Dozo — Restaurant in London

As a regular customer who would support this business around 3-4x a week and almost 9 months pregnant, I have crohns disease and have some particular requirements for the rolls with less rice, however 9 days ago, yes 9 days ago I was banned for life from the restaurant from a very rude manager called Alex, who should not be working at a place like that, the staff at mcdonalds are nicer than him! my husband wrote to management 9 days ago, and we have heard nothing since-

Dozo Management,

I am writing to you regarding an incident in your restaurant on Old Brompton Road yesterday 6th of August at 13:30

My wife Ashely, who is also 8months pregnant (!), and I are regulars at your restaurant as we rate the quality of your food very highly – in fact over the last year we have visited or picked up food on average 4 times a week (bank receipts to show).

Yesterday Ashley wanted to have a nice lunch celebrating the successful pregnancy with her mother who is currently visiting from Canada.

When they sat down and ordered their second round of California Roll the most extraordinary, shocking and frankly inexplicable behaviour by your manager Alex occurred.

Ashley and I always order and get the California rolls with less rice than usual – dietary preference – which is fully informs them of requests before hand- which would of saved a lot of precious drama- When the 2nd set of California rolls arrived they contained a lot or rice and Ashley kindly asked to have some of the excess rice removed which she had informed the waitress as she was ordering a second round and be made the same with less rice- Your manager Alex completely lost his temper, sat down next to my wife and my mother in law, shouting at them, that this extra request is intolerable, waving his hands frantically. Needless to say both women were surprised and shocked and the surrounding tables felt visibly uncomfortable. Furthermore Alex banned my wife and my mother in law from the restaurant. When I joined them outside the restaurant they were still shaking and confused over what happened.

Who shouts at an 8month pregnant lady – let alone in a full restaurant? I am sure you will agree that that is never an option. A manager needs to manage his own people, manage the operations in his establishment but also manage clients request. After all this is a client relying business that you are running and the people living in the area are some of your most important clients.

We have already shared this shocking experience with our friends and colleagues who all used to support Dozo – they are just as shocked as we are.

I demand a full apology from your manager to my wife and my mother in law.

However needless to say none of us and our wider circle will ever step foot in your restaurant ever...

I am a regular customer. We normally visit once in 4-6 weeks there. In the last evening I experienced the worst experience there.

I arrived without booking tonight around 7:38. A female staff told me that we had to wait for being seated for sometime (she said that it would not be long.) I could understand and seated ourselves on the spare chair. She didn't smile at all and she made me uncomfortable. She should have told that we had to waiting ever 20 mins. Her greedy intention not to let customers go made her telling a lie without saying sorry.

10-15 mins later, she came and told us we should wait for 5-10 more. No sorry and no smile of course. It was a kind of order. She asked if a small table for 2 can be used with adding a chair. If she had offered this table on our arrival, we might have accepted, but we have been waiting for over 15mins.

10 mins more later , I wanted to talked with a manager. She said " I am the manager. Don't shout me. They are booking customers" Still no smile. Another waiter ordered me to give way in order to another customers coming in. His accent was also arrogant. I told the manager " Please forget it" and I left the restaurant. We could enjoy our dinner at another real Japanese restaurant in 20 mins. Similar price with better service.

I saw her for the first time in the restaurant. Maybe new manager. Or she can be an owner. I bet the arrogant and useless manager may prevent regular customers from dining there if she doesnt change her attitude.

On Sundays, normally it is the time no crowded, but today more customers came. It made them forget their position.

I will not dine at Dozo again including in Soho branch. Frankly speaking, Branch in Soho shows much better taste on most dishes. If some one wants to eat here, he had better to visit the branch in Soho. It will be a wise choice.

Dozo- Japanese sushi shop running by unsmiling with arrogance manager or owner(she and he were not Japanese.) Please learn not only the skill and taste of Japanese food but also the service of Japanese...

This wasn’t my first time eating at Dozo, but my first visit to the South Kensington branch. I enjoyed the food previously so especially booked a table for my birthday. However, this would be my last visit due to communication problems with staff regarding the booking and when I expressed feedback.

It was only when we arrived and sat down that we were informed we only had 1.5 hour sharp to finish the food and leave. Way before 8pm (the time we were told we had to leave) all the dishes were cleared, the bill handed to us. One minute past 8pm, we were rushed out of the restaurant.

I understand it’s a Friday night and the 1.5 hour limit is not a problem in itself. As I expressed to the staff member when I left, the problem lies in communication and expectation management. When I called to book the table, if I was informed that we would only have a precise 1.5 hour slot, I would have arranged my schedule differently or even chosen another restaurant as I wanted to spend quality time with my family who travelled far for this special occasion. Instead, right after we finished the food we were ushered out and were lost as to where else to go before our designated commute time.

Another disappointment was the indifferent response from staff. There was no apology or room for conversation at all when I politely expressed my disappointment in the gap in communication and expectation, only that I should understand it’s a Friday night.

If you would like to have enough time to have an enjoyable dining experience, Dozo is not the restaurant for you. Otherwise, the...