Miyako Japanese Restaurant

Reviews 4

PA

Paola Aquino

Went here few years back but this was the first time I visited this restaurant after its renovation. It wasnt busy when I went there as it was a weekday after lunch and before the rush hour. There were only two people dining at the bar, a family on one of the tables at the end, and I on one of the tables at the other end. Their lunch hours already ended so they only have the regular menu. I wanted to eat shrimp tempura so badly, so I just ordered the one on the appetizer and a cup-sized of vegetable fried rice. I also ordered crabmeat puff and Crazy Caterpillar Maki. The food was served out fast and they were all delicious! The staff service were lacking. It was my first time to eat on a Japanese restaurant in America after visiting Japan so I was kind of disappointed with the service. I guess I was kind of looking for smiling faces, welcome-feeling, and attentiveness that the Japanese servers show in Japan? Here, they still served you but dont have that friendliness or happiness-in-serving-you feeling. Well, maybe because this is America and not Japan, and the people who served me here are not Japanese? Maybe its just the culture? Anyway, this place doesnt really served legit Japanese food, all of their rolls are Americanized but since they branded their restaurant as "Japanese" and greeted you the same "Irrashaimase" like the Japanese in Japan when you enter the restaurant, then I was kinda hopeful that they would also be hospitable here. Also, few years back, they used to have someone that refills their customer drink all the time, but didnt see any of that when I was there. Maybe they normally comes out during busy time and at the time that I was there, it wasnt busy, yet? I ran out of my drink, was so thirsty, and the waitress who was serving me were nowhere to be seen! I put my glass on the side of my table so that hopefully, someone could see it empty and would refill it but there was nobody. I waited for more than 8 minutes, there was still nobody. I was so close on getting up and going to the bar to ask one of those chefs to refill my drink, but then I saw the host seating one couple, so I called her and asked her to refill my drink, and she did. After 5 minutes or so, the waitress who was serving me finally checked up on me and asked if everything was alright. I just said, "yes" and thanked her.

MA

Malik Hemani

So lets see. There was no wait to sit but parking was a nightmare on Friday Night. The place looked clean and full. They took us to a table right away. However the seat was dirty and sticky so had to call a staff to clean. Took a while for waitress to acknowledge us and take drink order. When asked what was the soup special she didnt know. Had to go ask. Came back and told us they were out. We started to order but it seem she was not familiar with the menu. Had to go ask someone in the kitchen to confirm. No worries. About 20 mins after placing order (she hadnt come by at all to check up), I had to get up and go find her for our status. Told me it was coming out. Another 7-8 mins and our main entree arrives. Still no sushi. I had to ask another server to grab our sushi. At this point the sushi was incorrect-missing the avocado. Sent it back to be redone and asked for forks. Took another 4-5 mins to get folks. At this point the semi warm entree is now cold. Took three attempts to get the manager to address the issue. Manager was sincere. Told us he would rush another one out and redo the order. Second time around it was much better. Manager came back to check and said he would take care of us. I appreciated that and got us a new waiter. Carmen, the new waitress, was on top of it all. We ended up ordering some desserts. The Godiva cake. Not bad. When the check came, clearly nothing "taken care of". I gave my card and said manager said he would take care of it. Got the charges back and he had taken the cheapest thing off. What a joke! Trust me wont be coming back. Quality of food wasnt there and the service overall was horrible. Left a 18% tip for Carmen and a note for the manager to check Yelp. I hope you have a better experience than we did.

GE

Geoff Mcfarlin

so sad. I had to almost do an interview to be able to get served then I did asked for what I want and the two with me were confused and needed to ask the chef.... fatty tuna? really that odd a request? I literally had to pay for the food before they would give it to me... really.... yes they have food. yes theres tons of people. yes its very trendy. no I really wont come here again. thats just too sad its very loud people are rushing around past you so fast. ra is so far much better than this. The only reason I given three stars (my error put it to one its sooo bad with the trouble I wont be back. should have gone to ra) because the food is good and when youre eating Sushi that is important but regardless how particular my requests were the ineptitud is astounding. okay I spent $90 as a single person on good food but being able to not give it normal reasonable restaurant service... without making you pay for it first is insane. I should have just paid for my drink and walked away and gone to ra. ..... I was so upset I decided I would actually call to talk to a manager I spoke to Megan 13 minutes of the conversation she kept on trying to defend the server every way she could think of it was insane the conversation I would say the truth of what just happened and she would say but the server says this and I would restate what happened and she would restate but the server says this and I asked I need to speak to a higher level of management and I got to speak with Redden and he was much more reasonable understanding I dont believe anythings going to happen but at least I got to someone and told them my point of view that they will keep that in their memory for future reference

MA

Mark Wang

One of the longest established Japanese restaurant here in Houston that hasnt closed down yet. I have been here many times before Google Local even existed and I only went here recently as it was pretty close to where my friend was drinking at. It was Saturday night and theres actually a wait for a table for 3. The wait was about 10 minutes though and we were seated pretty close near the entrance on the left side where theres booths and row of table for 2. The menu has changed a bit but the over all quality is still A-OK, hence the 3 stars rating. This is a restaurant where if you have been there many times, theres really nothing else new to try. I do see where the fact that they have priced themselves at a fair for their sushi. Majority of the rolls are the Americanized rolls thats drenched in various sweet sauce (eel sauce or Japanese mayo). They do have good cocktail drink specials and the house hot sake is also at a good price. I would certainly still come back to this restaurant for the food, but it would only be when a group of friends really wants to go there. I dont see myself wanting to come here every month for dining out.