Food critic: Azabu Sabu - Jusco - Taikoo - HK

On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being Poor, 10 being Excellent.

Food (entrees & snacks): 6
Food (dessert): 9
Service: 4
Ambiance: 4
Price: $$

Jusco has reopened with an absolutely new look and feel with new mini-shops within it -- focusing very much on food and desserts from Japan. (I'll do another review on the new Jusco in another post.)

I used to love going for Japanese dessert when I lived in Japan so I thought I'd check out the new Azabu Sabu, just opened in Jusco.

It was very disappointing to say the least. I went there for a snack at dinner time and was seated in about 10 minutes, to the sound of "Irrashaimase~", as they mimicked their Japanese counterparts. Once seated the waitresses had totally forgotten about me -- even though I was holding a menu and looking through it. No tea was brought to the table as they were bringing tea to the other newly seated tables.

I summoned a waitress and ordered my 2 dishes and asked her to bring tea. She nodded and walked off.

5 minutes later -- still no tea. So I asked another waitress to bring me tea. She did, but in about 2 minutes. After drinking, my tea cup was empty while I was waiting for my order to come. I waited for about 10 minutes for my first dish to come. After eating that, I had to wait another 5 minutes for my next dish to arrive. By that time I *still* did not have my tea cup refilled.

The manager finally showed his face but was crouched down behind a cupboard looking at waitress schedules. Not once did he walk about to ensure his customers were doing well in their third or fourth week of opening.

I asked for a refill of my tea and my bill (which came pretty quickly), which came to $68 HKD. I left $8 HKD in change and a $100 HKD bill. They gladly took it and I waited another 5 minutes for my change.

I got up and walked out the restaurant. I don't think anyone realized I had left as I didn't hear the familiar "Arigatou gozaimashita!"...