OTORO — Restaurant in Abu Dhabi

HAD THE WORST EXPERIENCE EVER. Although this wasn’t my first visit to otoro since I usually dine there however, i recommended the place to a friend and took her to try out their food. We ordered 3 types of sushi (shrimp tempura, crab and asparagus and the crispy rice tuna) the sushi was horrible! It was really chewy, we had to chew through like we were eating gum. It was supposed to be crisp however it was clear indication that the sushi has been sitting out for too long and has taken on moisture from the rice. The sushi did not taste good at all very mushy! The manager insisted it was good enough and we are causing a fuss! We also ordered the wagyu striploin which was a complete disaster. The meat was tasteless and was not cooked right it was mushy too. It’s unexplainable! It was supposed to be tender and juicy. We barely touched anything from the food. We informed the waiter that the food wasn’t as I usually experience when i visit the restaurant so he called the manager I cannot recall his name but I believe he was asian. We explained that this wasn’t our first experience at Otoro and that the food never was as bad as this time. He took the food and came back insisting that nothing was wrong with the food and that all customers seem to enjoy it (indirectly stating that he does not care that we did not enjoy the food and did not seem bothered that we left it untouched. ) He insisted that we exaggerate although we explained that its not about paying the bill the food is horrible! Anyway He gave us the bill to pay in FULL, did not try to please us or apologize in any way even after telling him that I was a returning customer that usually visits the restaurant almost once or twice a month. He came back with no discount at all and not even any type of compensation or even a free dessert to compliment a customer. And just asked us to give Fazaa card number to apply a discount! As a returning customer i would have appreciated a nice gesture of offering to change the food or offering a dessert on the house or anything minimal. But it was clear that he did not care of what the customer felt. And wanted to reach todays sales target without the care if this client will return or not. As a matter of a fact its my first time to give this kind of review to a place but I actually had a bad experience. We paid our bill without arguing and left the food untouched. It was really sad to be treated that way and showing no care to what a customer feels. This shows zero customer service and an awful guest experience. I don’t recommend or will visit again! Their hostess and waiter are nice ! Food & manager...

Otoro Japanese Restaurant fell significantly short of expectations. While the food quality and flavor were average, they were merely on par with what you’d expect from any similarly priced Japanese restaurant. The real disappointment was the portion sizes, which were unreasonably small given the premium pricing.

To make matters worse, the menu photos appeared deliberately misleading, portraying far larger servings than what was actually served. For example, the Uni Don bowl, priced at over AED 200, is shown in the menu to appear as a full-sized bowl of rice and uni. In reality, it arrived in a tiny ice cream bowl with a portion so small it wouldn’t satisfy a child.

Look at the attached photo with my child's tiny hand next to the bowl, just to give you perspective of the deceptively small portion sizes.

We left dinner still hungry and ended up having a second dinner at another establishment.

Finally, the level of service was far from what one would expect at this price point. Premium pricing should come with premium service, yet Otoro fell short. Despite the pleasant ambiance, the overall experience didn’t justify the high cost. Avoid this place if you’re hungry or looking for a dining experience that matches the premium price tag.

P.S. - Pay close attention to how the management responds to customer reviews. Rather than acknowledging mistakes or addressing valid criticisms, they deflect blame onto customers or make excuses for every negative review. They refer to receiving a "Michelin Bib" award, a completely meaningless localized metric as a rebuttal to my review. This refusal to take accountability is a clear indicator of poor management. The potential for a solid Japanese restaurant has been wasted by a tone deaf pricing strategy and management team.

Pros:

Average food quality and flavor

Cons:

Tiny portion sizes Overpriced Misleading menu photos Service aligned with pricing Tone...

I am extremely disappointed with this restaurant they have great food and great atmosphere and prices but there service as absolutely horrible.. so my comment I came the first time and ordered 30+ sushi as we are four costumers they gave us a very small wasabi plate and Ginger not enough for one person!! I told there manger that they have to serve each Customer with this they toked my comments and said we will improve next was the Deep fried Ebi tempura before they bring it I told them to clean it good from inside they said we will but unfortunately it came totally uncleaned with the black line💩 on the back !!

After two weeks I came today with my friends a group of 4

Before we sat we made our order and I confirmed to them twice to clean the EBI tempura they said we will same as before !

After 15 minutes we had our table the first order came was the Tampura uncleaned same as before I talked with the manger to replace it with new cleaned on !

Then our first friend had his grilled chicken after 25 minutes then me and another friend had the salmon after another 30 minutes and our last friend who ordered the same chicken dish waited another 15 minutes and his food was not served !! After 3 complaints from us they gave my friend some quick sushi and asked him to give them some time more with all this time they didn’t even bring the EBI which they toked to replace.

… last comment the guest who came after us in the line have been well serviced within the first 20 minutes when our first friend had his meal

We lost our temper with them and asked them that we are leaving as this is 100% unprofessional and unethical from them as the don’t know how to manage time👎 We are extremely...