Wind Japanese & Thai — Restaurant in Town of Amherst

I found out about this restaurant over a month ago while driving past and was very excited when I looked into what they would offer once it opened. I originally planned to take my parents there but ended up going with a friend of mine on their opening week. Monday night specifically.

For a Monday night it was shockingly busy. I imagine that will change over time as it becomes less of a novelty.

The restaurant itself is very nice with a good ambiance. A minor note is that the bathrooms were pretty small which isn't a big deal but still struck me as odd since I had to wait in line. Not a big deal if it wasn't so busy.

The food we received was also very good in my opinion. I am not a huge sushi fan since I am a vegetarian but basically everything I tried was delicious and my friend said the meat and fish was great. Lots of vegetarian options though.

However, everything isn't perfect. My main problem is the ordering process. Maybe it will change but as of now, we ordered by adding various dishes to a cart on an ipad at the table but then a server waiter would need to come to us to actually submit the order. Which is bizarre to me. Why can't we just submit the order ourselves? It discouraged us from placing small orders in favor of making large orders since we never knew how long it would take a waiter to stop by. Perhaps they don't want small orders and that is by design but the end result was wasted food since my friend wasn't able to eat everything in his last order. That wouldn't have happened if he was more comfortable with ordering small things over time.

It look the waitress three stops at our table before we even got our water. We asked for more wasabi and ginger but never received it. Plates would stack up for a prolonged period of time as well since the workers that were collecting them just didn't have the space to take everything. One even apologized for that on two occasions but it was still a weird inconvenience to have three large sushi plates dominating the center of our table for half the time we were there. I just don't think they had enough staff on hand for how busy it was

Food prep time was inconsistent. Sometimes a dish would come out within five minutes, but then the same dish would take over 20. Sometimes a server would deliver the food and sometimes it was a robot. At the end, we ordered ice cream and it never showed up. We had to ask about it directly and then remind her before a second server came over to specifically ask what flavors we wanted.

I have never been to Wind in Canada but looking online, their menus seem a bit more expansive. Especially for dessert and non-sushi dishes like dim sum and stir fries. Taking exchange rate into account, they are also almost 25% cheaper in Niagara Falls. It is just odd that they took the $40 Canadian price and use the the same value in America without taking exchange rate into account as if nobody would notice. That 25% makes a big difference to me honestly, and $30 seemed like a better price for what I experienced. However, I am no restaurant logistics expert so maybe there is a good reason for that and I shouldn't take it in bad faith.

They had a 10% off deal for the first week but we actually had to remind them of it when receiving the checks even though it was the staff that told us about it at the start of the meal! It makes me wonder how many customers didn't end up getting that 10% off this week.

At the time of writing this (5/9/23) the website does not have the dine-in menu posted or the prices easily available. They had the menu there before they opened so I am unsure why it was removed.

Overall I would say I enjoyed going to Wind, but I certainly don't feel it was worth the money for the current experience. I've told a few people about it and their enthusiasm to go also disappeared. My parents have no desire to go anymore. I think most of my issues would be resolved if they had more staff/it was less busy. However that still leaves the price and weird ordering process.

Good food, but just not really worth going...

Review of The Wind Japanese & Thai Restaurant, Buffalo – A Modern Dining Experience with a Touch of Technology

Our visit to The Wind Japanese & Thai Restaurant in Buffalo on Saturday evening turned out to be quite an experience, combining excitement, curiosity, and a few lessons for the future. We went there for dinner without any prior reservation, unaware of how incredibly popular the place had become during weekends. When we arrived around 5:30 PM, the restaurant was already buzzing with activity. The reception staff informed us that due to the heavy rush, there would be a waiting time until around 8:00 or even 8:30 PM. That alone showed how much people love dining here.

The first impression of the restaurant was excellent. The ambience was modern, lively, and beautifully lit, giving off a cozy yet vibrant atmosphere. The interiors had a neat and elegant Japanese-Thai fusion feel, with wooden décor, dim lighting, and well-arranged tables. The aroma of freshly prepared sushi, soups, and stir-fried dishes filled the air, making the wait outside even more tempting. Though we could not get a table immediately, observing the place gave us a good idea of its energy and charm.

One of the most fascinating features we noticed was the robot waiter moving around and serving dishes to guests. It was a delightful blend of technology and hospitality, giving the restaurant a futuristic touch. Watching the robot glide between tables with trays of food while interacting with customers added an element of novelty and fun, especially for kids and tech enthusiasts. It’s not something you get to see often in most restaurants, and it shows how The Wind embraces innovation to enhance its dining experience.

