Aji Sushi Teppan — Restaurant in Winter Garden

BEWARE STAFF AND OWNER ARE SCAMMERS. Very disappointed in the service I received from this establishment. Made a hibachi dinner reservation on New Year’s Eve for a party of 4. When myself and the rest of my party arrived at the host stand we were greeted with a look of confusion from the host who claims that the reservation was never made, when I had just called that day and confirmed we were booked. We’re flexible so we decided to sit in the dining room for sushi instead but they had a limited menu we were unaware of. One of the members in my party asked if they had a hibachi reservation at a later time but it wasn’t offered to us until we sat down and ordered sushi in the dining room. By the time we cashed out and tipped our dining room server it took 45+ minutes for 2 rolls to come out to the hibachi table we moved to even though the dining room had no wait to be seated. When seated at the hibachi table our waitress was less than attentive. Our sushi, soup and salad dishes remained stacked on our table throughout the meal and our drinks were never offered to be refilled. Finally when we had absolutely no room left on the table I politely asked another server to please clear our sushi, soup and salad dishes and glassware so we had room to eat our meal. To make matters worse when the bill arrived the server charged a member of my party incorrectly and added herself an unauthorized custom tip. I work in the service industry and understand how a successful business is supposed operate and this is not it. I always tip at least 20% but the service received from beginning to end did not reflect that experience. When we expressed our concern in regards to the unauthorized charges to the owner we were faced with excuses that it was “our banks fault” and that they would get back with us and never did. After days of no communication and no resolution I reached back out again. I never received an apology but instead was cussed out by the owner as he defended her illegal actions and admitted that she changed the amount of her tip. He was rude and dismissive and would not give me the opportunity to speak and give feedback on my experience instead saying “he does not want to deal with this nonsense”. My advice to this ignorant business owner would be to listen to your customer after your server committed fraudulent actions instead of deeming it to be “nonsense”. I never write reviews but restaurant goers need to beware of this beyond bizarre and unacceptable experience. I will be taking my business to an establishment that provides quality service and is honest with...

This is the 2nd time I've been to Aji (first time was years ago, at ate the teppan hibachi table that time, did not review, but it was pretty good, as I recall). This time, stopped in on my own, on a whim, while out Christmas shopping, for an early-ish Sat. night dinner (was about 5pm).

Decided to try the "bento box" (not really a bento box here, but similar offerings) with miso soup, teriyaki chicken, tempura veggies, white rice and the optional California roll (many choices to choose from for the 2nd main item to go with the chicken).

Miso soup - pretty good, basic.

Chicken teriyaki - Boring, bland but peppery, doused in teriyaki. Definitely not grilled as advertised, more like steamed and flavorless (again, except for the ridiculous amount of pepper sprinkled on top). Not like any chicken teriyaki (let alone bento box style) I've ever had.

Tempura Veggies - 3 pieces (1 slice onion, 1 slice sweet potato, 1 chunk - and it was an end piece chunk of basic potato). Now I realize potatoes technically are veggies, but come on... who serves tempura potatoes?!? The sweet potato was tasty. I actually don't prefer tempura (unless shrimp), but every single protein offering on the dinner "bento box special" (4-6pm only Sats.) included tempura veggies - no other options for sautéed, and no substitutions.

CA Roll (they did provide it rolled in roe, instead of sesame seeds)... 2 huge problems. First, it was served on the same very hot dinner plate with the rest of the food (I love hot food hot, but cold - or at least freshly prepared room temp sushi - should NOT ever be served on a a super hot plate!). Completely changed the flavor and ruined the CA roll. I mentioned to a server but was told "that's just how they do it for the dinner combo." I thought she would offer to replace it, but when she said, "Let me bring me you..." she was only offering to bring another plate to put it on, but it was too late, it was heated now. She didn't offer to bring a replacement, and quite honestly, I was so put off by the offering thus far, I just ate it and figured I won't be back.

This meal was a loss. The ginger salad lettuce was quite fresh - and cold, served in a separate dish - duh), but whomever prepared it poured a gallon of ginger dressing on it. Overall, the food was edible, but bland, and definitely not something I'd...

For the price, not worth it. The Teppan/Hibachi dining area is unusually hot. Now you might be thinking, well yeah, they are cooking right in front of you so it is going to be warm…Well, my good buddies, my simple reply is, “this ain’t my first rodeo.” I have been to many Japanese restaurants and always dined in the Hibachi section and none was as hot as Aji’s; so, take a fan with you, thank me later. In addition, the exhaust system is either weak or installed improperly. Very little smoke seemed to go up in the hood, the rest of it contaminates your lungs in the dining hall. Twice, we were lost in smoke and that can’t be healthy; so be ready to inhale some. Servers seemed to be rushing to get the order, but, slow to bring your drink refills…Deja moo! The worst one is that they’ll nickel-and-dime you. Most Japanese restaurants seemed accommodate simple customer requests, but, this one will charge you for making the request. I have never seen this at any other restaurants all my life and I eat out on a daily basis. As we all know, the entrées comes with your choice of meat(s) and mixed vegetables. What was quite a twist from the norm is that if you do not want their vegetable mix, they’ll charge you extra $3.99 to make a nominal change. For instance, one of us wanted “only zucchini and onions” and another one wanted “onions only” with our meals, however, they punish you for saving them vegetables and will charge an extra $3.99 per request. Most restaurants would be happy to make these minor replacements. Not to mention, we didn’t ask for any unique veges like purple yams, Jicama, or Calabash...we ordered veges that were already in their mix. Two of us just didn’t care for mushrooms, broccoli, carrots, etc.. Now, I'm just talking principle here folks and not complaining because paying an extra $3.99 will not force me into filing for Chapter 7. Aji really needs to learn to accommodate simple requests like these instead of annoying the customer for mo' money. Social distancing was not a major concern here; the people on the other side of the glass partition may sneeze or cough and the droplets will easily and freely travel throughout the dining area. If you care for it, they do make the same old, same old, onion volcano and shoot the sake...