Aburi — Restaurant in Colchester

So i have been here twice as of now.

The first time was excellent, service was greater than i expected and the price was much lower than i was expecting.

The quality of the food was better than expected, the quality of service was entertaining and non invasive and even introduced some fun when it came to mochi, using ornate dishes which looked theatrical and ceremented our overall experience.

Admittingly we didnt spend much money the first time round, so i was determined to return with more of an appetite.

Sadly todays experience wasn't as great as the first.

We orderd much more food this time on account of our friends birthday. The quality of the food was on par of the first, so excellent quality, despite an exception.

The only issue i had today was the service. They were not as responsive and they mixed up our order and said they were unable to correct it. Not a big deal in itself but again it was not what we orderd. Then the unprompted removal of unfinished dishes was unexpected.(my bowl of ramen wasn't finished before they removed it)

When it came to our last order of mochi one of us three finished first and his dish was removed before we all finished together. This to myself seemed insulting as we were all enjoying our time before our space was "Invaded" and was overall left with a bitter taste of todays experience.

So in conclusion: There is massive potential in this restaurant and i hope it will continue to impress. I do however recomended some service training for the lesser experienced staff.

Overall a 3/5. Good potential, Great food, Lacking in consistency, Okay Service,...

Stop what you're doing. GO ORDER THEIR WHITE TIGER MAKI. OHHHH SWEET MOTHER OF JESUS. SOMETHING EXTRATERRESTRIAL.

I thoroughly enjoyed my experience here. Was my first time ordering Japanese cuisine outside of a tentative and only very mildly humiliating time spent at itsu ordering the most basic of dishes. That is to say, I was very nervous as to what to order - I wasn't familiar with anything on the menu and to be honest, still didn't have a clue after reading through it. Staff could've directed a bit more on what's what. I took a gamble and ordered the white tiger maki and wow. Go do the same. Best accident of my life and also the best sushi I've ever tasted. Not that that's saying much. Anyway. Also could've used a little chopsticks manual as I had no clue what to do with those. I just settled for chasing my sushi around the tray with a spoon...so yeah, service gets a knock for not being very beginner-friendly.

Music was a tad too quiet. I wanted to hear my KATSEYE but it was slightly too faint! Atmosphere was visually beautiful but staff tended to hang around idly in front of house and stare at clients. Also the signal was horrible, if you want more than half a bar you've got to stand out in what tends to be biting cold weather. If these type of things don't bother you then bob's your uncle I guess. Next dinner spot sorted.

Most of these are purely nitpicks. Prices were agreeable...i's an absolute hidden gem. I would gladly...

At the time I went it was quite quiet during Father's Day. The staff are very friendly and food is really good for the price!

The food quality is very good and extremely filling which makes the trip here much more worth it as you're not going away with room left in your stomach. I will point out that the Takoyaki doesn't have large or many pieces of octopus and I would argue that places in London would do it much better for the same price, but as this is restaurant is quiet and tucked away in Colchester I am willing to overlook that small part. The Katsudon was my main meal and that was enjoyable for £11 and I could not even finish the whole meal so I had to take it away! Their bento boxes, ramen, and beef bibimbap looked delicious but I unfortunately did not have a nibble off of my parents dish to have my own verdict but I have been told that it is delicious.

I think the charm for me was that it was fairly small, inexpensive, and the journey was not a ball-ache. At the time we were not willing to travel to London and my expectations were low as I had not gone to anywhere else to have Japanese food. I also did not see any reviews of the place as I was just told to come here. At the end of our dining session I came out surprised and extremely happy that we came across this place and would recommend...