| rev:text
| - Where to begin. I was staying at the Clarendon Hotel for the weekend. Due to lack of Wi-Fi service in my room, I was confined to working in the lobby or the restaurant, so when it came time for lunch, I moved into the dining room of C4.
C4 seems to be pushing the Japanese-theme, with the toys in the display case running between the booths and the obvious influences on the menu. So I assumed they would have a Japanese-trained chef in the kitchen. Also, having read the reviews on Yelp, I hoped for a decent lunch.
I took a chance and ordered the okonomiyaki. It's not something you typically find on Japanese menus, even in SF or NY, so I was intrigued. It's really simple to make, basically saute a few items (I chose spicy shrimp, green onions and noodles), then pour a simple egg/flour/water batter (much like a pancake) on to set everything. Like making an omlet. Thirty minutes later I had no food, and no word from the waiter, who was only serving the 6 other people in the restaurant at the time. When I asked about my food, he ran to the kitchen and came back with a plate virtually covered with a 1" thick monstrosity. So much for the delicacy of Japanese cuisine. It was doughy, heavy, and burned on the bottom. I picked through it as best I could, but in the end, I didn't even eat 1/4 of it. And the "spicy" part of the spicy shrimp was nonexistent.
During my extended time in C4, I observed a lot. I noticed that a large table (which had previously been occupied by a party of 8 or so) went uncleared and uncleaned for almost an hour. I know the restaurant was empty, but geez, how gross is that. I also saw that the bowl of ramen delivered to another table had no broth in it. And the real winner of the day was of the old couple sitting near me. The gentleman ordered a roll of sushi, and when it arrived, his dining companion asked the waiter "is this avocado?" - clearly pointing to the wasabi on the plate. Uh oh. I knew exactly where this was gonna go. The old man picked it up and stuck it in his mouth, and almost died choking, right in front of my eyes! When the waiter came back a couple minutes later, they told him that was not avocado, his head almost exploded, so what was it. Waiter went back to the kitchen to ask the chef, and returned to tell the dubious diners "Well, they used to put avocado on the plate, but they recently changed. It's wasabi." Um, how clueless are you, a waiter working in a restaurant that serves sushi?? When they asked him what wasabi was, he couldn't describe it, and just said it was a garnish. Oh lord.
Take my advice, don't eat at C4. Not only is it not decent Japanese food, it's just not good, period. If you are serving Japanese food, please train your staff to understand it and how to explain it. And how to clean a dirty table in a reasonable amount of time. Please. If I had the option, I would not give this restaurant ANY stars.
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