Sticks'n'Sushi — Restaurant in London

Terrible food and service altogether! I ordered Chirashi Deluxe and the taste was off, so weird there were just fish (cooked and raw), apart from some peas, that I had to check my photo of the dish against their photo menu and listed ingredients. Two listed ingredients - avocado and shiso - were missing, and there were no substitutes to replace the green buttery elements and aromatic of the dish. Shiso should be the essence of the dish, and it was NOT acceptable to go without.

I finished the dish anyway, and clearly, no avocado or shiso were "hidden" underneath the fish layer. Then, I asked the server if I was given a wrong order (either a different dish from the menu or someone's customised dish). Right away, he was sure he had given me the right dish.  Then he brought the Manager, who came slightly raging already, confronted me, and asked me what I wanted by raising the feedback. The tone was rude and negative when she raised her voice at the same time, both of them standing in front of my table, also causing disturbance to other diners. I felt intimated and said I wanted nothing. In fact, I was only giving feedback, and if it was a wrong order (I recalled the Deluxe was the most complicated dish with many ingredients and thus the most expensive in that category), better let them fix the bill before paying; if that was due to negligence in the kitchen, that explained why the dish tasted awful. Only after the confrontation did she go to the kitchen and verify with the chef and confirm that the two ingredients were missing. I didn't ask; she deducted the dessert off my bill. At that point, I just wanted to leave that place immediately. Very rude and unprofessional staff who threatened customers to stay silent about the bad food. I didn't realise that nowadays taking food photos is compulsory for diners to protect their rights and to the least to give feedback by demonstrating the discrepancies between the restaurant's product and their advertised menu.

It was evident that the chained restaurant has been run without quality check and control in the kitchen and in front-of-house customer service aspects, not to mention consistency to deliver branded dining experiences to customers across the region. I had a look at other reviews about similar atritude issues about the Manager at this branch. I believe this has been a serious problem that has never been addressed despite customers have made their comments on Google review (already the most direct way of communication in the digital age sadly). All they did was asking reviewers to contact them by email, which was another sign to reluctantly take on any feedback.

I enjoy keeping a culinary experience photo record as I used to forget what I ate. But the restaurant should not expect their customers to produce proof of what they had eaten or what not. Never ever set foot in a Sticks'n'Sushi chained restaurant again!!! You'll regret, or you never know what you have eaten and vice versa.

If anyone cares to read further about the dessert: the matcha fondant was OK, but the vanilla ice cream was real frozen ice. I believe that they did design the ice block on purpose, showing they did not understand the beauty of having hot and cold elements in a dessert: cold element melting when meeting the hot element giving the smooth velvety texture along the sensation brought by temperature differences. So that's another miss of a...

Terrible Experience Due to General Manager's Unprofessionalism

My dining experience on Saturday, July 12th, around 6:30pm, was ruined by the incredibly unprofessional conduct of a manager named Karolina. While my server, Absar, was exceptionally patient and helpful, there was a significant wait for food, drinks, and even tap water. The restaurant was busy but not full, and it seemed most tables were experiencing longer-than-normal delays. Absar diligently checked on my order, kept me updated, and apologised for the wait, and thanked me for my patience. However, Karolina seemed to be closely watching Absar and intervened in a highly confrontational manner. When I calmly explained the long wait and mentioned that other tables seated after me, who ordered the same item, had received their food first, she responded loudly and aggressively. She told me to "be patient" and claimed it was due to different table zones, despite us all being in the same row downstairs. Her hostile tone and aggressive nature created an uncomfortably tense atmosphere, drawing the attention of nearby tables. Her behaviour escalated when I mentioned Absar had already noticed the delay and checked with the kitchen. Karolina then publicly undermined him, loudly stating, "he doesn't know anything, he doesn't even work here, he's only covering for the day." This was completely out of line, highly unprofessional, and indicative of a potentially hostile work environment and workplace bullying. She then brought my food over with a sarcastic "are you happy now." My meal was very uncomfortable; another table who witnessed the exchange even asked if I was okay. Karolina later approached again, asking in a passive-aggressive tone, "how is your food." When I asked her to leave me alone, she loudly retorted, "that's not very nice, you are very very rude," further attempting to embarrass me in a busy restaurant. On a positive note, I spoke with another manager, Bethan, who was brilliant, kind, and empathetic. She encouraged me to leave a review and assured me she would pass on my feedback. Absar was outstanding at his job, treating all customers with kindness and respect, genuinely trying to create a welcoming environment despite Karolina’s dreadful presence. I sincerely hope the management addresses Karolina’s unacceptable behaviour. It significantly detracted from what should have been an enjoyable meal, and from what I observed, she treated her colleague in an entirely inappropriate way, while subjecting me to micro-aggressions and...

Disappointing service really lets this place down.

Called ahead to enquire about a dietary requirement - which was handled well - and was then advised to make a reservation. Made the reservation for an hour later, but on arrival it seemed we were waiting for a table to be made available.

When it came to ordering, we asked for the 'mixed emotions' sharing menu. We asked to swap a pork skewer for chicken wings skewer, which the waiter said was perfectly fine.

A different waitress then brought our food, and I realised after she had left that she said "here's the starters for your mixed emotions". We were not told that the meal comes in two parts, and no mention of this on the menu. I then asked for the missing parts to join the rest of the plates (just two tiny skewers! Imagine bringing them to a cleared table as a 'main'!). We waited 10 or 15 mins and had to ask again for them to arrive. And when they did, again one of the skewers was missing. So again I had to ask about them, and wait another 10 mins, and ask again for them to finally arrive. The waiter who brought them said he would remove them from the bill (they should have been included in the menu price anyway...?). They were then still billed as 50p extra.

All of this was served at a small table barely large enough for two to have drinks, so the staff had to keep removing things just to fit the staggered dishes on the table.

The food itself was pretty tasty - though not quite as good as I've had at other branches. Not worth enduring the service for.

All in all, quite disappointing after having a great experience at other branches. Not worth the...