Hakuba

I am somewhat surprised by some of the poor reviews. I've been to Kobe quite a number of times, and am keen to go back. The food is in general delicious, and the waiters very helpful and responsive. There are a couple of shortcoming that I would hope that the management can improve. I haven't tried the cocktails after the first visit because they were rather tasteless. The cooked food, such as softshell crab and king prawn tasted both fishy and overcooked. On the other hand, the poor cocktails is made up by the good selection of wine that are well priced. Some of the dishes, such as the Number One and the rolls were mouth watering. Also the price is more than reasonable.
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CC
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, January 22, 2008

I have been there since the restaurant open, at the begining it was fantastic, but somehow the food become really bad now. Last night I have been there with my friend, the food were all so oilly, and they were salty as well. I do not understand what happening with this restaurant, but the food was really a dispointment now, the sushi as well, sushi rice was so cold, just like take away sushi in Tesco. I do consider that they should do the way before and learn how to cook.
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iiyo
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, January 16, 2008

went there for dinner yesterday. restaurant was empty yet food still took a while to come out.

guess the new management really screwed up the place.

the baked dishes were AWFUL!! the baked dynamite scallops were skimpy of scallops and filled up with SURIMI (frozen crabstick). the mushroom medley was swimming in oil and salt. it was so bad we had to send it back.

the rolls were blah. was not impressed by the use of regular long grain rice instead of the japanese short grain rice for the sushi. rolls were not rolled well, some fell apart when picked up off the plate.

never again.
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Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, January 09, 2008

They have missed a good chef in the restaurant, the food now is totally bad !!!!!!compare with before. Service as usual which means bad, and because of they have changed owner, so the Name has been changed, Ninja does not match with Kobe Jones it is just unacceptable.
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California Roll
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Friday, December 14, 2007

Went for dinner on Tuesday night with 5 friends. Place was packed but the friendly host took our coats and sat us to a groovy booth. Very stylish with nice buzzy vibe. We were blown away by the quality of the food. The rolls were the best I'd ever had anywhere -- even in Japan. For mains, the ginger prawns and beef Amiyaki style were to die for. Service was knowledgeable and prompt. The Spanish (?) waiter helped us order Sake and wisely recommended the Number One Special -- a tremendous creamy baked scallop and crab dumpling.

Will definitely be back. A bit pricey but totally worth it. I wish they wold open one up in Chiswick.
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Suzy Martino
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Thursday, December 13, 2007

Last Wednesday I went to this restaurant with 3 other friends. It was my 4th time to be there. However, things have changed. Food is still good but not as great as before. I'd say 'par'. Service, terrible. Extremely under staff while the restaurant was just half full. Also, our hot plate order was missed and needed to order again. After 30mins when the plate finally arrived, it was just lukewarm.
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Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 4
Saturday, December 01, 2007

I think that a recent and random visit to Kobe Jones represents possibly the worst dining experiences I have had - entirely due to the attitude of the manager.

Luckily the feeling of resentment generated by the Kobe Jones experience didn't last as long as the Campylobacter, but just long enough for me to write this review.

The four of the main courses, that were supposed to be hot, arrived sometime after the cold mains, in varying degrees of temperature ranging from ambient to cold. We sent them back. 15 minutes later they materialized again, this time warm (but not hot) and on cold plates. At this point we probably should have complained again, considering they we charging 24 pounds a dish, but hunger got the better of us and the evening was running on.

When it came to pay the bill we asked for a discount but were flatly refused. We expressed our disappointment that the meals didn't meet out expectations but the manager refused to budge on the bill. The best he could come up with, and rather nonchalantly at that, was that he would take 50 percent off the NEXT time we dinned there. Laughable. With considerable indignation his final offer was to remove the service charge. Exasperation. I have to say that I was rather surprised by the attitude of the manager and but at these prices I expect far better. He probably could have salvaged the situation with relative ease and minimal cost to the restaurant by offering a free coffee and maybe stretching to a desert but this obviously didn't cross his mind. We paid up and left.
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barney clough
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Wednesday, November 28, 2007

We arrived and saw a poster advertising happy hour, so we went to the bar for a cocktail before dinner. We were told that the restaurant had been taken over by new management and they had stopped happy hour. When I asked why they hadn’t taken the poster down, the barman just shrugged his shoulders.

Sat at our table and ordered the food. I told the waiter we were using the 25% discount. The waiter could not tell us what was in the salads, what sauce came with the calamari.... He was just impatient and wanted us to order quickly so he could get on. We asked for some water, just a jug of tap. Then onto wine, by this time he had walked off.

He came back with a bottle of still water, so I sent it back. Ordered a bottle of white wine. He came back with a bottle of red wine.

Food was ok, sushi rolls were good, and the main courses were very average.

Asked for the bill, he had not taken the 25% discount off even thought I had told him before we ordered. Another mistake was he had put a bottle of red wine on the bill instead of the white wine that we had ordered. He came back and said it’s only a pound different. I explained that was not the point. He refused to change the bill. I then said I refuse to pay the service charge (12.5%). He asked why and we happily listed all the reasons why we were not paying it.

We had been to Nubu the week before – More expensive but definitely worth it. I will not be recommending this restaurant to a friend.
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Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 4
Friday, November 09, 2007

I went here with a friend who isn't too familiar with Japanese food and wasn't dissapointed. Althought the menu is more Californian Japanese than traditional, the rainbow rolls were delicious and innovative, the tuna sashimi some of the freshest I have experienced in London. The beef teryaki was OK but the sauce it had was better. The desserts were fun and tasty. A bit over priced though.

The downside was that the place was a third full and the waiting staff seemed more attentive to their personal problems than with the customers and were never around. We attempted to order a bottle of wine and out of our first three choices, none were available and we had to settle with a mediocre bottle.

I won't be visiting a second time as I think good service is important if you are paying for an overpriced meal (we payed about £120 for two).
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contessa - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Saturday, July 07, 2007

Excellent contemporary Japan meets California restaurant. By no means the most authentic Japanese restaurant in London, Kobe Jones is certainly one of the most exciting.

The Banquet Menu consists of around 6 courses plus dessert and Miso Soup and is fantastic. It was £30 per person when I went and I was very impressed for the money. The staff were helpful although perhaps not as knowlegable with their wines as they might have been. This is my only grumble though.

All in all an excellent venue with excellent food.
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Chris Gilbert
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Monday, May 28, 2007