Shiki — Restaurant in Seattle

I had one of the most infuriating dining experiences at Shiki tonight.

We ordered the uni nigiri — four pieces for four people. The first person ate theirs and said it was fine. I was the second, and the moment I bit into mine, I immediately knew something was wrong. It reeked — unmistakably rotten. I had to spit it out right away, and the disgusting taste lingered in my mouth for hours.

We told the server, who said he’d speak with the owner. But instead of acknowledging the issue, he came back saying “the owner thinks it’s fine”, and he himself ate one of the remaining pieces and claimed it was okay — so they refused to comp it.

Are you kidding me?

I’ve eaten uni more times than I can count. I’ve even cleaned and prepared it myself. I know when it’s gone bad. I had no reason to lie — everything else we ordered that night was great. I wasn’t looking for a free ride. But when something is clearly spoiled, shouldn’t the customer’s experience be the standard?

Here’s the cherry on top: after I stood my ground and explained all of this, they finally agreed to take off the price of my piece — the one I actually bit into and spat out. But the other two pieces, which my friends were too disgusted and scared to eat after what happened? They refused to remove those from the bill. WTF.

So in Shiki’s world, as long as they think it’s fine, it doesn’t matter how bad it was for the customer. I left angry, disappointed, and with the taste of rotten uni still in my mouth....

If I could rate for zero star, I will do so. The service here has been a joke. I would never come again and would not any of my friend to come.

I walked into the restaurant for seating on a Saturday night, standing at the front of the restaurant for 40 min with no one coming over saying even a word (although all the waiters clearly spotted me a couple of times, but they chose not talking to me with no reason). After waiting for 40 min, I was only been told that they don’t accept any more walk in on this date.

I said you can just tell me up front with a few seconds and this don’t have to have me wait for such a long time at a Saturday evening. The waiter just said I’m terribly sorry, but without explaining anything why he did not communicate with me upfront. He also ‘kindly’ mentioned that you can make reservation 24hr before. However, I did try calling in beforehand a couple of times to see if can make reservations, but never got answered. The waiter said they were just being too busy. So what’s the point when you always ask for reservations, no one ever answering the call simply because being busy all the time and being indifferent with your customer? It’s simply a...

Shiki is a small Japanese restaurant at the foot of Queen Anne. They offer a variety of Japanese dishes made with local ingredients.

Reservations are most likely required for dining here. The restaurant was small and this place is quite popular. We were seated almost immediately upon arriving on our reserved time. The staff were very friendly and their service was good.

I got the Chicken Katsu combo and while it came out a bit cold, they reheated it for me. Even then, I thought that it was okay. The California roll that came with it was good though. My partner did say that their Eel and Spicy Tuna Sushi were great, though!

I also ordered Karaage for appetizers but they forgot to serve it. They apologized for it and made sure to remove it from our bill.

I personally haven't checked, but I think they have a restroom inside the restaurant. They have dedicated parking on the other end of the block (corner of W Roy St & 1st Ave W).

Overall, I think that it's a bit pricey for the taste but I think it's a good place and I'm glad to have tried it out. I would suggest that if you want to try out this place, consider focusing on...