Kessaku — Restaurant in Dallas

We wanted to try a different spot for our wedding anniversary, we typically go to Uchi which is our favorite. My husband has been to kessaku before and mentioned it was upscale and delicious. Upon arrival, our waitress was kind and enthusiastic for a moment before it all fell apart. We started off with 2 martinis and 2 apps. The sashimi ponzu was good, nothing special compared to some of our other favorite high-end sushi spots. Tuna tartare was also okay.

Fast forward, we wait an hour total for the 2 rolls that we had ordered. Only one time the waitress came back after 30-40 minutes and took another cocktail order, and asked if we needed anything awkwardly - which tells me they forgot our food since nobody ever mentioned or checked in on us otherwise. She did not once say “let me check on that”, or “it should come out shortly”. She straight up walked off.

Fast forward another 20 minutes, we finished our 2nd round of cocktails. Still no food an hour later. Nobody checking on us. Glasses empty. We look around and our waitress and manager are checking in on another group/table every 5 minutes and they got their food within 20 minutes of sitting.

As a manager walks by, my husband KINDLY says excuse me and she literally shushes him and said “hold on” and put her hand up in an egregiously rude act. This is when I lost it. I finally snapped and said we sat down at 6:45, it’s now 8:10-8:15 and we don’t have our 2 rolls we’ve ordered an hour ago. All the manager said was “okay” and literally walked off again. They clearly forgot and never acknowledged it or expressed any concern, again they knew it was our wedding anniversary as well but clearly they pick & choose which customers are worth decent service.

Our 2 rolls eventually get dropped on the table and nobody checks in on us. Our waitress is MIA but checking in on the other tables around us constantly.

The worst part: by the time we are almost finished with our rolls, she grabs our empty glasses and QUICKLY asks my husband if he wants another and walks off before I even get a chance to order another cocktail. This was definitely intentional as she didn’t even look at me. Furious, my husband called her back and asked “is my wife not allowed to order another drink?” And I said the same. She said she thought I had a martini glass (even tho she literally just took mine and only looked at my husband for his order) and tried to play it off. I am not stupid and she probably thought we would not catch that.

It takes a LOT for us to complain and be this furious over service. It’s okay if they forgot our order or it was busy, but it’s how they ignored us and treated us when we let them know we waited for so long without food and nobody acknowledged it and even checked in on us. We would’ve ordered more food and cocktails if we had felt comfortable, but we were clearly not wanted there. They did end up comping our two rolls but the server didn’t mention this to us - she simply grabbed the receipt back and said “I’m just double checking they comped the rolls.” And put it back down on the table - very passive aggressive yet again. A simple “sorry for the wait. We took care of your rolls” would have gone a long way and we would’ve understood completely.

We went downstairs to monarch for more cocktails and dessert, and had a much...

Update: I reached out to them via email per their response to my review. I have followed up and never received a response and it’s been 2 weeks…if I could give zero stars I would.

Worst dining experience I’ve had possibly EVER. Called prior to coming here to make a reservation for later in the night for one person. I specifically inquired about a window seat. They said to walk in anytime as it’s “pretty open” and just wait for the next available window table, and didn’t take my reservation. Within 30 mins of calling I was in the restaurant as I wanted to get there quick after the call.

I arrive and there’s quite a few empty window tables but the host told me there’s two reservations which I understood (but also confused why they didn’t take mine when they said they were all pretty open for the night) they sat me at the bar (I don’t drink just got water so can’t comment on the drinks) Waited about 20 mins and 4 window tables were seated in that time.

I agreed to wait in the viewing deck since they lied about how long my wait would be and ordered an appetizer. Bad idea- It’s back where all the workers are preparing to serve, very uncomfortable non restaurant environment. It’s where the workers go on their phone (don’t wash their hands prior to serving food after using their phone) They kept forgetting about me, took forever to refill my water and receive my appetizer. Which makes sense since I was in the back behind curtains…

Host said it would be about 20 mins after I was in the viewing deck in the back for the window seats to open up. 50 minutes pass. Then finally, 1.5 hours after I arrived, I was seated.

If they had told me to come at a certain time or actually take my reservation when I called rather than wasting 1.5 hours of my night, I wouldn’t be so upset. If the host was honest with how long the wait would be and how many reservations there were ahead of me, I would not be upset. If he told me I’d have to wait 1.5 hours I would’ve left to avoid wasting my time but it went from a few minutes to 20-30 minutes to not telling me at all how long it would take to seat me.

I received my food within 20 minutes of ordering and paid within 10 minutes of receiving my food. I got the recommended crab roll and it was difficult to eat-it taste like if Trader Joe’s made a sushi roll drenched with butter all over. As most of the negative reviews say, quality and taste is poor for the price you pay. The edamame was bad as well, not seasoned throughout and over seasoned at the top where you have to take some salt off.

There are only 5 sushi roll options. This is not the place for sushi or service. Save your...

After experiencing Catbird and Monarch, I was expecting another overpriced pos restaurant. Man, I guess I shouldn't be so quick to judge because this place might have been the best sushi restaurant I've been to. That or the fact that my palate was still scarred by Kai, Oishiz, and Nobu awful sushi.

You know the moments in the anime Food Wars when the judge tastes something delicious? It's like that, and if you recognize the cocktail menu, you know Food Wars

Drinks: Sailor moon - the oloroso Sherry alone makes this drink worth it. I was surprised that I didn't see Hendricks being poured into my drink, but it was definitely in there. Just this one drink was enough for me that night. As a former bartender, I'm not sure if my tolerance suck now or this drink packs a punch (pun intended). One punch man - this was okay, but I'm not a whisky drinker.

Food: limited menu and came out fast. Let's start with my favorite. Spicy tuna roll. I normally hate the spicy tuna roll at every single restaurant. Quite frankly, I ordered it bc it was on the cheaper side. However, this roll was my Food War moment. The tuna was exquisite. Every bite makes me want more and more. The flavors melded together in perfect harmony. Tuna tartare. I usually order this at most places. Again, I ordered here bc of the price. However, this, too, blew me away. By far, the best tuna tartare I've ever had. (This coming from an Asian foodie). Queen Nigiri. Following the other two, this did not disappoint. King Crab roll: I didn't particularly like this one. On the pricier side, it's different, but I'm not sure if it's for the better. I find the way to eat is to pour the butter over the roll (see video). Hamachi roll: it's sour bc of the yuzu. This Vaught me offguard, and I just...