Asuka Steak House — Restaurant in Bloomington

We've been to Asuka before and always had a great time before with sushi and entrees, so we were incredibly disappointed by our experience last Friday.

We went for hibachi - our four-year-old's favorite - and there was an issue because the meal came with shrimp, which was not written on the menu at all, and there were shellfish allergies at our table. When we tried to explain this to the hibachi chef, he just moved them over on the grill. As someone in the food industry who is ServSafe certified myself, I know what are and are not appropriate allergy-safe protocols and this chef did not seem to know any of them. When I tried to explain to him what he needed to do, there were some communication issues because of language barriers, which is completely fine.

However, to deal with it we were suddenly surrounded by like four or five people - a collection of servers and I think maybe managers or owners based on their clothes - who were half speaking to us in English and half shouting over each other in their native language - which made it both difficult to follow what was going on and also brought a lot of attention to our table, which became embarrassing for us. Eventually, it was determined that my husband - who does not have any allergies - could eat what was prepared on the table, and they would prepare dishes in the back for my son and myself that would be allergy safe.

At this point, after everyone left, the hibachi chef threw a little temper tantrum, sliding much of the food off the grill onto a tray and tossing it onto his cart. He finished cooking the food without doing any of the usual hibachi tricks left at that point, scooping the food onto my husband's plate, and then moving onto the next table quickly, where we saw him performing all of the usual tricks. My son, who picked this restaurant specifically because he wanted to go to hibachi for dinner as his special treat, was completely heartbroken watching all the other tables get the full hibachi experience that he was denied simply because a frustrated chef let his personal feelings affect his professional behavior.

On the way out one of the hostesses made a point to call out to me in front of the whole front-of-house while my son was admiring the fish tank, telling me that I should make a point to tell them about the shellfish allergy in advance next time. When I told her I couldn't because the menu did not mention the shrimp, she told me I was wrong and grabbed I menu. I read the menu to her, showing everything it listed, which did not include shrimp. She immediately pulled it away from me, said, "Oh, well, this menu is wrong," and then hurried away to tell her manager.

Not only did they demonstrate a disregard for food safety through both their improperly trained chef and the inattention paid to their menu, but the way that they handled the situation left us embarrassed and ultimately, denied our family the very specific food experience we came to get. In one bad service, this restaurant went from a place we have enjoyed visiting multiple times with friends and family, to a place we will never go to again. Incredibly...

This was our 2nd time eating at Asuka. The first time was lovely, delicious food, and amazing service. This 2nd time was not great. We ordered takoyaki as an appetizer, and the chicken was so overcooked and chewy. The restaurant did not seem very busy, but their kitchen was backed up, probably with takeout orders. I understand when this happens and am not upset. My food only took about 20 minutes to be served to me after ordering. But they brought out my dish about 30 minutes before my husband's dish. I ordered sushi while he ordered an entree. I think communication between the kitchen and sushi chefs could be better, so that both orders come out around the same time. When my husbands food arrived, it was not very good... He said the breading on the pork was soggy and it tasted like it was cooked from frozen, not fresh. I think there was also confusion over who was our server, because 2 different servers waited on us throughout our visit, but we didn't see them often/our waters weren't refilled for a long time. On top of that, the restaurant was freezing, and we just wanted to hurry and leave. I recommend just ordering sushi if you come here, it is fresh and does not take a long time...

Where to begin with this review:

Not greeted upon arrival, and just awkwardly standing there while staff give you looks. Eventually after a minute someone walked over to seat up.

The server was just plain awful. He didn't really speak to us or have any interest in us. There was a table of females that he kept going over to and spending all his time while treating the rest of the customers like we were a bother. It took 10 minutes before he came back to take our orders. (At this point it's our mistake for having not already walked out)

The food.... A. We ordered the calamari app. It was the chewiest and most unsavory dish of this type I have had. Like it was just frozen in a bag that they just cook when needed. B. The fried rice is the absolute worst rice I have had in my entire life. My partner guessed the awful taste comes from oyster sauce, which is our best guess to what could the terrible flavor. C. The salt and pepper fish was actually good. D. The beef and scallion was edible, but not the best.

End of review. Do not come here if you want good service. Don't order the rice. Some dishes are decent. Others are...