Honjin Japanese Restaurant

Waste of my time...

First of all,I wanna try this outlet cos of the UOB 1 for 1 deal. I had noticed that this outlet has constantly promotion with UOB.
Please note, Pricing for a Dinner buffet is $54+++(per pax) before the discount. So you expect a reasonable quality right???

Ambience

First impression is a cosy Japenese ambience. But wait, the seats are too low.Many time my legs just knock onto the tables. Very uncomfortable tables and chairs arrangement.

All waitress are wearing KIMONOS!!!! WOW... KINKY RIGHT?? BUT WAIT!!!
U can hardly see their waists. Sorry to say that, but u cant expect Auntie or ladies which are not slim to fit nicely into Kimono right?
And the way the waitress drag their feet on their trying-to-be clogs, is very irritating...

Service

U see black face Kimono auntie ordering food before. No response for acknowlegment. just plainly write and left the table. Lucky, there is 1 or 2 nicer waitress, whom constantly refill the green tea and smile to you when collecting the empty plates from you.

Food

TERRIBLE. I think is worse than Sakae Sushi standard. Not that I got anything against Sakae, but if a resturant cant even provide decent food than a "jap fast food" joint. then forget it.

EVERY food that come, i shake my head. Food display is FAIL... FRESHNESS FAIL...

Tanpanyaki prawn - NOT FRESH, stick to the shell and is so soft...
Sashimi - Is time to sharpen those knife. Never cut properly, still got a few piece "hanging" together. Ika, terriblely served. Only hope is the tako, juicy and chewy.

Chawamushi - i should call is "poker-dot" steam egg. u get wat i mean?

Sukiyaki (steam boat)- FAIL, suspect they use terriyai sauce for the soup base. is so SWEET.

ALL OTHER FOOD, FAIL, probably only the fried potatoes survive.

Value for what money?, when i wont even want to pay $20 for such food. Given after the discount, I paid $66 for 2 pax, I can get other decent jap food else where. Why waste my time on food that spoilt my night.

Having been on a Japanese rampage this month, the words sashimi, sushi, maki, tori have been rolling off the tips of our tongues these few weeks, and so with the UOB 1-for-1 dining privilege and the reviews we'd read on that place, we decided to make a reservation for Honjin's lobster ala carte buffet....

1) The name is awfully deceptive tho cos the buffet is really not even 0.5% about lobster. haha. Aside from the fact that its stated on the menu 'one serving round', the serving that came was really beyond our imagination. There were 4 of us and they served us with a small plate with 4 bite-sized (Read: smaller than a normal piece of sushi) pieces of 'lobster' meat. I say 'Lobster' cos it's so small we really couldn't tell if it was lobster meat or not. Can't even taste it too. But then again, if u read this review and are prepared then i guess 'no biggie' yea?

2) pre-dinner service. I made a reservation a day in advance for a dinner on sat evening for 4, requesting specifically for tatami seating instead of the clustered counter seats. On Sat afternoon, they called to confirm my reservation, but only after repeating myself a few times and 'throwing' the name of the girl tt took my reservation earlier was a able to RE-secure my tatami seats....
(*side note: some people like counter seats cos you get your food directly from the chef + more 'interaction with the chefs inside the counter area. So you'll have to see what kind of a person u are and book accordingly)

3) food- When we reached, we were guided to this room which had 2 tables, one already occupied by a grp of rather rowdy teens (*Odd, cos i recall her telling me that it was a private room). But we sat down nonetheless prepared to enjoy a feast. I mean at $62+++ per pax (without the UOB card) you'd expect good food right?

if only. Sushi, sashimi, maki, tempura, tori were all 7/10 (Similar to Sakae), the appetizers and desserts not worthy of mention. In general, fresh (No, none of us got food poisoning even after binging on sashimi, since that was the only thing worth really eating) and unenjoyable, but sadly no where close to the standards at any respectable jap restaurant. PLUS, they only served water and green tea. Other beverages like beer/sake/soft drinks are add-ons.

4) MESSY service - I don't know if it was due to the "green" staff or the inefficient table numbering system or pure busy-ness on that day, but we waited almost an hour for most of our food. (*sneaking suspicion, which proved correct, was tt the servers were sending bulk of the food to the other table) FAINTZ.....

In the end we re-ordered our food and the nice server tried to hurry it out. Which in the end resulted in 2 rounds of some of the dishes coming simultaneously, even tho she canceled the previous order. MESSY!!!

5) Ambience - Pleasant and noisy as any 'authentic' jap restaurant usually is, but thank God they don't do the screaming jap words thing.... wahaha... I totally can't stand tt. So randomly ear-jarring.... The Tatami mats were comfortable enough to sit and stretch and even for one guy at the next table to KO on (*Why they sell sake to under-aged kids is beyond me... i mean don't they make enough money from overpriced buffets?)

Overall, the whole experience was redeemed only by that ONE nice, attentive server and the endless flow of sashimi. So if you want the casual jap dining experience, have a UOB card and don't mind waiting 20-30 mins for medium-grade free flow of sashimi, then my advice to you is go NOW, before the promo is over!

As for me, we're hopping down to Hanabi next week... haha. Will keep you all updated!!

*Edit: I forgot to mention, parking around tt area is hell cos it's evening in CBD-zone where most car parks are season-only or closed. But a long walk back to the car is always good exercise after a meal.... =p

Went to the buffet with high expectations. A shenton Jap restaurant sure have to serve good qualtiy food to survive. Perhaps higher the expectations, greater the disappointment.

Food
- With so many Jap ala carte buffet in town, its really an insult to to other jap ala-carte restaurant if Honjin is ever consider a competitor.
Best joke is the prawns are limited to 3 per pax. The prawns looked so unfreshed and the meat just refused to leave the shell.
The salmon and Unagi gets my vote for being good. Tuna must be a old fish or the chef just didn't know the direction of cut. It was full of veins.
Basically there's no quality in the food. Just felt the food was infront of you and just eat. You do not get to feel/appreciate the taste. As there's very min of it.

Didn't see the bill, but do we have to pay for the green tea? Whether or not, the tea tasted like plain water.

A very typical ala-carte buffet issue... orders missing in transit. I really wonder how such things could happen. Is this a way to pissed customers and thus they get tired and won't pressed for more orders?

Lucky have UOB 1-for-1 promotion. If to pay $54++ for the buffet, i'll hit my head on the wall.

Lesson learn: Don't have expectations by the eatery location. Don't be deceived by the original pricing. Company makes the whole diff. (",)