Kansai — Restaurant in Belchertown

Rating: 2 stars (for now, with hope to increase!)

I’ve been a customer here for a while, both before and after the change in management, and I genuinely want this to be my go-to spot. The interior is great, with a nice bar atmosphere and TVs, and I live very close by, so the convenience is perfect. However, I’ve had a few issues lately since the re-opening that have impacted my experience, and I hope the management takes this feedback to heart. I’d love to make this a 4 or 5-star review again!

1. Food Wait Times: When dining in, wait times have become a real challenge. The last time we visited, it took almost an hour for our food to come out. While the waitress was kind enough to compensate a few things on our bill, the inconsistency with wait times makes it hard to enjoy dining in.

For takeout, the experience has also been confusing. The website said the food would take 50 minutes, so we arrived accordingly, but the order was ready earlier. Unfortunately, since we waited longer to pick it up (as instructed), the food was lukewarm by the time we got it. Even when we called to confirm, we were told it would take 45-50 minutes, so this miscommunication was frustrating.

2. Portion Sizes for Takeout: I love the hibachi noodles and chicken, but the portion sizes for takeout have been disappointing recently. The container isn’t even full—there are spots where you can see the bottom! For $20, I’d expect a more generous serving.

3. Sushi Quality: Sushi is one of my favorite things to order, but I’ve noticed a drop in quality recently. Rolls often aren’t tightly rolled, and on our last visit, the rice wasn’t seasoned properly, wasn’t fully cooked, and tasted stale. Honestly, I’ve had better luck with pre-made sushi from grocery stores, which was a big letdown. Perhaps some additional training or tools for staff could help?

4. Silverware Etiquette: Servers should get in the habit of asking, “Can I get you a fork or chopsticks?” at each table. I recently brought friends who aren’t comfortable with chopsticks, and they had to wait until they could flag down the waitress for forks. A simple ask upfront would go a long way toward improving the dining experience for everyone.

The Bottom Line: I really like this place and want to see it thrive. It has so much potential, and I’d love to make it a regular spot for myself and my friends. For now, though, the long wait times, inconsistent food quality, and smaller portion sizes make it hard to justify regular visits. I hope these issues can be addressed, and I’d love to come back and give it another try soon!

Pros:

The interior is really nice, with a great bar atmosphere and TVs. The ramen was absolutely delicious, and I do...

Ordered 2 veggie ramen and specified gluten free tofu (the default was deep fried tofu). Also ordered a bunch of veggie stairs and appetizers. Lost my dog this morning and was just looking for an easy, comforting takeout dinner. Got home and realized they did not include any of the sushi or appetizers. They also deep fried the tofu, which was only 2oz anyways so 2 bites worth. Picked that out and tried to call the number on Google to ask them to refund me for the appetizers that I paid for but didn't get. Got some guys cell phone number and he had me write down another number to call the restaurant. When I called the secret restaurant number, got a message "this number doesn't take calls, feel free to leave a message" so I was getting ready to leave a message when it immediately hung up on me. Decided to just try to eat what I got and the rice noodles they gave me for my noodle soup were so dry and hard, so brittle they broke up into tiny pieces and I couldn't even get them on my chop sticks or a fork. They were clearly old. The broth was great but definitely not worth $14 on it's own. I needed up cooking my own noodles and cutting you some of my own tofu to put in the broth that I strained out. I basically ended up spending $24 on a small bowl of broth and still had to cook my own dinner and drive 20 minutes for the pickup. Terrible way to end a terrible day. Never getting...

We were really looking forward to trying Kansai tonight and made a special 30-minute trip from Hadley. To be proactive, I called en route just before 7:15 PM to check if we needed a reservation and was put on an extended hold. Eventually, I was shocked to learn that, contrary to the 8:30 PM closing time listed on all their major online profiles, the restaurant actually closes at 8:00 PM and the kitchen stops service at 7:30 PM.

The young man who identified himself as the manager admitted they were aware the hours were wrong online and had been for some time. I explained we were already on our way and would likely arrive just a few minutes after the un-posted 7:30 PM kitchen closing.

Given that the entire issue stemmed from their incorrect information, I was surprised there was absolutely no willingness to accommodate us. The manager was adamant that they would not serve us, no matter the circumstances. For a local restaurant in a community (and because I love Kisara in Easthampton), this level of inflexibility and poor customer handling was a real letdown. The experience was capped off when he hung up on me after I asked for his name.

We ended up having to find another dinner spot on the fly. While we can't speak to the food, this experience with the restaurant's basic management and professionalism was unfortunately a dealbreaker. We won't be attempting to...