BONZAI SUSHI & SAKE INC
218 Sidney Baker St S
Kerrville, TX 78028
Kerrville, TX 78028
830-315-6888
Tonight was the third night I have eaten at Bonzai and this is the first time that the service was excellent, the food hot, and the atmosphere relaxing.
One out of three dining attempts isn't such a great ratio. My first night eating there with a group of friends, the food was warm, late, and the waitress was hard to find and as such the service was immensely slow.
The second time was by far the most atrocious of the three. Half of the food we ordered from appetizers to entrees was forgotten and never delivered or if they were delivered they were cold and the dish flavor greatly compromised. The waitress forgot to bring us drinks and utensils even after we had received our cold food.
I ultimately had to speak with the manager and demand that the food be taken off of my ticket because for most entrees ranging from $15 - $20 one expects it to be hot after waiting 30 minutes for it.
As before mentioned, tonight was my third night giving the restaurant one more chance. It seems the key to fantastic food and fantastic service happens rarely only if you go in to eat during their down hours. Tonight the food and the service were superb.
The fried calamari as well as soft shell crab, two dishes that can easily become chewy and rough when overcooked was absolutely succulent.
Their scallops are always tender, never rough, with just the slightest of spice added to them.
Each entree comes with a clear soup and salad with a ginger dressing. The ginger dressing can be too much and it has drowned out the flavor of the greens every time I have eaten it. A tip for future diners, get the salad dressing on the side.
The restaurant also has a variety of hibachi grills and a sushi bar for people who wish for a show with their food.
The food, in my opinion, I would give a 5 out of 5, the service on average causing an overwhelmingly anxious and frustrating atmosphere bring the restaurant experience down to a 3 out of 5 which is being kind considering on a couple of occasions I refused to pay for my food due to the tardiness of the staff.. Perhaps when this is no longer a new and budding restaurant the service will get better, for now their food alone is carrying them.
If you decide to go to this restaurant, do your best to go on off hours. In addition, if you happen to go during a "rush hour" be prepared for much frustration, and crowding as well as horrid service from the wait staff. The restaurant has absolute potential but simply needs to get better organization by their management and staff.
Eventually, Bonzai has the ability to become a top rated foodie haven but it will take months of organization and management to get there.
For now, eat there at your own risk and only on off hours. And by all means...MAKE RESERVATIONS AND DO NOT GO FOR ANY SPECIAL OCCASSIONS! I will review this restaurant again in a few months to see if any of the kinks get ironed out and hopefully their progress report will make the wait all the worth it. As for the ambience of this restaurant. It appears to be elegant, the food exquisitely prepared and a visual work of art in every bite and one would expect that you should dress up....at least a little. I feel that the lack of dress code, a constant sea of blue jeans and tattered shirts sitting down in a restaurant that offers a rare cuisine and excellently prepared cuisine at that for this area simply ruins the atmosphere.
I have yet to eat at the restaurant where children and adults alike seem to be unable to refrain from touching the frosted glass images of the tea house geishas, which is embarrassing to me. This is not a steak house, it's a rare dining experience for any Texan town and one that you wouldn't normally see unless you were in a more populated and refined area of say, Austin or Dallas. Yet in this lovely atmosphere, pristine ornaments are treated like the Long John Silvers children’s coloring menus from across the street. The lack of dining etiquette is immensely distasteful and given how rare the service is good, and the food on time, the restaurants ambience would have given it a better rating...had the people decided to not act barbaric.
If you go to this restaurant, even if you and your friends are the only one I implore to at least make the attempt to wear some heels and a dress, or something even business casual. Men, for goodness sakes...wear some slacks! Make this restaurant what it should be, a lovely, dining experience with a surrounding of elegance. Maybe the more people decide to slowly change, hopefully, it will catch on and grow an atmosphere the restaurant was originally meant to cultivate.
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