aspidistra's Profile

Went to Dojo Hakata with a couple of friends after seeing the long line at neighbouring Mou Mou Club. Dojo Hakata had no line of customers waiting outside it. The menu looked interesting enough with a decent variety of fish and meat based Japanese dishes. However, that's all it really is - good looking. The shabu-shabu we ordered was fine but quite bland.The teriyaki chicken and assorted mushroom kagemusha comes in an impressive pot with a charcoal burner underneath but after waiting 20 minutes for the thing to cook at the table (it would have been helpful to have been told this when ordering as the others' dishes came quickly and there was no wait), it was extremely disappointing to open the lid and find a tiny amount of sorry looking chicken, a meagre selection of mushrooms and a lot of rice. This certainly did not reflect what was pictured on the menu and the chicken was especially tasteless. In fact, the appearance was so far removed from that pictured that I thought about complaining at the time but the waiting staff had basically disappeared or were having conversations amongst themselves. My friends found their individual dishes to be fine but nothing special. With regard to the previous reviews who felt like this was like an authentic Japanese izakaya, I find it difficult to compare as the quality of the food is lower and the manners/ attitude of the staff are just not worth comparing.Counting money at the table, being sullen, unhelpful and generally disinterested in no way merits the 10% service charge levied. …Read More