Lampu Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar — Restaurant in Mount Dora

Extremely Unprofessional Experience – I Will No Longer Support This Business

I’ve ordered takeout from Lampu Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Bar in Mount Dora many times without issue, but after my recent experience, I will never support this business again. The level of rudeness and unprofessionalism from both the staff and management was unacceptable.

To begin, their posted Friday hours are 11:00 AM–2:00 PM and 4:00 PM–10:00 PM. At 9:30 PM, I called to place a takeout order and was told by the hostess that they stop taking orders over the phone at exactly 9:30. I asked if I could come in and order takeout since I live nearby, and she replied (with clear attitude) that they weren’t taking any more orders—except for dine-in. I asked to clarify: “So, if I come in and dine, you will seat me?” Her response: “We aren’t taking orders.” The tone was dismissive and rude.

Since I live less than three minutes away, I drove over to dine in. Upon arriving, I was greeted by two young hostesses I’ve seen many times before—one with black curly hair, one blonde. I asked to be seated, and the hostess with black hair said she needed to check. She loudly yelled across the dining area to ask the manager if they were still seating. The manager, an Asian woman, shouted back that they were not. I asked if the manager could come speak with me.

When she approached, I asked why the restaurant advertises being open until 10 PM if they stop seating and taking orders by 9:30 PM. She simply said, “That’s how we operate.” Another staff member—an Asian man cleaning nearby—interjected, saying many businesses do the same. I responded that if that’s the case, they should update their listed hours. Advertising one thing and operating another way is misleading and unprofessional.

I also pointed out that the hostess I spoke to earlier had an attitude over the phone, and that it’s not acceptable from someone whose role is to greet and assist customers. The hostess responded, “Sorry if you felt that way,” and claimed she wasn’t being rude. I explained that her tone was absolutely condescending—especially when she said, “We just aren’t taking any orders.”

As I left and was stepping out the door, I heard the blonde hostess yell, “NOW GET OUT OF HERE!!” I walked back in, shocked, only to find the staff laughing. I asked, “Really?” and the manager—who might even be the owner—dismissively said, “She was just kidding.” No apology, no accountability.

When I expressed how unprofessional their conduct was, the same man who had spoken earlier jumped back in and said, “Yeah, leave it in the review.” So here it is.

As much as I’ve enjoyed the food in the past, I cannot support a business that treats its customers with such blatant disrespect. Laughing at a customer and making comments before they even walk out the door is wildly unprofessional. There are plenty of great sushi places in the area that value their patrons and conduct business with integrity—I encourage everyone to support those...

I went to eat at this restaurant yesterday with my mother and grandmother, and got food poisoning. There are many things I could say about the food here, besides the food being bland, the fish being pre-frozen, the sashimi being cut wrong (with sashimi, this makes a huge difference), and the most appalling of all: raw chicken falling on top of our steak. I am a chef, and for all who don’t know, chicken needs to be cooked a lot longer than beef in order to kill any bacteria on it that can commonly cause salmonella food poisoning. While preparing our food, the hibachi cook dropped raw chicken onto our steak, and proceeded to handle the chicken and the steak with the same utensil, making the likelihood of transferring bacteria to the steak extremely elevated. Because of this, I did not eat the steak, but my mother did. Since yesterday, when we ate there, I have 100% gotten food poisoning, and she is experiencing similar symptoms. Though I did not eat the steak, the fact that they were more than comfortable with violating health code so blatantly in front of the customer leads me to believe that there may be many more food safety issues going on in back of house. This is especially important with raw fish, which I had, as it is not cooked to any degree in order to kill bacteria, and there are a number of bad practices that could lead to food poisoning because of this. I usually do not leave reviews unless I really liked a restaurant, but I felt a safety hazard to this degree more than warranted one. I will not be eating here again, and I hope you consider this before deciding to go...

So I bought food for my 2nd anniversary. Got it delivered and started to eat it. The rice was bland. The shrimp was overcook and the white sauce tasked like runny Mayo. So I call, speak to a guy name Kevin. Who claimed to be in charge at the moment because the manager/owner Charlene was not there. I attempted to kindly tell him my grievances but he cut me off. To add insult to injury and annoyance, Kevin attempted to insult me and say maybe you've never had hibachi before as if as if Lampu's box brown rice, rubber Shrimp and sweet runny mayo was some delicacy. Yes Kevin, I've had hibachi...Momji's actually. That's why I called you Kevin. I was wondering where my hibachi was. Knowing what I know now, you really think I would have chose Lampu's? It's Monday, and Momji's is closed. It's the only reason why I lost my mind and chose this restaurant. You literally ruined my anniversary. Who put you in charge? Because I need to speak with Charlene. If that's her name.. I mean what kind of customer service was that. I had to fight you Kevin for your bosses name! Charlene.. who's supposed to call me at 3:30 tomorrow. We will see Kevin. I offered to bring the food back, but he wouldn't take it. I mean I just wanted my money back. That's over $70. All I ask is my money back. I mean wow Kevin, even you know how awful the food is for not wanting it back. I guess I come back tomorrow with an update in part 2 on getting...