Kai Sushi & Sake Bar — Restaurant in Raleigh

Do not come here for service or accuracy of your order! Service is NOT knowledgeable and extremely lackadaisical. Seems that you're bothering half of them by being there. Wonder if the managers or owners know???

We've ordered to-go food from here for the past 6 weeks in a row--every single time (but one) there has been a major mistake or problem. We spend an average of $110-$150 each visit on sashimi mainly, nigiri, and 1-2 rolls.

The bar is small and the togo area seems a bit in the way of the servers.

-One time we never got any soy sauce and we were moving that weekend so we had NOTHING in our house or fridge so we had to go back. -One time they forgot two of the sashimi because the order was large and the girl checking the food seemed to be lacking in knowledge of what was in the boxes. -One time we ordered tobiko roe (the small fish eggs) and got salmon roe (the large ones), even though we SPECIFICALLY said which ones and confirmed she heard us. -One time we asked for extra ginger and wasabi and got none of either. -This last time (Saturday), we asked for extra wasabi and ginger. I didn't check the boxes but I made sure to ask for even more ginger. She put some in a box. When I got home I realized that was all we had---had I not asked for even more ginger for the second time, we would've received NO ginger and NO wasabi. ALSO, I noticed one of the tuna was significantly less than the others and what we typically get. Their reply was 'some sashimi is cut differently'....... -Also, not wrong related to our food, but when I got there this past time, a young boy working there was so infatuated with the girls waiting on their food order he completely forgot anything else he was there to do, completely ignored me, was in the way of the other girls actually working, and to be honest, the girls didn't seem that interested in him in the first place.

We live less than 2 miles from here and called extremely upset about this. I asked if someone would bring some wasabi because it was the 100th time they messed up and my husband cannot eat it without wasabi. The girl on the phone was shocked/stunned I was even asking. She said, 'you want us to drive all the way there (mind you it's 2 miles) for wasabi?' I said yes, and with a huge attitude she said 'we can't do that, so are you going to come get it or not?' I drove there to get it so he could actually eat the $120 worth of food we just ordered. I walked in furious but didn't say anything. I had hoped a manager would have been told about this instance and was waiting for me....but that didn't happen. The young boy mentioned earlier was holding the wasabi out in front of him, didn't say a word, and looked at me like I did something wrong. I spoke with the hostess/togo person and asked to speak to the manager. Rachel got on the phone very unprofessionally as well. She seemed surprised I cared that much about wasabi, when in fact, I have given this place chance after chance and seem disappointed every time. And their food isn't bad, when it's right---that's been the only reason we've gone back so many times. Rachel said she didn't take our order. I told her what happened. She seemed like she had better things to do. I asked her to take my name and number down and have the General Manager or Owner contact me asap. She said ok, probably never taking my name or number. I asked who would be calling me back and she said 'I don't know', I asked if she knew who the GM or owner was, she said yes but that she didn't know who'd be calling me back. That was Sunday and it's now end of night Wednesday and I have yet to hear back from anyone.

Extremely disappointed in this place. The service is and always has been terrible relating to the to-go aspect at least. I plan on reviewing on every social media possible and spreading the word about this place until I hear back from someone that actually cares or can...

Jeckyl and Hyde

In house the Hibachi Shrimp ($18) was GREAT. I asked for no rice, it was not a problem. Lots assorted delicious vegetables to replace those carbs. My girlfriend got sushi, everything was really good. FAST FORWARD 3 weeks later...dont really feel like going out, but the girlfriend wanted sushi and so we decided to order out from Kai. Tried a couple different rolls, and aske for the Hibachi Shrimp same way as last time, only this time...things were different.

The Good: the sushi was still delicious and the customer service was a pleasure same as the last time.

The Bad: for one thing the lid on the miso soup was not all the way on so everything in the bag had a generous miso glaze if you will, honest mistake though, if not a but of carelessness

the thing that really bothered me was my Hibachi Shrimp. First of all the veggies were RAW and my shrimp were overcooked to the point of being almost grainy. The veg, on top of being raw was (no exaggeration) literally 1 mushroom slice, 3-4 pieces of broccoli, 3-4 pieces of zucchini, 3 carrot slices, and about a pound and a half of white onion. Again, all mostly raw, some pieces were cook more than others so...inconsistent at BEST, and honestly just not enjoyable.

I have worked in restaurants for decades, I get it, you’re tired, you’re low on ingredients, whatever, but ppl are still paying money ($18 let me remind you) when they could easily spend that money somewhere else. If you don’t have the ingredients, inform the customer, maybe they want something else. There’s no excuse,however, for poor craftsmanship in the kitchen. Thats just lazy. Shame on the chef that worked the night of Sept. 21. 2018. Find your passion for food and get back in the kitchen. Until then, stay...

4 out of 5 stars for food, near 0 for service. My wife and I had dinner here around 7 PM tonight (8/9/2020) and had a server who was either brand new to the job or just very, very bad at it. I asked for water with no ice, she brought ice water. She said she'd bring edamame, then didn't for 10 minutes 'til I had to ask for it and her response was "oh I just put some in, someone took mine." That's cool, but the negligence and mistakes kept on coming. She brings the sushi, but the dish is incomplete and she has to bring out the rest separately a few minutes. She also didn't bring the small white dishes for serving soy sauce. This I also had to remind her of. There was no pre-bussing of the soup bowls despite coming over several times. After receiving the meal, there was no check-in at all, we just finished it then stacked our dishes up neatly and waited. Finally I had to go ask for a box and the check and this is where it really got bad. Instead of getting that box and check right away. She proceeds to a table to remove the dishes, goes back to the kitchen, comes back out to clean the table, goes back to the kitchen, comes out and greets guests at the front door and ONLY THEN does she come back with a box and the check. Instead of leaving the table with a stack of dishes, she just leaves the table, with 0 pre-bussing or attempt to make for a tidy table (which by the way makes it easier for her later). I waited tables for years and I get it if you're in the weeds, get triple-sat or something else but I observed none of those things in the long time we sat waiting for things. Last time the service was just slow, but not riddled with mistakes. I won't be...