Yanagi Sushi & Grill Dublin — Restaurant in Dublin

This is a nice place for dinner. The service by the chef was outstanding. The food was tasty, and the show was super cute. We loved it, except for the first impressions. The signage had us roaming around the edge of the building trying to find an entryway- the paper signs in the windows were hard to see (I think fog or condensation was a factor on the main ones near the big sign). We happily entered and let the hostess know it was our first visit. I asked if they had a kid's menu, and she said yes and added a kid's menu to her stack of menus to bring us to the table. When we got to the table, she gave my husband and me a menu, looked at my 10-year-old directly, and asked her age in a demanding tone. Sadly, we live in a time when we must teach our kids to protect their privacy, so my daughter (who admittedly is tall for her age) looked like a deer in headlights. My husband gave her age, and the hostess gave us a pretty stern look as though we were lying to her and hastily passed over a kids' menu to him. After she had left, my daughter asked if she had done something wrong and why the hostess was so mean to us. We had to explain the dynamics happening, which is how we spent the first 15 mins at this new restaurant. It just left a bad taste for me. Why even question kids' ages? You are providing less food, which costs less; why does it matter? Anyway, we enjoyed the rest of the dinner and will return in hopes of not encountering a hostile hostess. Maybe she was having a bad day and that happens...

At first the receptionist ignored me while I’m standing there waiting for her to seat a large group, understand that she needs to prioritize. Then she came out after seated the group, again ignored me, no greeting no eye contact. Very rude. A server came out and told me to wait, I waited 5 minutes no sign of any one to take my to be order. In the meantime I saw from behind the counter Japanese curtain staff are tossing trash on the ground and wiping hands on stained cloth. Finally after 10 minutes a server came and asked me what I want. I said can I order to go please and she either couldn’t hear or just wanted to ignore me again. This place is dark inside and servers do not care to wear masks (which is not too much a big deal if they keep sanitization in mind but evidently they did not based on what I saw from behind...

Honestly, really disappointing. The service was nice, so no digs there. I just went back for the first time in probably five years. It's FILTHY inside. Like, everything is coated in grime. The sleeve for the menu started disintegrating onto my dish (black plastic flecks. Yuck!) We did the teppanyaki. It was pretty mediocre and I remember it being a lot better. At $33 a plate + tax & tip, not great at all. The whole entree felt cheap. Iceberg lettuce salad, uninteresting veggie assortment, etc. I'd say save your money. The sushi was pretty subpar as well, though the "sexy roll" was nicely presented.

Overall, I'd say skip it and go to Benihana. T Yanagi must have changed ownership or something. Definitely needs a deep clean and...