The Nagasaki Inn (Lexington) Fiasco

[Aiden Seamus]

Wow...what a terrible place to eat. My fiance and I made a reservations to eat at this restaurant for Valentine's Day. We both love Japanese steakhouses and especially sushi so we eat at Japanese steakhouses whenever we can afford it.

 

When I called to set up the reservation, the guy who answered the phone said, "We are booked up from 4 PM to 8 PM."

 

I said, "Can I get a reservation for 8 PM then?"

 

He said, "Yes, no problem."

 

I confirmed the reservation with them a couple days later and all seemed good.

 

 

When we got to Nagasaki Inn, I could barely get through the door. We arrived at 7:50 PM and it was so packed inside that we had to fight for 5 minutes just to get up to the desk to check ourselves in.

 

Apparently the "reservations" they were taking weren't really reservations at all because they didn't have our table ready. Instead they checkmarked next to our name. Now this is all after just trying to get the greeters attention. The lady at the desk was ignoring people most of the time. We asked her several times how long the wait was and where we were on the list, but she refused to even acknowledge us.

 

This was the case with many of the others there too. It was her job to check people in and get them seated but she was ignoring everyone. I don't know if she didn't know English or if she just didn't care.

 

This was already more than frustrating. Well we waited and waited....at 8:40 PM we asked a another woman who was seating people where we were on the list. She just ignored us and walked away.

 

As we stood waiting, we noticed people that came in AFTER us getting seated. This just upset us even more. We finally asked the greeter again where we were on the list. Turns out, they forgot our name and had moved on to the 8:30 PM and 9:00 PM reservation list. When she saw that we were upset about this, she said she would seat us next available table.

 

We finally got seated at 9 PM for an 8 PM reservation! RIDICULOUS.

 

The others at our table had been waiting even longer than we were. One couple had been waiting since 7:30 PM and their name had been crossed off the list even though no one ever called their name to seat them. They had just moved her from Pennsylvania, so this wasn't a great welcome to Lexington for them.

 

When we were sitting at our table, the table next to us starting sparking. Then flames started to "drip" from underneath the table. We alerted our chef and he promptly moved those people to another table and that table sat empty for the remainder of the night. I guess the table decided it had had enough of this crap.

 

 

During the food prep our chef did not do any of the typical Hibachi entertainment. He was very boring and simply cooked the food. This would be fine if you weren't paying for the entertainment when you go there. Also, he cooked the rice last. I have been to several Hibachis and never had a chef cook the rice last.

 

The salad dressing was some type of horrid ginger dressing and they didn't have any of the usual shrimp sauce that you get at most other Japanese steakhouses. My teriyaki chicken was good, but everything else was sub-par. Some of the vegetables were burned and some of them were undercooked. To top it off, when we got our check we found out that we were charged an extra $1.45 per person to have our rice fried instead of just plain steamed rice. Our bill was $45 for TWO people...I could have done a better job had I cooked at home.

 

I will NEVER go to this restaurant again. The service was ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE, the food was decent, but overall this was way too much of a hassle and way to overpriced for the experience that we got.

 

If I thought anything would actually be done about it, I would call and ask for the manager on Monday, but I doubt anything would be done.

[LRCW]

We had a similar problem at Hibachi's in Huntington. I had made the reservation for 8 of us for 8 pm. When we arrived it was wall to wall. The hostess told me that they were running behind, and that they would seat us quickly as they could. We had already bought our movie tickets for a 9:30 pm showing. A forty dollar hand shake to the hostess took care of the problem. We were seated promptly, and made our movie with no problem.

[The Scribe]

No one should be allowed to complain about a restaurant being crowded on Valentines Day. Ever. Its like waiting to Christmas shop until Christmas Eve and complaining about the lack of gifts left. What were you expecting?

[Hard Court]

Did you think about Tachibana's? The food there has been very good, haven't been there for quite some time, but was a very nice place.

[malachicrunch]

No one should be allowed to complain about a restaurant being crowded on Valentines Day. Ever. Its like waiting to Christmas shop until Christmas Eve and complaining about the lack of gifts left. What were you expecting?

 

Throw in Saturday night. I was real leary of eating out last night, but we went early and had no problems. I would have an issue with havinga reservation, then my name being skipped over.

[Aiden Seamus]

No one should be allowed to complain about a restaurant being crowded on Valentines Day. Ever. Its like waiting to Christmas shop until Christmas Eve and complaining about the lack of gifts left. What were you expecting?

 

I'm sorry but there's a difference.

 

Had I waited until Valentine's Day to make the reservation or just shown up that night with hopes of getting to eat I wouldn't be complaining. But I made reservations several days beforehand.

 

IMO, a reservation means that they will hold that spot for me and my party, not overbook the restaurant and hope that people don't show up. Then ignore the patrons when the stuff starts hitting the fan.

[LRCW]

Throw in Saturday night. I was real leary of eating out last night, but we went early and had no problems. I would have an issue with havinga reservation, then my name being skipped over.

 

 

 

The other people probably tipped the hostess.

[The Scribe]

Classic

 

[Aiden Seamus]

Did you think about Tachibana's? The food there has been very good, haven't been there for quite some time, but was a very nice place.

 

When I called, everywhere was booked up (during a reasonable time to eat dinner) except for Nagasaki. Usually we go to Miyako because they have the best Spicy Crab Roll and shrimp sauce.

[malachicrunch]

When I called, everywhere was booked up (during a reasonable time to eat dinner) except for Nagasaki. Usually we go to Miyako because they have the best Yum Yum Roll and shrimp sauce.

 

Should have been your 1st clue:thumb:

[Aiden Seamus]

Should have been your 1st clue:thumb:

 

Probably right. I figured the food wasn't going to be as good as some of the others around town. But I never expected such bad service/tables catching on fire.

 

There was also a glimmering hope of this being one of those places that maybe a lot of people just don't know about and that's why it wasn't book.

 

However, after seeing the reservation lists, it was obvious they were just overbooking.

[eccheer]

Sorry you had such a negative experience. I've not been to that particular restaurant but LOVE japanese steakhouses. My hubby doesn't care much for the food so my daughter and I always make sure to go a couple of times when we're in Myrtle Beach.

 

On the reservation issue . . . if a restaurant takes reservations then that is their guarantee that a table will be ready and available for you within a reasonable amount of time. A lot restaurants won't accept reservations for specific days (such as Valentine's Day, Mother's Day etc) but with the current economic climate, I guess restaurants want to serve as many people ($$$) as the possibly can!!

[malachicrunch]

Probably right. I figured the food wasn't going to be as good as some of the others around town. But I never expected such bad service/tables catching on fire.

 

Thats kinda the neat thing about the dining experience. The bad ones are sometimes more memorable than the good ones.

[Watusi]

It was her job to check people in and get them seated but she was ignoring everyone. I don't know if she didn't know English or if she just didn't care.

 

A forty dollar hand shake to the hostess took care of the problem.

 

I'd bet that is one language the hostess would have understood.

[Aiden Seamus]

Thats kinda the neat thing about the dining experience. The bad ones are sometimes more memorable than the good ones.

 

Well I will certainly remember to never go back to Nagasaki Inn.

 

All this talk has me craving sushi now. :sssh: