Kanpai of Japan — Restaurant in Hopewell

My wife and I frequent this restaurant often as it is our favorite place for hibachi. We were always treated nicely and not to mention the food is awesome. Well on Saturday Jan 3rd our perspective on this restaurant has changed. From the beginning it was a downward spiral. Our waitress was extremely rude and impatient. The chef in the beginning was good until he made a mistake by giving my wife sirloin instead of the filet that she had ordered. When the check came I brought this to waitress attention. She then must've went back to tell the chef about my complaint. When the chef returned to the table we explained to him what had happened and he tried to dispute it, but I guess some kind of consciousness set in and he agreed that he did make a mistake. To our surprise the chef came back to the table very argumentative and told us we had the nerve to complain when he gave us extra steak. I told him indeed you gave us extra steak but it was sirloin. That is like comparing a Benz to a Chevrolet 2 total opposites. So he continued on with his rant and after he was finished I asked for a manager. The manager arrived and we explained to him our situation and told him that we frequent here often and we understand that this was an honest mistake, but we weren't going to pay for filet if we did not have filet. The manager seemed very understanding and said that he would fix the check. Now originally the bill was $122 when he returned the check was $121. He explain that he took off the sirloin but uncharged us on the lobster $16. He explained that because they did not have a lobster combination with the sirloin he charged us lobster at market price. I was like SERIOUSLY!!! The chef made a mistake with the order and you're going to up charge for the lobster instead of discounted the check due to his negligence. The manager walked completely away with no cares of my complaint. With that being said they've lost a good paying and tipping customer. I spend at least $300 there a month there. We now have to find a new Hibachi spot... I will never return back to this place as it seem they have no desire of making sure their customer's are being satisfied and being provided with the best...

Everyone else in the family ate well. But my experience here was not well. At all.

I don’t consume animal products. No meat. No eggs. No dairy. Vegan. I came here a couple months ago with my family and I was nervous because I didn’t know what j could eat. The waitress calmed my nerves and said that my food would be prepared in the back and without animal products. Great right? Yes but...

I decided to come back today for a birthday dinner. Something small and something I knew my family would love it and it’s something we could eat together because the last time i was here they were accommodating. This time was different. When placing my order i told the waitress i would be getting hibachi veggies but I asked if my food could be prepared in the back and without eggs in my rice. She said that the oil it was prepared in was vegan but questioned why I needed it prepared in the back. I told her to avoid it getting mixed with the eggs or meat. She stated that the veggies and rice would be cooked first. I was a little annoyed with the response but I said okay. Then a few seconds later I mentioned that it was accommodated for the last time I was here. She said that since it was so busy, she’d have to ask. I’m thinking in my head “you have to ask to accommodate? Even when you’ve done it before? Yikes”

So fast forward. The chef is cooking our veggies and rice... and eggs are starting to be added to the rice. I was confused. I’m sitting here thinking “did the waitress not care that I don’t eat eggs?” ... “did she even ask if I can have my food prepared separately?” And during this time she walked by 2 times. I assumed my request was just completely ignored because she never updated me.

She soon brings out my rice. But get this. It’s steamed rice. Not stir fried like everyone else’s. Not like I ordered. Just steamed. I paid $14.95 before tax and tip for my own food. $14.95 for hibachi veggies and steamed white rice? Terrible.

1 star for the lack of communication, lack of accommodations, lack of quality service on my behalf. Sorry for...

Had been here a few times before and it is steadily going downhill. There was no hostess to seat guests so the manager was doing it. He asked us 3 times how many in our party, it was only 2. Stood there for about 20 minutes waiting with another lady who had 2 young children. It wasn't until a other group of 4 came in that we were seated.

While waiting we were to the scene of the female manager arguing with a female customer. Allegedly her waitress spill a drink on her air pods and she was very upset that they no longer worked. They honestly didn't seem to care about even making an attempt to compensate her and at one point mentioned the police.

After finally getting seated my wife asked for a sushi menu and was told bluntly by the female manager there was no sushi. Now bear in mind we had already looked at the full sushi menu online and the huge sign outside clearly says "Sushi". If you aren't serving sushi now or ever again then you should have some signage saying so. It is very confusing and disappointing to go to a sushi restaurant, wait 30 minutes, and find out there is no sushi. We got up and left before they came back for our order.

At this point it was almost 8pm. A Google search revealed there was a smaller Japanese Steakhouse across the street in a shopping center (Hokkaido Japanese Steakhouse). My expectations weren't high but it ended up being amazing. A chicken and filet meal was only $26 vs $32 at Kanpai. Plus you get way more food: soup, salad, vegetables, rice, noodles, 2 grilled shrimp, and your entree choice. Also they have a good selection of sushi and the option to sit at a non hibachi table.

After reading several other reviews on here with very similar experiences I have come to the conclusion that this place now is only concerned with maximizing profits and could care less about quality and customer service spend your money elsewhere like...