Sakura Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Manchester

**Overall I'd give this buffet restaurant a 3.5/5 stars. I initially wanted to give them a much higher rating, but there were just too many issues which I've listed below, that need to be addressed, as they brought down the dining experience.

With that being said, for a more in depth review, please see the points below, starting with the:

Menu - The food menu is hands down the best food menu I've used and seen in any restaurant. It's amazing not only because of the sheer number of items available to order, but also because of how versatile it is. They offer halal and vegan friendly foods, in addition to providing food descriptions and pictures for each item, so you know exactly what you're getting.

Food - There are 3 parts to the food in this buffet restaurant. First is the mains (which we're AMAZING) , second is the drinks (which were OVERPRICED) and 3rd is the desserts. The main dishes where absolutely amazing, they were delicious, there was so much choice and they were also filling. They nailed it here.

The desserts is where EVERYTHING really fell apart. The desserts served here are quite honestly appalling. I couldn't believe the sharp contrast I experienced, going from the amazingly flavourful delicious main dishes, to these somewhat bland/ straight of of the can type of desserts. The desserts here are a 1/5 stars and honestly need to be revised as soon as possible. Its really sad to see how much of a dip in food quality their desserts are.

Price - The price of entry (Aug 2022) was £27.99, which is a sharp increase in price, considering this place used to be £20 per person over 6 months ago. This price tag of almost £30 is exceedingly high and is part of the reason I couldn't give this buffet a higher rating. You can't charge prices that high and not deliver on providing consistently high food quality and services. They need to either lower their prices to a reasonable fee or step up their customer service, fix their desserts and lower the prices of drinks.

Atmosphere - The atmosphere here was absolutely astonishing. It was stunning and simply gorgeous. From the moment you first enter the building, you're greeted with a lovely koi pond with live fish in it, beautiful Japanese decor and plants, and the reception has these marvellous statues and divine lighting. I have never seen a more stellar and impressive assortment of lighting, decor and design. If you're looking for an Instagram friendly restaurant, this is definitely the one.

Customer service - So, there are two parts to the customer service here. The robot assisted customer service and the human customer service. The robots where absolutely amazing. They were so polite, effecient and a joy to be served by. I couldn't get enough of their presence at my table.

The manager of the restaurant was really kind, well spoken, helpful and a great service. The waiters who would come up to clean the tables however, where quite the opposite. They didn't talk to you or acknowledge your presence, they came across as bad robots and didn't even flinch or say anything if you thanked them for their service, which I did (multiple times). The robots made the waiters look even worse, especially when you consider how friendly and polite they were. You know it's bad when robots have better manners than their human counterparts. The human waiters were another reason I had to drop down the rating.

Toilets - The toilets were in really good condition. They were not only clean, but the cubicles were also spacious, and there was a TV by the sinks. Super high quality.

Sitting space - The tables are really well spaced out and laid out in an efficient manner. The tables were all clean and in good condition.

Queue speed - The queues in this restaurant are really well managed. I never saw anyone having to queue there during my time there. I also didn't have to queue for a table when I arrived,...

I've worked in hospitality for almost 15 years and 5+ of those in a digital dependent restaurant and our experience here was really poor.

We had a table for five booked at 5pm, three members arrived at 4.45 and the rest at 5.05. The first group was told to wait as the internet/tablets you order on were currently down. Finally at about 5.10 we were able to order drinks, even though several staff members had made eye contact and walked past us.

Between 5.15-5.20 we were directed to a table, where we were informed again about the tablets being down and we could use the self-service counter or order via the server. We didn't know what we wanted to order, so the server told us that she would be back with a menu, a notepad and that our drinks were on their way. A couple of us got menus up on our phones; a second server appeared announcing the food on her tray. As we hadn't ordered and because the systems were down, we thought this was a mistake and said we hadn't ordered this. For the third time, we were told we could not order because the tablets were down, as the first server returned informed by her manager that they were unable to take any orders at all.

Both servers were then ushered away by another staff member. By roughly 5.25 we were still without drinks, irritable and as lost as the servers and decided to leave. As we got up from the table another tray of food was brought over, we said we didn't want anything, the server smile, nodded and left; giving us the impression that the food that was being offered out was just up for grabs, but this was never explained to us as a means to an end.

We walked past the reception area and several staff members, no one said anything to us and we stood in the car park discussing our options. A seemingly senior staff member came out and told us our drinks were ready, we calmly said we were leaving and he repeated that our drinks were ready (almost like he was expecting us to return to a badly managed shift or pay for what we hadn't even consumed - wastage for incorrectly ordered/prepared food and drinks is common in restaurants), we replied that we didn't need to pay for these drinks. The gentleman didn't even apologise for the experience and stormed back off inside.

If customers want to leave because something has gone wrong in the restaurant, we apologise for the inconvenience, not 'scolding' them for walking out. No one seemed to know what was going on and if the systems being down was causing that much stress and confusion, you don't continue to sit people. We were all so excited for our first time here and this really ruined it for us, we don't know for how long they were dealing with this issue, but they didn't even seem to know we were coming to inform us prior about...

It's a stretch to call this place a Japanese restaurant - if you're searching for seasonal, traditional Japanese cuisine this probably isn't the right place. But it's great fun, and we were looked after attentively by both the human and robot staff.

For the buffet, you order via tablet app, and you can choose up to five dishes per person each time. Helpfully, there may be a short halt on orders to stop the kitchen getting swamped. If you are a couple or a small group, a cute little robot will bring food to table, introduce itself and tell you where to find your dishes, which it carries on its body for you to collect. Larger groups probably won't be served often by the robots - you'll just see their cute jolly faces zipping past.

Service can get a bit chaotic. After placing an order for five plates, most people forget what they've ordered immediately, and occasionally plates come to table that everyone denies having ordered and sometimes orders seem to glitch and not get to the kitchen, but my experience at least didn't find this much of an issue.

Sakura is clean, comfortable, and (unusually, I think!) you can have a conversation without having to yell, but at the same time not feel like everyone can hear every word. It's the perfect ambience. The decor is filled with japanese graphics, props and signs. The signs decorating our section read "we apologise for the suspension of service" and "thank you for your patience during this inconvenience". Whoever sourced the props has a sense of humour!

The place is massive, but it does get very busy. Even on a Sunday night, it was full. Make sure you book.

To the food. Is the buffet value for money? Ehh... At £29 per head, (with drinks and sashimi not included in that price) no, not really. But there is something for most people on the menu (vegans probably won't have more than five dishes to choose, but our vegans were happy with that). The food is fast, cheap, and probably fried all together in the same fryer. The sushi is pretty much what you'd buy from a supermarket. The tempura is heavy and oily. The desert is a fatless sponge that tastes mainly of propellent. Go for fun, not food.

Food * Value * Authenticity...