Taisho Bistro Japanese Izakaya Rochester — Restaurant in Town of Henrietta

I LOVED this restaurant, as in used to love it. I'm a fan of Japanese culture and cuisine. So it was nice to have a venue that respects both.

After nearly a dozen visits and hundreds of dollars spent... not anymore.

I'm not sure what is going on. "Pandemic" ingredient pricing? Labor shortage? I don't know. But our last visit was terrible.

I literally pointed to the saba nigiri when ordering. I was then served, by our waitress who was mostly absent, grilled saba. In my confusion since my girlfriend ordered grilled fish, I moved it to her side of the table.

The waitress delivered the remaining dishes and promptly left the table. I had no chance to express that the food was incorrect.

The portions have markedly grown smaller. The grilled salmon was, at best, two finger width. The scallops were the size of your pinky fingernail.

But here's the kicker: I tried to explain to our waitress after she finally returned 30mins later (once all food was consumed) that she had ordered my food wrong (grilled saba instead of nigiri which is my favorite). She seemed sympathetic at first, although argumentative. So, as a fellow long term restaurant worker, I asked for the bill to be balanced. Aka - my grilled saba to be half the price which is the cost of the nigiri...

The waitress returns to the table and starts to explain how they would not alter the check because I consumed the meal...

SHE DID NOT RETURN AFTER SERVICE. She was waiting on the other end of the dining room (probably thinking "big tops" will tip more than a two top). So was I supposed to sit for 30 minutes and not eat?

After I clearly explain to her my issue she goes up to the front of the house POS system and discusses with the "manager". We were seated near the windows (within ear shot). I could clearly hear them talking ill of my experience: that "he shouldn't have finished the dish then complained", etc.

Note to managers: again, as a former restaurant employee, I understand talking trash about certain customers. But don't do it when they can hear you...

End of this story: the waitress finally balanced the check to be the cost of what I ordered in the first place. $4.75 vs $8.75. And that's only because I conceded and didn't expect the dish for free because I ate it (although most restaurants in their right mind would have struck it from the check).

In summary: I don't know what has happened to this dining establishment over the past year. But I can say with absolute certainty that if it continues on the path it's on now (notably small portions, disagreeable staff) that they'll be replaced by a sub and pizza shop shortly....

Went there for my birthday dinner. Not my first time there, however, this is the 3rd time i have been disappointed and don't plan on coming back. Our server was not attentive, took forever and it was not busy at all- every one else's servers were checking in on their customers regularly and our server was just lost most of the time. Food was not great, everything from garnish to taste was a disappointment, just OK- and took forever. Our server brought my tempura ice cream right from the back kitchen area the first time (their fryers are in the front) & it was still frozen and raw on the outside (never fried like it was supposed to be) but seemed to have been microwaved for a few seconds so it appeared warm-ish & not directly from the freezer. When i asked them to actually fry it, I watched my server bring a different ice cream ball out from the back kitchen (in his bare hands, no plate nothing) and give it to the cook in the front to fry (No Thanks).Eww. Hell no. After a few minutes I finally got my server's attention (as they were whispering about getting it fried) & told him i do not want it anymore & asked it to be removed from the check. He asked me what was wrong with it- that ice cream is supposed to be cold. I told him that I'm aware that ice cream is supposed to be cold- and I've been here before and had Fried tempura ice cream before and the outside is still RAW and White and tasted like flour. He took it off the bill but WTF- I was very VERY disgusted and disappointed I don't plan on...

The food is really hit or miss. It is very inconsistent with quality. There are some great menu items like the kani salad, pork buns, gyoza, and karage.

The regular sushi rolls are okay. They’re good for the price. Portions are fine, not really much to say about it. The special rolls are more inconsistent especially for the price and quality of ingredients, portions, and seaweed breakage. The worst part of eating sushi is when it falls apart before it makes it to you. Another worst experience is paying for a special roll, for example, dragon roll - filled with eel/ cucumber, topped with avocado, and have a sliver of eel and 95% cucumber filling. It is not worth the price if you’re expecting balance. This has happened 2/3 I’ve been there where rolls are poorly prepared.

We ordered the katsu curry and the curry is very watery. Kinda like they took the remnants of remaining broth, poured a lot of water, didn’t mix it well because it’s weirdly chunky, and poured it over the katsu.

Service is lacking. You order, get your food, and you wouldn’t see the server again - not even for water refills. I hesitantly and politely voiced my concerns about the food and I was told...