Shimizu Sushi — Restaurant in Exeter

We came here for my birthday dinner and I had high hopes for the food as I was missing authentic Japanese. We ordered the beef yakisoba, sizzling squid, tempura soft shelled crab, tonkotsu ramen and a sushi roll. The general vibe was nice, although the music playing was definitely Chinese rather than Japanese.

The sushi roll was the star of the show, with the other dishes being decent. The tempura batter was too thick, so we could barely taste the delicate flavours of the crab. The ramen was a joke in many ways and looked nothing like the menu picture: The pork was dry, and I was served two square pieces with some dry crunchy bits that fell of the main pieces. Sizing was okay, but chef could have put more effort into shape (usually round slices) and texture. The eggs were hard boiled with a gray band around the yolk The broth was dilute The noodles were slightly overcooked When I tried to feedback my disappointment to the waiter, he stated: “The pork is grilled- it’s supposed to be dry” and “The egg is supposed to be hard boiled”. I was quite disappointed at this response as the restaurant clearly does not take criticism well, especially looking at other google reviews. To the restaurant, please google ramen eggs - you will find they are soft boiled and sometimes even soy flavoured. I would also advise against telling anyone that any meat is supposed to be dry.

Another point is false advertising. There are no menus online which actually reflect the current prices of the dishes- prices have increased by 1-2 pounds storewide since the last posted menus 2 years ago. So you’d have to enter the shop and be disappointed by the increased prices. There is a 10% service charge added to the bill that is not advertised anywhere on the menu. I am not a fan of hidden fees, especially at a place that already downplays its cost. In the UK, service charge is legally optional and mandatory to be advertised… why is it not in this establishment?

Overall I felt quite robbed of my Japanese night out experience. If you come here, stick to the sushi and expect to pay more than you...

Used to be my favorite sushi in Exeter. Ordered it repeatedly, loved it, but after my last experience I will not be ordering again. 20 minutes past the scheduled delivery time (the delivery time was also already adjusted once) I called because my food still hadn't arrived. They told me it had been delivered 40 minutes prior, the driver says they rang my flat and I collected it, which I never did. I went downstairs and it was sitting on the side walk. Nobody ever called, nor did they buzz my flat.The driver claims a man opened the door when he buzzed and brought it inside, which makes it confusing as to how it ended up on the sidewalk outside my door then. They tried to claim it must have been my flatmate (I don't have any, I live alone) or one of the other flats in my building - only one other flat is occupied and they are women so how could a man have collected it? And my neighbors weren't even home at the time. Even if, somehow, a man was in my building and collected my food for me, why would they bring it inside just to bring it back outside right after? It makes no sense. So basically my sushi and gyoza had been sitting on the sidewalk in the sun for over 40 minutes, and they refused to be of any help. The least they could have done was offer to replace it with a fresh order.

I completely understand backing and supporting your employees, but a bit of customer service would have kept me as a returning customer. Especially since I repeatedly showed how it wasn't possible for a man to have collected the my food as they said. Something as simple as "we're sorry for mix-up" and replacing the food...

We have eaten here a few times in the last 2 years and it's actually on our roster of restaurants that we would always go to. Overall our experience was good, except for our last visit, it was terrible. Sushi as always was good but tonkatsu was so bad. I complained that the pork was not fully cooked. I actually ate almost a third of it because I wanted to make sure that the entire meat was not fully cooked as I didn't want to complain (I don't like complaining at a restaurant unless it's really bad). But alas I complained and they insisted that it is not fully cooked. Maybe for them, it was, but it tastes so off for me. They insisted repeatedly that I was wrong which is quite a bad service for me. I had tonkatsu in other places, including Japan and I know what the taste of not fully cooked meat is. It is the most awful tonkatsu ever. I did not eat it after that and still paid for the entire thing. Suffice it to say, we will not come back nor order takeaway from this place ever again. Also, I am already nauseous, my tummy is hurting, and I am on the verge of vomiting after an hour of eating it. Awful experience, will not...