Jae's Asian Bistro & Sushi — Restaurant in Seattle

If Google reviews allowed 0.5 stars, I would give this restaurant 3.5 stars.

We came here because we don't often go east past Capitol Hill, and we wanted to try something new. This place had great ratings overall (4.7 at time of writing) and the photos displayed in the reviews were fancy (mostly provided by the restaurant), so we decided to come here.

We ordered the Jae's Bento Box and Udon soup. I enjoyed the dining decor and how the food was presented. I also liked how their menu had a variety of Asian dishes to choose from. The food we had was okay though, pretty basic and nothing extraordinary; perhaps we ordered the wrong things.

The service could definitely be improved though. When the waiter brought us our Udon and took off the lid, the tempura stuck on the lid for a bit, then fell on the table. Not a problem as the waiter apologized, but instead of offering a replacement, he picked it up with his bare hands and placed it back into the bowl. We didn't complain about it, but found that peculiar.

At the end of our meal, the waiter wasn't really attentive, so we sat there for a while. Interestingly, we were the only diners in the restaurant at the time, and there were at least two waiters idle (saw them on their phones). We finally decided to head to the front to pay and that's when he finally brought us our bill. Sort of expected a small discount for the service, but again did not make a scene out of it.

Overall, since the food was meh, and the service was bleh, for a total of $60 for the two entrees we tried, I don't think we would...

I really enjoyed Jae’s, especially the conversation I had with the chef behind the sushi bar (I failed to catch his name, unfortunately). A little on the pricey side but I thought the miso soup was delicious to start, and the size of the salmon bento box surprised me, perhaps only because I’d never ordered a one before. It was pretty big! The salmon was well cooked, the rice was perfect, tempura yummy, and I think my favorite ended up being the gyoza, it was a must try. The waiter was a little new and that showed in knowledgeability but they took direction from the other staff well and were very kind. I housed every last bite of my meal and then really struggled to walk my full belly back up Thomas to where I was staying lol. Overall I had a really nice dine-in experience and...

I went to dine alone and sat at the bar, as soon as I walked in all the staff was super friendly and Jae himself was preparing food while telling me about his menu! I ordered the JC roll, which was named after his friends and as luck would have it— I was sitting next to J and C at the bar! (I won’t list their full names lol) They were super friendly as well! I also ordered the agadashi tofu as an Appetizer, which was truly out of this world and the best I’d ever had! I also ordered a hand roll to try and I loved that this was an option so I didn’t have to order an entire roll just to try it. Since going I have also heard the dumplings are fantastic and I can’t wait to come back...