The staff members at the reception were polite and professional despite the rush. They handled the crowd patiently, taking down names and explaining the waiting process clearly. Even with the heavy weekend traffic, they maintained a positive attitude, which deserves appreciation. However, given the restaurant’s popularity, it might be helpful if they could provide a small waiting area or a lounge space where guests can comfortably sit while waiting for their turn. At present, the waiting space seemed limited, and many people were standing near the entrance or outside, which made the area feel slightly congested.

From what we could see and hear from those dining inside, the food looked delicious and well-presented. Many people seemed to be enjoying their sushi, noodles, Thai curries, and other delicacies with enthusiasm. The serving portions appeared generous, and the plating was elegant. The overall vibe inside was cheerful, with groups of friends, families, and couples enjoying their evening meals.

Based on the crowd and popularity, it’s clear that The Wind has established itself as one of Buffalo’s top choices for Asian cuisine. It offers both Japanese and Thai dishes, blending authentic flavors with modern presentation. The restaurant’s menu is known for its variety—ranging from sushi rolls and sashimi to pad Thai, curries, and soups. It’s a perfect place for those who appreciate high-quality Asian dining with a contemporary twist.

That being said, my personal takeaway is that advance reservations are essential, especially on weekends. The place attracts a huge crowd, and walk-ins like us might end up waiting for hours. For those planning to visit, booking ahead will save time and make the experience smoother.

In summary, The Wind Japanese & Thai Restaurant in Buffalo stands out for its excellent ambience, innovative use of a robot server, courteous staff, and evidently delicious food. While the crowd can be overwhelming on weekends, that very popularity is proof of its quality and charm. If the management could consider expanding the seating or providing more waiting space, it would make the experience even more comfortable for spontaneous visitors.

Overall, it’s a vibrant, modern, and high-demand restaurant that beautifully blends traditional Asian flavors with new-age...

The concept, decore and menue photos all made this seem promising and at the price i exspected a good exspence all around. $42 before drink amd tip was over priced for the product they delivered. Also lets adress the Canadian locations are also the same or less and thats in Canadian ($40 canadian is about $30 im USD). Beyond the surface of superficiality of pretty photos decor and a cute robot its really kinda a mess and the food is pretty average buffet food. It was really pretty disappointing on most levels. To sum it up I'd say its a chaotic mess with medocare at best food, servers who are set up to fail their tables, and nothing that left me impressed enough to warrent the price or leave me wanting to come back.

First the price for over $40 each I exspected some pretty good food and service as photos suggested it would be too. It was not, I wouldn't even describe much of it as good quality but more kinda airport food somethings were over cooked some under,some seemed fresh others not fresh at all, inconsistent Temps etc. Based on just food alone I think its a over priced. The service was pretty bad, i don't even think it was necessarly the servers fault just that the whole thing is a weird disorganized mess it seemed to be one waiter for the entire place so good luck getting them to your table.Those cute lil robots that are their shtick, it's probably why you wanted to go, you won't see much of them you will have frantic confused food runners instead. The entire place is very chaotic and sophomoric in execution and needs some work ironing things out. The whole IPad thing made no sence because you then have to wait for ever for the server to come to ok it and there only seemed to be one person for the entire resturant doing it so you wait along time to ace orders and get drinks etc. Sushi came with no Wasabi or ginger to cleanse your pallet i just thought that was strange. Menue does not represent portions accurately some much smaller others much larger. Despite many large tables open we were stuck at a tiny lil table though other couples and even solo diners got larger tables. This made for quite a mess as food just started coming out and empty plates were not being taken quickly. Some dishes were good most were medocare at best or even down right displeasing. We often had the wrong things dropped off others never came at all and they seemed to not believe us they were not ours keep in mind you get charged for waiste so if you do t want to eat somethingyou didnt order or was wrong or not good you get charged extra. The robot brought up questions about health we saw kids touching food on it for other tables or people realise after a bite they had the wrong thing and servers then take it to another table. Someone who seemed to be management was standing by us as we were clearly frustrated and they did not seem to care.

*Ryan i dont sww where there could have been 6 servers ( we only saw one server with a trainee shadowing him the entire time thru out the dining room) unless we are counting the 2 robots and people running food but none of those provided refills or could put in the confirmation on the tablet or help with the concern of getting wrong items. Im glad things work at the other locations, they also charge $10 less since we are bring up that comparison. All though I understand your copy paste responce on policy for charge for unetten items if you read my concern with charge for waiste was not on on things we ordered they were dishes that were not part of our order or wrong and that is what we tried to exspress to who we think was a manager based on being dressed differently. If you didn't charge so much more then everyone else including your canadian locations mabey I'd give it another try but not at the $42 you didn't deliver the value at all. *Ryan yes they are all $42 on your sites but $42 in Canadian and $42 USD are not the same. $42 Can would be the equivalent of $30 usd making it $10 more at...