Miyabi in Southcenter: change is hard
Dec. 29th, 2005 10:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfsLast night, Omaha and I took the girls out to Miyabi Japanese Restaurant at Southcenter because we happened to be in the area exchanging clothing gifts: the ones we'd gotten for the girls didn't quite fit, we needed to go down a size. Apparently size 6 refers to a fat kid these days.
When we walked in, we were greeted with "irashaimase". This is not unusual at a truly ethnic restaurant, but Miyabi never billed itself that way. At least not before. Then we noticed that most of the great decor, the murals and whatnot, were missing, in favor of a subdued black-and-brown theme. The menu was changed, and was much, much pricier. The $12.95 sushi meal was now $15.95, and the bento box was $18.95! Bad wow. Ocha tea, which used to be automatic and integral, was no longer served.
We asked the waitress what was up, and she said that there was a new owner and he had changed a lot. We'll say. We were very disappointed: the salads were limited to just those who bought a full dinner, and were half greens and half semolina noodles: what happened to the great full salads and soba? The girls' miso no longer came in Hello Kitty and Pokemon bowls.
The sushi dinner was also disappointing: the sashimi presented were each about 2/3rds of the size they used to sell and Omaha's bento was less interesting (and less well visually presented, how sad!) than it had previously been.
All of the food was good, mind you: it just wasn't what we were used to out of Miyabi at Southcenter. The staff, even waiters I know have been there for years, have always given me the impression that every day was their first day there: attentive, but bewildered as to what to do next. They're still like that. It's always been clear that they were hired for their ability to look and speak Japanese, and the new owner has decided to play that up; they now say "Hai!" and "hai dozo" and "domo arigato" in a much more fawning manner than they used to.
All in all, I'm disappointed. Miyabi used to be the one place where the phrase "family sushi restaurant" wasn't a complete oxymoron. Now they've become higher-priced kitsch, and it will be hard for me to justify going there quite so often.
When we walked in, we were greeted with "irashaimase". This is not unusual at a truly ethnic restaurant, but Miyabi never billed itself that way. At least not before. Then we noticed that most of the great decor, the murals and whatnot, were missing, in favor of a subdued black-and-brown theme. The menu was changed, and was much, much pricier. The $12.95 sushi meal was now $15.95, and the bento box was $18.95! Bad wow. Ocha tea, which used to be automatic and integral, was no longer served.
We asked the waitress what was up, and she said that there was a new owner and he had changed a lot. We'll say. We were very disappointed: the salads were limited to just those who bought a full dinner, and were half greens and half semolina noodles: what happened to the great full salads and soba? The girls' miso no longer came in Hello Kitty and Pokemon bowls.
The sushi dinner was also disappointing: the sashimi presented were each about 2/3rds of the size they used to sell and Omaha's bento was less interesting (and less well visually presented, how sad!) than it had previously been.
All of the food was good, mind you: it just wasn't what we were used to out of Miyabi at Southcenter. The staff, even waiters I know have been there for years, have always given me the impression that every day was their first day there: attentive, but bewildered as to what to do next. They're still like that. It's always been clear that they were hired for their ability to look and speak Japanese, and the new owner has decided to play that up; they now say "Hai!" and "hai dozo" and "domo arigato" in a much more fawning manner than they used to.
All in all, I'm disappointed. Miyabi used to be the one place where the phrase "family sushi restaurant" wasn't a complete oxymoron. Now they've become higher-priced kitsch, and it will be hard for me to justify going there quite so often.
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Date: 2005-12-29 06:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-29 07:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-29 10:25 pm (UTC)Good luck.
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Date: 2005-12-30 09:42 am (UTC)I've always enjoyed going to Miyabi's with you guys. (Plus, they gave me my taste for red bean ice cream.)