Little Tokyo — Restaurant in Norwalk

I feel compelled to speak up in response to those who complain that the service at Little Tokyo is substandard.

People who don’t understand differences in speech and grammatical patterns between Mandarin/ Cantonese/Japanese/Asian cultures think that an abrupt speech pattern is rudeness. For instance, what appears to be abrupt, direct speech is actually a function of grammar structure in certain dialects like Cantonese. Go down to Chinatown in Manhattan or Flushing, Queens, and you’ll hear many examples of colloquial Cantonese that sounds abrupt because the speech consists of nouns and verbs and few connecting consonants. They also seem to be yelling and every interaction, even ordering from a menu, involves much negotiating and argument!

Apart from those linguistic differences, there is also a bigger issue with respect to expectations of “service” in a restaurant. Often service that is prompt, and efficient is downgraded because it appears that the waitperson fails to ingratiate himself in order to flatter the egos of the customers. That is degrading. I have often found that those same people are also disappointed with service in Europe when dining out in restaurants. Servers in Europe are paid a living wage. They do not depend on the customers’ whim to earn a wage from tips. They’re actually paid a living wage to do their job and they do it well. The waitstaff are efficient, hard working, and cordial, but not in the least obsequious.

It is an American peculiarity that restaurants on this side of the “pond” expect restaurant customers to subsidize the employees’ wages. Europeans only tip if they want to do so to acknowledge extraordinary service. They are not expected to do so. Thus, one is not expected to tip.

In this country, tips are not only expected- even for bad service, but are mandatory in order to subsidize the wages of employees so that employers can comply with the requirements of the laws of minimum wage. I find this peculiar American demand for obsequiousness from a server as a gauge of good service is directly linked to the employers’ failure to pay them a decent living wage. The onus is on the customer to subsidize the waitstaff wages. This allows the patron to make unreasonable demands and have unrealistic expectations of what is deemed good “service” justifying a tip.

Also why should customers who are already paying higher prices due to inflation be expected to subsidize the wages of waitstaff? Isn’t it already covered by overhead and profit built into the pricing? No wonder many are balking at higher menu prices and expectations of higher tips.

Having got that out of the way, let me speak to the food and the service of Little Tokyo. The fish is fresh, varied, and relatively inexpensive in view of the quality. For example, any restaurant who always has Uni available every day is amazing. Most restaurants are always “out” of uni even though it’s listed on the menu. Why don’t they stock it? It is very expensive to do so. Uni has to be fresh, and does not freeze well at all. Hence restaurants cannot stock extended quantities of uni if the clientele are not in the habit of ordering them every week.

At Little Tokyo, there is always uni available every day. That is a benchmark of the freshness of their fish and a litmus test. Their loyal clientele order vast quantities every week so that there is always a fast turnover of their fish.

As for the service ? Henry, who speaks Cantonese fluently, has been the manager there for 20 + years. He is always welcoming and remembers all his regulars. There are no complaints ever regarding his attentive service except from those whose expectations go beyond friendly efficiency and prompt, dependable service.

All I can say is that those who complain about Little Tokyo are clearly NOT regulars. They do not appreciate the fresh quality of the fish, and they expect a level of service that is beyond what is expected of the dignity which is rightfully...

When friends and I had dinner here last night, the experience was a nightmare. First the owner slapped plastic encased menus down in front of us, then marched away without so much as a smile or a welcoming greeting. When we ordered, we asked for separate checks - no problem - but wait, there's more to come. When part of the meal was served before the appetizer, I was snapped at when I asked about it. At the end of the meal, the waitress appeared with a piece of paper with our separate orders listed on it in her handwriting, and with each order totaled. So far so good. However, when one of our party saw that she was charged an amount that was higher than the menu stated, warfare began - the waitress angrily said that her numbers were correct. When asked to provide the plastic menu, she became more agitated, went back to the manager, screaming about our request, (we were seated in the front of the restaurant - she was in the back and we could still hear her) but returned with that menu, followed shortly thereafter by the manager. Turns out she was going by a paper menu - it showed prices had increased across the board but the plastic menu hadn't been updated yet. She insisted that the paper prices were now in effect. When we politely and quietly said they had to honor the prices given to us, the owner YELLED at us and told us that if we didn't like it, we were not to return. The waitress then angrily scratched out the prices and put in those from the plastic menu. The result was a mess and indecipherable. The final separate machine-printed invoices didn't list our purchases or the tax - just a total. Since tax wasn't itemized, I have to wonder whether taxes were paid to the state on that transaction. At no time were any of us rude to them, nor did we raise our voices. A horrific experience. We'd eaten there before. ...

Aweful!! Let me just start by saying my mother and I have been going to this establishment since I was a little girl. ( I am now 29) still going. But not after this last experience. I generally am easy going but this was disgusting the high chair they brought out for my daughter was gross it looked like it hadnt been washed in years. They also did not bring us menus or tell us the specials. While others were treated better. Finally aftwr they gave us the menu it took 30 mins for them to stop long enough to get our order. When I was a waitress I was taught always help the families with small children to keep the kids from crying and disterbing the other customers because they were hungry. Our food came out late and my mothers came out before mine which I would not have minded but I am type 1 diabetic and I had already taken insulin to cover my food when I saw the food come out. So I waited while my sugar was dropping and the owner and server were walking around with a large grin. Now I hope they read this and learn from their mistakes. I like to be treated respectfully especially if I am paying money... When we left I asked them to wrap my rice for my daughter- the server wrapped it but didnt bag it and put is on tge corner of the table and said "here". We as a family work hard for our money and if we are going to spend it it should not feel wasted. This dinner was a waste the food was ok.. And ther service was pathetic. Drive and extra 10 mins to stamford and get good food and better treatment at an establishment there. Sorry Little Tokyo but you have...