Watami (ION Orchard)

Ok.. My experience was so bad that I've decided to create an account to warn others of this restaurant. I have been surfing this site as a guest for good food. I noticed Watami. However when I dine there on 6 Sept 2009, I figured out that the reviews are all too good to be true. In fact, they are over rated.

Its good to be seated with waiters bringing their level down to ours by squatting beside us. I ordered :

Hotate Cream Croquette
Seafood Cold noodles
Chicken Cutlet Don
2 x warm water

While waiting for the food, I looked around and I noticed many unoccupied and dirty tables around. The patrons have left and the table wasn't attended for at least 10 minutes. Its no wonder the queue outside was so long.
I also noticed that the waitresses are crowding in one area trying to act busy. They have been walking back and forth carrying empty trays but none is willing to clear the table.

I waited for around 20 minutes for them to serve the cold noodles and my 'warm' water. The water was so 'warm' that I could see it steaming from the cup. One look and anyone will know that they could easily get a first degree burn by drinking the water alone. I had to try very hard to capture the waitress attention before they finally agreed to pour some ice water to cool my drink.

I finally got my cup back and was about to have my first sip. I noticed traces of oil and an unknown leftover particle in my drink. The particle seems like a piece of meat from the previous user. Now this is serious hygiene issue. I was slightly frustrated that I have to try to capture another waitress' attention. Its like they are living in their own world. When I finally managed to capture one of their attention, I ordered my drink to be replaced immediately. And yes, the drink was replaced with another cup of clean 'warm' water. However, I still noticed that there are black residues on the edge of the cup.

All these while, my croquette and cutlet still wasn't served. I waited for around 45 minutes before I finally decided to cancel my order and leave the place. I checked with my partner if her cold noodle was nice, her one word reply was 'Unimpressive'.

I wasted another 10 minutes before they decided to take me seriously. I asked for the bill once and they came back to me asking me if I have received the bill thrice on separate occasions.

I saw the bill, I was shocked that I had to pay for the service charge when I don't even feel like being served at all. I decided to be a gentleman and pay without any more complains as I'm already very disappointed with the service and food quality I'm receiving.

When I finally got the bill, placed my payment and waited for the change to be returned to me. To my surprised, I was short changed. I refuse to stay in there any longer. I decided to take it as a donation to the restaurant for better service and food quality training.

All these while, no managers even came to see me. I guess the manager on duty didn't even bother to give me an explanation. All I see was one waitress who kept apologising to me. >:(

I didn't expect to end my long hiatus from food hunting with a 90 minutes queue for Japanese food. Have you ever done anything this crazy? This must be another 'Donut Factory Syndrome' (no, I wasn't that mad to queue up for donuts). Fortunately, I'm lucky enough to be able to enjoy the food without waiting for a maddening 1 and a half hour! Anyway, the restaurant in question hails from Japan and has outlets in Shanghai, Taiwan and Hong Kong too.

This being our 1st time here, we decided to order the signature items to be on the safe side. I'm not sure whether it's due to the fact that we were starving by now but the Kani & Hotate Cream Croquette ($5.80++) was delicious! The golden bite-sized crispy balls oozing with cream disappeared in a flash. Admittedly, the small chunks of crab meat and scallop could have been more generous though.

Another favourite is the Watami Salad ($7.80++) with a huge dollop of tuna mayonnaise on a bed of colourful vegetables. Now, I really really dislike mayonnaise but there's no way for me to avoid that nasty stuff if I want to try this. Overlooking the presence of the hated mayo, what surprised me was that slices of cooked tuna were used instead of the canned flaked type.

I believe what made the salad so enjoyable was the fragrant sesame dressing. Call me biased since I'm devoted to anything sesame but this really made the salad come alive with a burst of flavours. A friend asked me before why would I pay for a bowl of greens and my answer would be why not, especially if it tastes as good as this!

Usually I wouldn't have ordered any sushi but the Irodori Sushi Grandeur ($10.80++) seemed like a safe bet since it has scallop, seafood salmon and unagi--all my favourites. Presentation was fantastic but the sushi didn't impress me. I'm no rice nor sushi connoisseur but it would be nice if the grains were less dry and more fragrant. The toppings, which I enjoyed thoroughly, were another story. I could find no fault with the soft eel nor the juicy and plump scallops.

The kitchen was already taking its last order by the time we were ready for desserts. I was hard pressed not to laugh when the Mango & Ichigo Daifuku ($3.80++) was served. Instead of being plump and round like the picture on the menu, the rice cake looked as though it has been flattened by a truck. Looks aside, the taste was excellent with the combination of sweet mango and strawberry and texture was great with the smooth and paper thin mochi skin. I would have ordered more if the kitchen was still open!

Granted, the Kurogoma Ice Cream ($2++) was not a signature item but I just couldn't resist it. Afterall, how wrong could you go with sesame? Watami's version was not the best I've had but it did the job of satisfying my sesame craving for the day.

I suppose the main draw of Watami is the irresistible combination of affordability and good quality food. The menu supposedly changes every few months so there would always be something new to look forward to. They do not take reservations so do go early if you want to avoid the lunch or dinner crowds!

For photos/reviews, visit My Food Sirens =)

The bill had arrived at the table and I decided to query on the amount of oil at the bottom of the fried vegetables dish (tilting the hot plate at a 20 degree angle) and it was evident when 2 different staff members agreed on this!

1st response - I am sorry, I am so sorry (this must be the standard response island wide)
2nd response - Let me get you a new one from the kitchen (my reaction was that we had already asked for the bill and if we had eaten the dish already would it not be difficult to get a new dish?)

The assortment of sushi was in much smaller portions when compared to the first visit 2 weeks earlier, but still had the same freshness.

Yes, this was the second and last time that we shall patronise this venue.