Watami — Restaurant in Sikeston

Had a bad experience. We usually really like this Watami but I doubt we'll be back for a while after last night's experience. I'm hoping the chef we had was just new because he really didn't have it together at all. First, he cooked the rice wrong to where it was both gummy and crunchy. (Which I just overlooked.) He was sweating profusely to the point sweat was dripping off of his nose and face while standing over the food cooking on the grill. He gave my steak to another person seated at the same grill as us. The other person was away from their seat so they weren't there to stop him. I had no clue what they ordered so once I realized there wasn't any more steak left, I spoke up. The chef kind of laughed and said oh I put it over there. It was almost like he was expecting me to go trade plates with a stranger to get my steak. He eventually went to the kitchen and got another steak only to rush cooking it and barely get the outside browned. I cut a piece open and showed him it was still rare. (I ordered medium well.) He apologized, took my plate, and dumped my steak back on the grill with everyone else's food. (I don't know the Health Dept guidelines but that seemed like a violation.) He didn't put anything on the vegetables at all so they were bland. He also cut down everyone's rice and vegetable portions because he kept putting food on an empty plate that no one was even sitting at. (It was not just extra that the other people ordered.) I will say the salad and soup was good other than the salad could've been chopped up better. I also want to add that my negative rating is in no way directed towards the young lady that was our waitress. She...

I entered front door alone and stood at host stand for about 5 minutes while 3 employees also stood there ignoring me. One woman was on the phone taking a to go order and 2 young men standing there waiting on her to ask questions. In the meantime, 2 other people enter and stand behind me to in the same general area. By the time lady on phone gets off (we're all waiting on her), she looks up and says, "party of 3?" No, no! I'm here on my own, not with them. So, apparently only one person is trained to seat customers and only she is allowed to greet customers, as the 2 guys didn't acknowledge my presence - incredibly bad first impression. I guess Missouri Health Department doesn't care if serving dishes are chipped. 2 of mine were chipped - the bowl the miso soup was in had a huge obvious chip and the little dish one mixes wasabi and soy in was chipped. This next part is a general complaint applicable anywhere - I wish parents would train kids not to screech in eardrum piercing screams in public places. There were 2 tables with 2 young kids doing exactly that. The food itself was good and decent, no complaints there. Waitstaff needs to be trained in table etiquette - such as not setting down the bill on a table full of dirty, unbussed dishes. My empty, chipped miso soup bowl sat on the table the whole entire meal - bad! When waiter came to set down bill he walked off not caring about my empty, dirty sushi plate. I gestured for him to take it away and he did, but I shouldn't have had to do that. Mediocrity reigns...

Ok. I’ll try to explain all my impressions about this place. First of all it looks great. Dark tones design and high quality furniture. They have a choice of bar seats, booths and tables. Wooden ceiling which Chinese style lamps hanging down. I’ve been visiting this place at lunch time and couldn’t see a lot of people. But the place has a lot of tables. I suggest they are busy in night time. Toilet room is designed as well. Looks clean. It includes hand blower and a paper towel dispenser what can mean they do not try to save money on minor things. Soap dispenser doesn’t fit a design and looks little farcically. I would recommend to the owner to replace and take at least dark one. A menu book has has the same dark tones design. I’ve been surprised because a choice of food was huge. Well, let’s taste it! I’ve ordered a seafood soup and Philadelphia roll. A soup smells real seafood and tastes well. A bowl is big enough as a starter but won’t feed you. After I killed it I switched to roll. Roll was no bad. Salmon and avocado were fresh. Service was fast and legit. My server was polite (she didn’t have a badge, Idk what’s her name). I’ve seen a bussgil was running and had done her job fast. In the end I would say I liked this place. I really enjoyed here. Would recommend to visit ant will visit myself again. PS. Prices surprised me, I spent $13. I’m sure...