Kai after Dark — Restaurant in Springfield

I arrived at Kai roughly 9pm last night with a group of four, one of us were celebrating a birthday and the other a graduation from a Masters program. We brought a $50 cake to eat at the end as we have done to celebrate many times before, at Cheddar's, Apple Bee's etc. The wait was awful, even after having a reservation. It took 30 minutes to get drinks, the waitress was sweet but you could tell the place was HIGHLY understaffed. Seemed like every other table needed to be cleaned off. After about an hour and a half of being there we finally got our food. I was absolutely starved. About the food ; The sushi rolls were sub par. Collectively we got 2 steaks, a California roll and a Miami vice roll, and french fries. Both sushi rolls tasted like they were picked out of a super market the day before, and the steaks were dry. This establishment doesn't even have A1 for their dry steaks! Not any steak sauce at all besides a horrible cherry syrup that tastes awful. (bring your own steak sauce) At this point we were just trying to make it through the dinner. We got through got the check and asked for our cake - the waitress kinda bumbled her words, indicating that the cake had been "tossed around, or mishandled" and couldn't be taken out of the box. After 3 more staff members stopped by in an attempt to convince us that it was our fault the cake was ruined - which we did not fall for - finally who I assume was the manager on duty came to our table. The most 'professional' person in the building - the one supposed to be in charge of hospitality of the business - came to our table out of no where without request, to confront the four of us. Rudely and straight up lying through her teeth, we were told that we brought in a smashed cake. We were told it was "OUR fault." Their staff has "NEVER messed anything up ". also that "NO other restaurant allows patrons to bring in cakes", to someone who is a mother, a father, a business owner like we don't know how the world works.

Very disappointing in this visit to Kai. Will not...

Where to begin...I’m really torn as I write this. I happened upon this spot as I was in there area and needing some dinner. After glancing at their menu and noticing the Star Wars roll I decided I needed to jump in! That roll by description spoke to my soul and I needed to experience it. I also love me a good Korean short rib which is on the appetizer menu to confirm my decision. After speaking to the extremely friendly and polite bar tender she reassured me that the Star Wars roll was def the way to go and when asked about portion sizes she said the short ribs were a good portion and so I opted for the full order at $20. Before I continue about the food let’s pause for a moment so I can brief you on the ambiance. The place was warm and social and I really enjoyed the feel of hanging out at the bar with several TVs on the back drop...ok ok back to the food. So I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of my meal and from the jump I started to get concerned. The roll showed up first and for having crab, shrimp, eel, roe, skin in it I was really hoping for a much more appealing presentation but as you can see it was just a...sushi roll. Now in this case looks were deceiving as the roll did in fact taste every bit as good as I had hoped and then some but for a $19 roll I also kinda assumed it would be a bit larger than a typical any roll. Next up was the short ribs conveniently delivered under a clay lid. After lifting it I understood why. For a full serving at $20 I was severely disappointed. Not just in the size of the portion for the cost but the flavor was practically impossible to savor given the size of each bite/rib. For value I would not recommend ordering this item and it’s hard for me to give a true review of flavor with such a small opportunity. Now through my meal I was still hungry and ordered up some unagi sashimi and masago sushi to cap off my night. They were delightful and fresh in flavor but hard to get over my short...

Host greeted us promptly, polite/friendly, showed us to our table upstairs. Dirty plate on table... Swapped with next table's plate.

Ordered a Sushi roll and the Tempura shrimp ( lightly fried with veggies). Ordered 2 cocktails. which showed up long after our appetizers. Not impressed. The order delivered was the sushi roll version of the tempura shrimp, not the hot appetizer. Advised the waitress that i had ordered the hot version. Her response, do you want to place an order for that? I said yes, if you will take this sushi version back. Her response "no, I cannot do that. Sorry I should have asked you which type you wanted." Not the most professional response. Sushi rolls- appealing presentation. Seaweed not so appealing.

Our drinks: nice pour of wine and delicious, beautiful cocktail (Raspberry Mojito).

Pan seared scallops with mushrooms/ asparagus. Sauce was flavorful as was the asparagus. Do you know the expression "eat dirt?" That is what it was like eating the unrinsed scallops; like chewing rocks. Spring Rolls found - A HAIR! Big Fat and not our color / length. Baked INTO the roll. Showed it to waitress and also advised about the unwashed scallops. Manager explained " that was not staff's hair because we order the Spring Rolls in fully prepared and only heat them up". She offered a replacement of anything on the menu. Who wants to order anything else to eat from a restaurant that doesn't even make their own food, serves food with hair inside, serves unrinsed scallops, and uses dirty plates? We declined. She provided a dessert and took those 2 items off the bill. Very disappointed that a high-end restaurant serves frozen prepackaged food, and uses low quality seaweed with unpleasant smell. Poor quality sushi is available @ cheaper options anywhere in Springfield, no need to go to...