Camon Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Columbia

I went yesterday with party of myself and two friends.

The sushi was pretty good, however, the waitress was not knowledgeable about the menu whatsoever and had a hard time providing service as a result. No water refills the entire duration of our visit. The appetizers also came out after the entrees. Nevertheless, giving her a pass as it seemed she was new to waitressing, the non-sushi food was lackluster. Rice was mushy, the fried fish I was served was soggy, and the gyoza were pretty bland. Overall, pretty disappointed.

I heard from the waitress that the restaurant was under new management, so this may be the reason behind the subpar experience. The store does not have its liquor license though, so beware, if you plan on ordering alcoholic beverages, you are out of luck, at least at this time.

After reviewing my bill after leaving, I'm also fairly sure I was overcharged for the food I ordered. I will also chalk this up to the inexperienced waitress, although it really shouldn't be happening regardless. If you're going for sushi alone, you might be in luck. I, however, won't be returning to Caimon for...

My boyfriend and I were in Columbia for a day trip and we didn't know where to go for dinner, so I pulled up Google Maps and looked for nearby restaurants. We decided on a Cuban place, Mojito's (also very good) because we don't usually get to do Cuban, but I had looked at the menu for Camon and was interested in coming by and sampling a couple of the more authentic dishes.

I didn't know what to expect, since I just glanced at the rating rather than read the reviews, so when we got there I was having second thoughts. It's just a little hole in the wall, really. I was reassured when I heard the chef speaking Japanese, and long story short, the food was great. I haven't had sushi that good since I went to Taiwan. We got a sashimi sampler, a couple of uni nigiri, and the agedofu, and it was all wonderful. The fish is fresh and firm and the chef puts quite a bit of thought into preparing and arranging it and the tofu was in a wonderfully light, savory broth. The uni was creamy and slightly sweet, without the heavy flavor of lower quality urchin roe.

Definitely coming back next time we're...

Having been to Japan on numerous occasions, I thought that an authentic Japanese dining experience in the United States was only available on the west coast; Camon has proved me wrong. Stepping through the doors was like sliding the wood and rice paper door open at any typical restaurant in Japan. The menu was exactly what one would expect if they were dining in Shinjuku, Shibuya, or just about any other district in Tokyo. The servers and cooks were all extremely polite and knowledgeable. The chef provided pieces of sushi (fantastic, by the way) as an apology for the food taking longer than usual to prepare; I've had slower service at a McDonald's drive-thru on a Tuesday night. This high standard that Camon holds itself too is quintessentially Japanese; the only country in the world where I've ever seen apology letters issued to train passengers if their train is late to explain to their employer why they are late. Camon is a true Japanese restaurant, and I say that with the...