busy at all.

I was a big fan of the original Ooki near lochgut, and when this new pavilion branch opened, I got excited because I assumed it would be of the same quality.

the first visit, we ordered the ginger drink which honestly tasted like water and when we questioned the waitor, he really couldn't be bothered with even attempting to go back to find out if they made the wrong drink or even find an alternative. the food was also lack lustre and not as flavourful as the original. Once again, the waiter was truly not bothered and quite unfriendly.

I thought this was maybe just a one off bad experience, so we thought we would give ooki pavilion a second chance. Once again we were bitterly disappointed with the service and the food. the food lacked any real depth of flavour and was...