Disappoint-ais

It's always a matter of opinion and experience. But one thing I know is I was unimpressed. My face couldn't hide it, my senses were disappointed, and my mind couldn't believe it.

After hearing tons of hype from numerous people; all of whom are good sources for recommendations, I finally made it to Japonais. From the minute the hostess sat us in the worst table in the restaurant; the 4 top by the hostess stand and closest to the rotating door, I knew it was going to be trouble.

Japonais opened a few years ago but has consistently been praised for its food; mainly the hot dishes over the sushi. Doogs gave me the play- "Try mostly small plates; appetizers and such so you get a variety...and definitely get "The Rock." After we switched to another table, which wasn't very hard considering the abundance of empty tables in a crowd of annoying young girls, euro-trashy couples and other odds and ends, my surrogate sister, my sister and I began to process the menu while sipping on a cocktail.

We decided on a few apps and 1 main. First came the lobster spring rolls. This dish was actually pretty good- this, however, was not all that surprising considering anything with ingredients like lobster and mango in a fried shell is usually good. Following not far behind was the tuna sashimi and lamb ceviche. Both of these apps were pretty good but definitely not worth they hype. I've had far superior sashimi even at places that don't speciialize in sushi and I was pretty disappointed.

The pacing of the food was always way too fast. The service tried to pick up plates before we were finished which made for awarkdness and looks of death (mainly from me cause I can be a bitch- surprise surprise). Furthermore, the staff had problem communicating in English- and for a restaurant of supposed high caliber, servers should be able to confidently talk to their tables.

Finally came Doog's suggestion, "The Rock." This app was raw beef cooked to your preferred temperature on a rock. I've had a dish similar to this at Megu; in which a server comes to prepare the meat for you first and shows you how to 'cook' the meat. At Japonais, this server seemed like he barely knew what he was doing and although this was probably the best dish we had at Japonais it feel far behind the dish we had at Megu. By the end of the apps, we felt no hope for the main course we ordered and we were right. The eggplant and sauce was severely salty and put the final finishing touches on a disappointing meal.

It could've been the night we went there, the dishes we chose or the specific service that catered to us; but I don't feel a strong urge to return to Japonais. Some of my friends love this joint but to me it falls wayyy short. In it's NY birth, it even got good reviews in the NY Times and New York magazine but as said before, it's all about opinion and experience and when your experience is poor usually you're opinion is too.