Domo Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar — Restaurant in Florida

We had contemplated Domo once or twice before, but the previous Yelp reviews scared us off. However, our daughter insisted we try this Japanese Steakhouse and thus, we gave it a whirl. With no other Yelp review since July, we figured maybe it's gotten better since people's previous experiences? (!?)

Final verdict: we regret every penny spent.

One server to the sushi bar area, about 5 tables sat down in 5 minutes time. 10+ years in the service industry and I know this is no bueno. She did get back up help....eventually. And for the record, we do not fault her for this aka - we still tip 20%. But I watched other tables get up and help themselves to to-go boxes and bags and we sent our daughter up to the sushi bar for bowl in which I could mix wasabi & ginger.

I had plum wine; it was sweet as it usually is but tasted cheap. $4/glass may have been a more appropriate cost than the $7 menu price.

I love ginger dressing and each place has its own version - this ginger dressing, I did not like. My daughter also likes ginger dressing but saw it and said "that looks like barf." Please know she rarely speaks about food this way, if ever, so that was comical....but she was right. Yuck.

The soup bowl was half full. At first I was totally disappointed with the serving size but after trying it, I dumped it into my daughter's bowl. There was little to no taste - tasting as though it was watered down to produce more soup and make it last longer. (aka save money)

We ordered steamed gyoza - they were filled with water. As though instead of being steamed, they had been boiled. The sauce served with it did not compliment it well.

We ordered the spicy tuna roll which was said to be served with scallions (I love scallions)....but no scallions on the roll. 6 pieces of sushi; and it was just okay. Not life changing like Bento's sushi.

We waited almost 50 minutes for our main entrees after ordering them. While we did not sit at a hibachi table, that was what we ordered as that's really all Domo offers. Sushi or Teppanyaki. I ordered filet & shrimp, my hubs got steak (sirloin, I think) & scallops, our daughter got chicken. All our food arrived cold. Literally, all of it - the rice, veggies, & meat.

The fried rice contained neither eggs nor vegetables. And you know when rice sits out for a while and gets crunchy? That's how ours was. As though it wasn't freshly cooked but just sitting out. The vegetables consistently of zucchini, mushrooms, and onions. These too tasted as though they were not freshly prepared. As though they had been cooked prior and then remained on the stove top, and thus became overcooked. The zucchini soggy and the medley overall lacking flavor.

The filet was cooked correctly and seemingly of good quality. However, there was very little steak. Not near enough the amount one would expect for a $25 meal.

The shrimp were of okay quality.

The scallops were thin - appearing as though each scallop had been cut in half so that one scallop, cut in half, could be passed off as 2 scallops.....y'all catching on to this theme I picked up on last night?

I didn't try the chicken...can't speak on that.

The meals were also served with noodles but I did not try those.

So! $90 + tip + one huge regret that...

Having been here before, we were surprised to see how few people were here on a Saturday night. Upon sitting down at a table, we were very quickly the only table occupied as the other two tables left right after we were seated. After being greeted and looking over the menu, we ordered 2 appetizers, hibachi for one person's entree and sushi (entree) for the other two people in our party. To begin with, the server forgot one person's soup. When she returned, she brought the sushi entrees which ended up being the wrong order. When we flagged her down she insisted that we received what we ordered and pointed to what was written down. I explained that what was written was correct, the sushi was not. No big deal, people make mistakes. The sushi was corrected and was nearly gone when the appetizers come out. We asked for individual plates and were told that they don't do that. Excuse me? Taken aback, I still remained polite and explained that individual plates for sushi and appetizers has always been provided in the past. The appetizer orders were also messed up; one was cold, the other missing the sauce that always accompanies it. When we asked for the sauce she gave us attitude and responded by slamming three stacked plates down on the table. We decided then to cancel the first person's hibachi and go elsewhere. When she returned with the appetizer dipping sauce we asked to cancel the hibachi and get the check. Her smug response was that it was already made and that we have to pay for it. We asked for the manager. The manager was sweet and sympathetic but merely offered to remake food which was not really the big issue here. She brought boxes and promised a check. After waiting for about 10 minutes we went to the front and asked for a check. Our server was whining to coworkers that we asked for too much. How classy. She brought us our check as we stood there, WITH the hibachi on the check that we had canceled. We rejected the check and asked her to remove the hibachi. Rolling her eyes and huffing, she went over to the manager who removed it. We left a $2 tip which was probably too generous for such horrible treatment, I've never tipped lower that 20% but this girl definitely didn't deserve even the $2 She received. I'm not surprised that this restaurant is losing business, we will...

To the person who claimed they were the "Manager."

Hi. You may remember me as someone who tried to be a customer during a busy work day. Earlier that afternoon, my brother tried to make a reservation, of which he was told, "You don't make reservations."

Fine, we'll play by your rules. We show up, we are in the queue. Two completely separate parties come in and get seated before us. But wait, didn't your staff say there's no reservations?

Enter, "The Manager," a young looking man that doesn't seem to be any older than a college student. My mother asks if he's the manager, and he responds with yes. "The Manager" proceeds to explain that reservations are made in advance, not same day. After further questioning, my mom can't help but ask, once again, "Are you sure you're the manager?" The response? No confidence, just threw his hands up in the air, "I guess she doesn't believe I'm the manager. No, you're being disrespectful."

Yeah, no. That's not going to fly here chief. We're disrespectful? We didn't raise a ruckus. We played by your rules and waited by standing in the lobby for our turn to be seated. When it came down to it, we were lied to about reservations and find any further action you make questionable. If this is supposed to be the best Japanese steakhouse in Jacksonville, this young man certainly isn't helping it.

So, if you enjoy Domo, please continue to do so. Don't let my negative review dissuade you from enjoying your usual experience.

If you were actually the manager, my thoughts still stand. You're essentially the face of Domo and are expected to be held to a higher standard. If you act like that to someone that wasn't even irate, you're in for a world of hurt when a REAL ornery customer comes in.

And if the actual manager reads this, feel free to respond to this review for any clarification. Your front desk receptionist did great, it's just this alleged "Manager" that ruined my brother's...