Vanilla Fish — Restaurant in Chino Hills

RUDE AND INCONSIDERATE SERVICE.

We arrived at noon with my sister who is a regular, my 3 year old niece, and my elderly father. All the 4 seater tables were filled but we decided to wait in the center 2 seater table. Within 2 minutes we were told to wait outside in incredibly humid 100 degree weather. We protested telling them how hot it was but they said it was their "policy."

So we went outside where they have no shade and their bench was burning. After 10 minutes sweating in the heat my niece started to cry saying "It hot, it hot." Finally another group left so we went immediately to their table and asked if we could sit while they cleaned up.

Again the staff told us to wait outside even though we repeated how hot it is and asked if at least the mother and the little one could stay inside. They retorted "It's not like we asked you to wait an hour" but for a toddler and a senior citizen even 15 minutes in direct summer sun is way too much to ask.

Throughout this all they offered no real apology or empathy. No offer of a cold water while we waited, no offer to make up for the wait outside, or an explanation of why exactly it was so pertinent that they kept us outside even though there was still plenty of room and the restaurant was below fire hazard occupancy.

To be clear, my dissatisfaction is not that we waited but HOW they made us wait. It was such a humiliating and confusing experience to have to beg the staff to understand how hot it was for my niece to stay outside. Honestly, how could they be so dense when it comes to not just customer service but child safety? The staff needs a severe lesson in both before they lose even...

I'm sure it's rough for businesses now to survive after covid and inflation, but some of the dishes we ordered were straight out disappointing. So much so that they should really take it off the menu!

6 bento boxes - 2 item combo for $96.66. Unique dishes we had were salmon sashimi (good), California rolls (good), spicy tuna roll (good), chicken cutlet (disappointing x10 / never order again), pork cutlet (disappointing x 10 / never order again), salmon teriyaki (disappointing x 10 / never order again).

Pros: staff is friendly. We ordered on a Saturday night around 7pm. Knowing that there might be a wait, we called ahead and placed 6 orders of their bento boxes. It was roughly 40 mins. When we got there, the waitress was super nice.

Cons: the bento box items were a joke. For $15 each, we barely got any food and ALL of the cooked items were skimpy. They should be absolutely embarrassed to serve such terrible food. The pork and chicken cutlets were paper thin and barely had any meat in them. They were dry and basically just breading. Again, a joke and they should be embarrassed. I know times are hard for local businesses, but they shouldn't take it out on their guests.

prices were decent to me when ordering, but after getting the food, it was a major disappointment.

Overall, I'm not coming here again. I heard later on from family that there are other better Japanese restaurants. It's a shame, but I used to go there and enjoyed the place. I'm surprised other guests aren't as mad (perhaps we were just the unlucky ones), but all of us were in dissatisfaction...

The waiting staff are great. Our server Koi and the other two couldn't have been nicer. Now the rest of the story. The Dinner all you can eat is $28.00. If one person at the table orders "all you can eat" the entire table justmust do the same which is unfair and highway robbery. They brought out a few items we didn't order. They did not bring items we did order such as our hand rolls. The food was good but not great at all. "Good" is being generous. We could not eat all the edamame (left over pictured) and asked if we could take it with us. The both waiters asked the manager who told them that if we were to take it home it will be an additional $15.00. Keep in mind with the 20% tip for the great server we spent $83.49. The owner/manager seeing this or just good customer service could have said to take the edamame or charge us $5.00 as d we would still have taken it. Management has no concept of what customer satisfaction means nor did they care. I sent two servers to speak to her and she didn't come to the table to explain why we couldn't take it to go. Between the food not being so good and Management's lack of people skills we will never go back. The two stars are strictly for the servers. If I could score them separately I would give Koi and servers five stars. A charge of $28 should at least buy you courtesy from those running the place. Don't waste your time or money. There are some great Sushi places in Riverside and Moreno Valley. This is not one of...