Sora Japanese Cuisine & Sushi — Restaurant in Newark

Never before have I left a review, but a three hour flight delay and the questionable ethicality of Sora's gratuity system has compelled me to.

It seemed to be the best option in the terminal (others being Starbucks, vending machines, or standard fast food). It was unclear whether one should seat themself, but after a few minutes of waiting unnoticed I chose a small booth table and busied myself by writing postcards. I continued to sit unattended for around five minutes before fetching myself a menu. It was paired-down and a little overpriced, but overall standard for airport fare. Ten minutes in I still had not received so much as a glass of water.

I ordered the tempura udon, which seemed substantial, with a much better CPD (calorie per dollar) than sushi. It came swiftly enough, and the portion was sizable. I found it strange that they immersed tempura shrimp in broth (I had assumed it would be on the side) but I guess that's what I ordered. I was ravenous, and the meal was more than satisfactory-- until the check arrived.

I typically tip 20% for average service, but made a mental note to only put forth 10% due to the blasé waitstaff. Unfortunately, I didn't have any say in the matter. I paid my bill, which outlined my meal and NJ food tax, and totaled $23.45. When the waitress (whose attitude was laissez faire at best) returned the bill, it stated that I'd been charged $27.41-- nearly four more dollars than I'd expected.

When I inquired about the extra charge, the woman obstinately claimed that it was "the system." I brought this up with another waitress but her reasoning was similarly insufficient. Their replies to my claim that unannounced gratuity was exploitive were flimsy. Maybe they're just cogs in the machine, but they're knowingly part of a smarmy system. I was indignant, but not alone-- this appears to be a complaint from many.

Ultimately I didn't want to go full-on Karen so I cut my losses (only two dollars if you factor in the tip I would have left) and decided to leave this review as a form of catharsis. The following lessons were imparted by the udon:

1.) Flying on budget airlines comes at a cost (time, money, and being heckled incessantly about various upgrades). 2.) Read your receipts! 3.) Cash is king.

Unfortunately, this establishment will continue to dupe hungry and unsuspecting travelers for there will always be people like myself who merely assessed the options at their face value.

To add insult to injury, the eggs...

This was definitely the worst breakfast experience I’ve ever had. It was so bad it was hilarious. We walked in to snag some breakfast before a flight, sat and waited about 10 minutes before we were greeted (there were only two other tables at the time). Got our drinks ordered and when the server came back with them, we placed our orders only to be informed that they didn’t have any eggs and that we could pretty much only get pancakes or french toast with a protein. That’s cool. It happens. We both order french toast, bacon and potatoes.

About 10 minutes go by and the server brings out our side of potatoes... and that’s it. So we eat them because we don’t want them to get cold and we’re starved. Fifteen minutes go by and she brings out the french toast and bacon, only we’re missing syrup and an order of bacon. I bite into my french toast to check if maybe they put the syrup on already only to discover that not only was there no syrup on there, the toast was colder than all get out. It takes about another 10 minutes to flag down the server to explain that we never got the syrup or the extra bacon and that our food was cold.

She offers to reheat the food but by this point we just want to leave so we ask if we can pay for our potatoes and go. She leaves to confirm with the manager (who isn’t there at the restaurant) about taking the french toast off, about 5 minutes later she comes back explaining that the manager will take of the toast but we’d still have to pay for the bacon we had waited on. Total joke. We explained that wasn’t going to happen and finally got our ticket...

Had about 50 minutes to spare before my flight and thought I’d get a quick bite to eat and a breakfast cocktail. The woman behind the food to go counter greeted me and was very kind, told me I could sit anywhere. Sat down and no one brought me a menu so I grabbed them myself- one for breakfast and one for cocktails. The server comes up to me and before she says good morning or hello or any sort of greeting, she pulls one of the menus out of my hand and says I want to make sure you have the right menu. Don’t really love people taking things out of my hand- she could have just asked for the menu she wanted and I would have simply given it to her. I look over the breakfast menu I still had for quick items. Asked what options they have for toast-only white. I’m personally not a fan so I asked for the bagel and cream cheese option instead but they don’t have any available this morning. Nothing else food wise was appealing so I just ask for a Bloody Mary. They don’t make them till 9am. So I just said thank you and left. Unfortunately, it is the only place to eat in Newark’s terminal B. All other options are those pre-made sandwich type places. Despite this, I still wouldn’t go there. What is the point of having the only sit down place in a terminal with a already limited breakfast menu and missing items from it on...