Wann Japanese Izakaya

06/22/09

Uninspired

by wondrousworld at Citysearch

After reading all the glowing reviews on Citysearch, I was excited to try Wann. My husband and I have been to all the other Japanese restaurants up and down Belltown-- and there are many! Unfortunately, the food is not nearly as exciting as some have suggested. Yes, there were a few untraditional choices, such as fried octopus rounds and dried squid tempura. But even those were bland and uninspired. In fact, the dried squid tempura was more like, greasy onion rings without any flavor, not onion, not squid. The kurobota "gourmet" pork sausage? Exactly like Oscar Mayer wieners! The more usual menu items, such as sushi rolls and sashimi, were good but perfunctory. I'm surprised that we were flanked by two tables of young japanese-speaking patrons - perhaps exchange students there for all-day Happy Hour? Overall, if you run out of cheap happy hour eats, Wann is worth trying once. But if you're looking for creative or sublime japanese food, this definitely ain't it.

• Pros: All day Happy Hour on Mondays
• Cons: Lackluster food

02/16/09

Do not eat here if you expect to be treated like a human being

by alan17 at Citysearch

Worst Restaurant Experience of my life.

I had a reservation for 2 on Saturday night at 7 PM. My girlfriend and I arrived at 6:30 and check to see if we could get in early. The restaurant was half empty and the hostess said it would be no problem. She sat us at our table and we began to check out the menu. Meanwhile the 3 tables next to ours were seated 5 minutes later, 10 minutes later, and 14 minutes later. All three of those tables place drink orders before I'm able to flag down a busser.

I politely ask, "Do you know when we'll be able to order"

He responds, "I'll go ask your server."

I'm still okay with the whole situation so far, and I'm confident the busser will find our mildly slow waitress. Then the tables right next to us (literally 5 feet away) all put their orders in with their waitress. So I waved at their waitress and she waved and smiled back and then walked away! At this point I was becoming concerned. I try to wave down the busser that was going to inform my server we were still waiting, but he refused to make eye contact and walked by our table without ever acknowledging me.

I cannot comment on the food, because I was so upset that we just walked out. 30 minutes after we were seated, three tables next to ours were people eating their dinners while I was just sitting there sipping on my water.

I do not under any circumstances recommend this place, and I cannot see anyone that does eat here actually leaving a tip of any kind because the wait staff is incredibly pretentious and too stuck up to even help out a patron of their restaurant.

11/30/08

Shifty Service Charges! Do Not Eat Here.

by seattle_foodie at Citysearch

I've been coming here regularly for a couple years since this place opened. Even though the service has been highly erratic and sometimes awful, i've been loyal to this place b/c i like the food...until now.

Last night, My friend and I went to happy hour right before closing and ordered our usual favorites. During our meal, we weren't offered any water and were not checked up on, so I actually got up to get a pitcher of water to fill my cup. It didn't bother me too much, it was late and I'm used to sub-par service.

Then the bill comes, there is a service charge for 18%. Hrmm...that's odd, I've never seen that before. So I'm thinking they've started instituting some mandatory 18% gratuity for late night:

Me: Is this a new late night policy for happy hour?

Manager: umm..no.

Me: Oh..was it b/c I ordered kind of late? ..or is it just something special for me (kidding)?

Manager: it's there because of YOU.

At this point, I thought she was joking and going to bust out some punchline, but she wasn't.

Me: Are you serious?

Manager: Yes, some of our staff said you don't take care of them.

I've been coming to this joint for years. I've put up with your poor service and have recommended tons of people to eat here and you throw it back at me? So I dated a waitress a few years back that imparted me the value of service and tipping, so I at least try to tip 15% at all instances. Servers have it rough, she'd tell me. Okay, understood. I've only tip under 15% once at Wann (over 100+ visits). It was the time when I found bits of plastic in my salad, a dish we ordered was not brought out, and we had empty glasses of water for most of the night [note: it was slow night] -- apparently the waitress working that night was working this night too.

As a loyal customer of a restaurant, I would think I would be afforded some benefit of the doubt. I mean, I come to this freakin' place almost every week. Well, never again. Not anymore. Wann, You stink!

• Pros: food
• Cons: price, service, service, service