Hakata Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Washington

Completely hated it now. I just went there on 2/3/2015. Horrible. They not only messed up my order again (called in) but packed the food completely wrong. I mean any Japanese Restaurant knows how to pack food, Especially Ramen.

so for those people who don't know: when packing any type of ramen, you use more than one container for many reasons; main reason being is that the noodles and anything other than the broth will get too thick and soggy. sometimes not even worth eating. Most place just seperate the broth and anything non broth.

what happened in detail: I ordered 2 pork ramen bowls and california roll sushi on the phone, they said it was like $17 (rounded it up to next dollar) and i need to pay in cash or order more. I told her i order 2 pork bowls and she said yes that with 2. i didn't have cash so i decided to just go to the bank and withdraw some before getting there. (takes me like 20-25 to get there and 15 for the bank)

I get there, its packed and all the waiters are running around all over the place. I walk to the cashier area (which i do wish they would change because it is in the way back literately right next to a table. I tell them im here for pick up, i see the owner so i smile. He just gives me a grim scowl. i see the waitress pull from the side a 2 container that had been sitting on the counter (since i walked in) One pork ramen and california roll. I was so pissed off by it that i didn't even bother complaining and just left.

I'm sorry to say this but i suggest people not to go there. I gave it another shot, it failed so badly it wasn't funny.

Honest run down. IT'S O.K, maybe below average. This is coming from someone who has Japanese relatives AND has had actual Japanese food from several places in different states.

its a bit over priced, I've had better quality food for $1-2 less. plus the minimum purchase (to use a card,even debit) is $25

But for it one out of 2 good Japanese restaurants in the town, its understandable why people give it such great reviews. (no offense to anyone)

service is half and half; they have messed up my order before, (even made me pay for it even though it was there mistake) , they can make people wait a bit, but they do come and check on you.

I've had stomach and lower bowel problems out of the 2/3 times i've had gone (yes they do add more oil then they should and ginger), the one time i didn't; i order fish it was fine. They're sushi is 99% spot on, so when suggesting to anyone who goes, order more fish dishes/sushi.

I would recommend it to a friend but i wouldn't go there like every weekend or something, or if they has a weak stomach. i'd suggest going there like 2-4 times a years. If it ever improves i might rewrite a review. but...

I'm bummed. There's nothing as irritating as feeling unwelcome in an establishment before you even get to eat. Our last visit was our second time visiting, and it was our second time feeling like they would just rather not have us in there.

The first time we ever visited, it felt like we were a bother and it felt stifled and rushed. No one said hello, no one smiled and no one told us about any specials. They dropped tea off on our table without explaining what it was. I don't even remember the food, so it must not have been that great. The only thing I recall is that it's definitely more "authentic". Authentic can mean several things though. In this case, to me, authentic meant sloppy presentation, and a sort of dirty Asian food place atmosphere.

We decided to give them another try to be fair. This time, they were full, which is always a good sign. They had one small two seat table, and there were two of us, but we asked for a four top because we hate being cramped. They said we'd have to wait which was perfectly fine. We waited about 10 minutes and after a four top cleared, a different lady beckoned for us, and just before seating us at our four top, saw a large group waiting and then tried to direct us back to the small table. We said no and that we had waited for the four top on purpose. She ARGUED with us in broken English that the larger table was for four people and the other table was for us. At this point, everyone in the establishment is now staring at us. We stood pat and doubled down that we had waited for that table and it was where we wanted to sit. She said hold on and walked off and started yelling to the back, causing an even bigger scene, which promptly caused me to turn right around and walk out of the door.

Lost sale, lost return customer. All over a table. If their food was amazing, I may have overlooked it. Just got in our car, crossed Silverdale Way and had an amazing lunch at the place right across the street that I gave a great Yelp review to...

Update: I returned and would say they have improved the quality of the sushi and portion size. Service is also somewhat better, though they still struggle a bit with getting orders right and bringing all plates, etc. BUT, this comes with a MAJOR price increase. The Nigiri sushi has gone up 40-50%! Before you say, oh, that's just inflation these day, inflation is averaging 3.5% nationally for 2023. I've added one star, but think they still have work to do on the overall quality/value ratio. 12/23/23

ORIGINAL REVIEW from October 2023:

So sad, this place WAS a local gem. I hope the new owners read this review and work to improve. Visited today and had the following issues:

-We were three people, got two sets of chopsticks. Asked for another. Then the small bowls for soy sauce were dropped off in a hurry, got two, asked for another. Didn't get small customeray plates for eating sushi, asked for them.

-Sat and waited a long time to order.

-Ordered and about half the order came out pretty quickly. Waited for rest, but it didn't arrive, eventually flagged down a waitress and explained what was missing. Original server came back and asked what was missing, lot s of back and forth, eventually they said they got it clear with kitchen. Then nigiri sushi arrived instead of sashimi. Sent back and got correct item.

-Fish was not of the same quality or portion size as the previous owners provided. Ordered toro, an expensive cut of fatty tuna, but it wasn't trimmed properly and had tough gristle bits attached.

-Cleanliness is an issue, the floors are sticky and need to be mopped. My wife's teacup had lipstick on it...not her shade.

Will try back again, one more time, in a month or so. Would love to see them regain the quality and service levels...