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| - I visited Tomo for the second time on Saturday night, and I believe it will be for the last time.
We had reservations but our entire party has not arrived yet so the hostess suggested we wait at the bar. It appeared to be well stocked, but the bartender seemed to be working on one speed: slow and disinterested. A waiter, waiting for his cocktails for service, even apologized to us for the wait. After the bartender finished with him, he wiped the bar and averted his eyes to every place he could, except to us. One person in our party finally got his attention to order a saki. (Awful and served too hot.) By that time I wasn't interested in dealing with him, even for a cocktail on Saturday night. Mr. Disinterested Bartender wasn't pleased with that either.
The rest of our party arrived to save us from the uncomfortable bar situation and we were seated at a hibachi table upstairs in what is a very nice dining room.
Our waiter was courteous.
Two guests wanted hibachi, the other three sushi, and soon our hibachi chef arrived to begin his preparations. He was friendly, social, and funny. The problem was we couldn't hear him at all because the very loud, fairly inappropriate (for a $$$ restaurant) music selections. Open conversation with the chef or my companions in the restaurant was impossible with "Cotton Eyed Joe", "American Soldier", and "Take Me Home Country Roads" obliterating any and all other sound. Seems no one there is familiar with the concept of ambient music. A little bit of "Buddha Bar" would go a long way here, guys.
The sushi was average at best. The quality of the fish used for the sashimi we ordered seemed sub par.but the cost was right up there with premium sashimi. I can't say how the shrimp and salmon hibachi was for sure, but I can say neither of my friends commented it was delicious.
The novelty alone of visiting a sushi restaurant housed in what was a bath house isn't enough to make me want to return. If yelp had a 1.5 star rating, that's what it would earn.
I wish I could say, domo arigato, Tomo.
But all I can say is, sayonara.
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