Hana Japan Steak and Seafood — Restaurant in Berkeley

We showed up for our 6:30 reservation and was seated at the grill table even though we did not ask for it. By 7:00, I went to the front to ask where our server was. I should have trusted my instincts and left but said it was an experience I should give a try. The young host at the front acted like he was surprised caused he assumed we wanted the grill table. I explained that we just wanted to order so he said we could move to the tables by the bar if we prefer and moved we did. We picked up our water, menu and whatever patience we had left and got ourselves a table by the bar. Interesting enough, the bartender took our order within 5 minutes. We ordered the hibachi dinner of ribeye steak, jumbo shrimp and salmon and a beer. By the time we got our food, I was telling myself that I would never ever return to this place. I can’t think of what to describe regarding the food because it was just that. I think the chef or whoever was cooking in the kitchen had a bottle of salt, bottle of pepper, butter and some lemon wedges to work with. All three dishes tasted the same in terms saltiness, grease and sourness. Veggies were soaked in oil and overcooked. Thank god the lights were dimmed because I can’t imagine how dirty the place was if it was bright. Decorations were from the 80s and the place smelled of wet and old carpet. Our bill totaled $112 with $16 tips. After reading other reviews, everything made sense, why we were seated at the grill table instead of the few empty tables by the bar. Any person seated at the grill table was charged the extra 18% gratuity for the chef on top of your tips. Since there were only 3 of us, we had to wait until our table fills up before a chef shows up. Hence, we were left sitting there without a server from 6:30 to 7:00pm. The host who initially acted like he was sorry for the mixup was a weasel who knew exactly what he was doing. He was following the establishment protocol which was to fill up the grill tables regardless. They really should explain to customers the difference and let the customers decide where to sit. The whole thing feels dirty. One star to get this...

I typically frequent this place and will likely never again. It’s really gone downhill. It’s somehow staffed yet extremely disorganized.

My partner and I got a table with a reservation. It took them several times to find it. The waiter seemed flustered and admittingly rushed us for food orders and then THE WAITER NEVER CAME BACK.

(2) people sitting next to us expressed their frustration left the table and never returned.

More than halfway through the meal. Everyone wanted water and no service at all in sight.

As a customer, I had to run to the bar to put in requests for water and they couldn’t find the waiter. The bartenders were great. They tried to track down the missing waiter. They knew something was wrong and tried to correct it.

Eventually they gave us some bottles of refilled water at the end of our meals and everyone at the table chucked saying “I guess we’re serving ourselves…”.

This was an embarrassing and disappointing experience not only for the restaurant but also the customers. A great way to spend valentine’s day.

Upon receiving the bill I noticed they had removed a service charge of +20%. This sounds reasonable right?? I mean, I get it - situations happen.

The waiter finally returned and mentioned she “Forgot to add the service charge” and brought me another bill. I can’t make this up.

Would you pay +20% for an undisclosed service charge with no service.

I get hiking prices for Valentine’s day, but not having sufficient staffing or sneaking in a “Mandatory +20% service charge” and failing to provide basic service just seems VERY SCAMMY.

The Menu prices also reflected the non-negotiable or advertised add-ons (i.e - complimentary glass, rose, glass of champagne).

The staff didn’t seem happy about handing these out. More like frustrated they had to do the task. Really was an awkward experience.

As a customer it feels like the staff are taking out their issues with the restaurant policy on...

Poorly cooked "New York steak"! What a disappointment this place was. We got two of the $29 New York steaks that almost seemed like they were boiled instead of seared and cooked properly. One was ordered rare and the other medium rare but neither of them had grill marks or sear marks and were both a gray tan in color. Properly searing steak gives it a great flavor and these had none of that. They were also cut up into many little pieces, which I know might be traditionally done at this type of restaurant, but the end result was we didn't even know what type of cut of steak we were actually being served. Both didn't have a great meat flavor and was chewy on top of everything else. The next issue was right when we walk through the door we were told "without a reservation we would have to eat at the bar or the (noisy busy with bar patrons) tables right next to the bar". (Maybe that's because we were only a party of two and they're trying to fill up the chef's entertainment tables with lots of customers who get automatically deducted tips according to the other reviews here.) Atmosphere? The whole restaurant including the bathrooms felt very old and well used and all of it could really use a makeover.

Service. I believe the nice woman serving our table was also one of the bartenders or worked at the bar as well because she seemed overloaded and very distracted but also was trying to treat us courteously at the same time. Normally I give places two or three tries but I don't think we'll be coming back.

On the positive side I will say they are in a beautiful location and that some of the tables have a beautiful view. Also they have a very large parking lot that is available for free. Although I did notice signs stating that if you're parked overnight you'll either get a ticket or worse so keep that in...