Karma Burlington — Restaurant in Burlington

Food is okay. Sashimi fish is very fresh but the hot dishes were generally too salty. I ordered a Soy Sauce Chow Mein. It was so salty that I had to drink water with every bite I ate. The main reason I gave Karma a one Star is its poor services. I picked Karma to have a birthday dinner for my nephew. I brought my own cake to the restaurant. After we finished dinner, I saw our waitress passed by our table, I waved at her and wanted to tell her that we were ready for the cake, but she walked away without paying attention to her table. I stood up and ran after her and said “excuse me”. She didn’t hear me and walked into the kitchen. Other waitresses and busgirls saw me chasing after our waitress but they didn’t even try to help stop her. I told one busgirl standing outside the kitchen to tell my waitress to bring the cake out. I then waited for 10 minutes for her to show up but she didn’t have the cake. I told her again we are reaching for the cake. She said yes she would get it soon. We then waited and waited… We saw our waitress attend other tables without even looking at our table. Our table had a small pile of food spilled out from the dishes. We cleaned up the table and pushed the food to the front of the table. Our waitress, the busgirls all walked around our table so many times and nobody stopped to clean the food out of our table so that we can have the cake. We waited for about another 20 minutes and after I talked to a manager looking guy, we finally got our cake. The is the first restaurant I ever been to that the waitress and other waiters/ waitress coming to sing happy birthday to its customer. Our waitress simply left our cake on the table and walked away. She didn’t even say happy birthday to my nephew. Lastly, I asked to box two leftover dishes home. The waitress took one back to the kitchen and left one on the table. Later a busgirl came over and I told her we need to box the one dish left on the table. She did give us a box and said “you box yourself “. Should she box for a customer? Before I left, I asked our waitress where was the other dish she brought into the kitchen. She said we only told her to box one. Four of us stunned at her answers. In summary, salty food, indifferent and cold service. I would not...

Sushi only review. My wife and I have eaten literally (proper use of the word, by the way) a ton of sushi over the last 36 years and we have experienced good and bad and all other kinds of what is called sushi. Quality of Sushi: very good. There is no doubt that the fish is very good and well stored, handled and cut, but I have had better, which is very had to find outside of Boston. The quality level would drive at least 4 stars, but the cost is disappointing Atmosphere: excellent. Well kept, very nice architecture and enjoyable to have an event or alone time with your significant other Cost: outrageous. I knew going to this place (trying for first time last night) that the cost is higher than other sushi restaurants. As a matter of fact, the most expensive I have seen for this level of sushi experience. The cost charge would be expected for those private sessions you would experience in a traditional old-school place where you would need to reserve a place 6 months in advance and pay $200-300 per seat. Karma was not that expensive, but in a way it is advertised as if you get the same experience. Any other similar quality restaurant charges about 1/2 compared to Karma. Here are some examples (sushi only (pieces with rice; NOT sashimi)), compared to Tokyo Steakhouse (TS), Andover, MA a. Toro: Karma: $26; TS: $10+ b. Hamachi, Sake, Smoked Salmon: Karma: $9; TS: $5.50 c. Maguro, Unagi: Karma: $10, TS: $5.50 I am ok to pay a much higher price, but the quality must be noticeably better, and it wasn't. The reason for a very low grade, Portions: I don't like portions that are too large, but Karma's portions are about 1/2 that of TS portions, and when you translate the costs between the two, for the very same quality sushi, Karma is nearly...

I was really looking forward to a great experience celebrating a birthday at this restaurant. I fully expected to give them five stars all the way.

So, why 4 stars on food? The dish I ordered, Ma Po Tofu with broccoli, did not come out right the first time. Tofu was Luke warm, broccoli was COLD! The manager was very apologetic and made sure that the dish was remade, so it came out piping hot the second time around.

The server, Andre, was great. But why 2 stars on service? Our drinks order was really really delayed. So delayed that within 5 more minutes, our food arrived. Appetizers, entrees, everything came all together at the table! The tight timeline between getting the drinks and the food hitting the table meant we had to consume our drinks fast so they don't get warm and eat the food in a hurry so that food does not get cold.

Karma management will be better served by making sure that the total experience at the restaurant is well coordinated and choreographed for timing. And the food comes out at the right time and served so that drinks, appetizers, entrees are well spaced.

A Server taking orders for drinks and food, then a completely different staff serving drinks from the bar, yet another staff member from the kitchen serving food..... and both of them asking who ordered this drink? Who ordered the entree? Who ordered this main course?.....Definitely not the experience we are looking for when the check is upwards of $50 per person.... with one drink and no dessert.

If the Karma management notices this review and responds with what they are doing to make customer experience better, I will go there again. ...