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| - I've been coming here since I was a kid. In the past, I've come to Ni Ji to celebrate my birthday, The birthdays of friends and family and even impulsively, on normal days when I'd crave their Bento Box. Upon my most recent visit however, I was disappointed to find that something had changed. Without going into great detail, my first complaint had to do with small bits of hair in a couple of my dishes. Also the beef in the Bento box that I ordered was unusually bland and dry. It had the taste and texture of a microwaved dish. My other complaint involved our server/possibly manager making a big deal out of giving us the necessary sized boxes to take home our leftovers. She offered us 2 tiny styrofoam containers for a portion that clearly needed at least 5-6. Mind you, we are not the type of group to take issue with such a petty mistake however upon her return when we politely showed her we needed at least three more containers she hesitated as if she was disappointed at the inconvenience of her having to return with more. She returned with just 1 box! Still showing patience we politely informed her that we would need maybe 2-3 more because the container was so tiny that we couldn't even close the ones we tried to fill. Clearly she had been holding on to a bit of resentment as our absolutely reasonable request yielded a snarky response of "umm, are you sure you need more?" This was followed by her physically reaching over to examine each of the boxes we filled completely as if to make sure we weren't, for some odd reason, trying to stiff her for styrofoam boxes(??) She didn't say anything, went back and returned yet again with one tiny box, with a disapproving look. At that point she managed to annoy the whole group and we were eager to leave. Ni Ji has always been a model of great service and food but I was really disappointed to find that something has changed. I feel compelled to offer one star however I cannot bring myself to forget about all the great memories I've had here. I hope that this was a rare night for them. If our server is going through something difficult outside of work that is affecting her mood, I sincerely apologize for seeming inconsiderate. However I must evaluate the business as it is and perhaps this will serve to help them reassess and regroup so they can return to form.
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