A birthday friend was thinking yakiniku and I recalled many reviews praising Yakiniquest as the best in Singapore. It wasn't cheap but if it was as good as the reviews claimed, then I would be happy to try it out. It turned out to be...one of the most disappointing restaurant experiences of the year.
We were brought to an upstairs table right beside the stairs, near the kitchen and the washroom, and everyone would have to walk past our table. Asked for a better located table but was told they were reserved. Wanted to remind the staff that we had made reservations too and also turned up earlier than others but decided to settle on what they had given us as we didn't want to make a fuss. Unfortunately, our area proved to be way too warm... even before any grilling had started. The highly uncomfortable temperature lasted till the end of our meal because the aircon literally was blowing straight past our heads without circulating around. The situation was made even more unsatisfactory since most of the other tables remained empty throughout the night.
Service failure was evident from the start. The waitress assigned to our table was genteel but very inadequate as a wait staff. Once we were seated, she placed the menus before us... and stood before our table without a word. No mention that she was aware of our pre-order of the omakase sets (pre-order was a requirement for omakase), no asking if we wanted a drink, no nothing. She just stood there, without saying anything for a good while. I had to nicely remind her that I had a pre-order of the omakase sets. Yes, she replied softly, and looked back at me. I had to take the initiative from then on to lead her to engage us to place any extra orders, such as drinks. Going through the menu I wanted to know the type of uni they were serving, and she smiled and replied, "Uni". I clarified that there's different types but seeing that she's not really getting it, suggested her to just ask the kitchen. She came back happily announcing, "Hokkaido".
It was amusing in the best terms. I highly doubt anyone would have done a worse job even on their first day of work. I don't ask for much, just a simple what would you like to drink or this is the menu or even just leaving the menu on the table and walk away. But she just stood there without a word. We had to initiate the exchange or it would be extremely awkward. Through the evening the only initiative she took as a staff was to ask us how we came to know about the restaurant. In fact she asked a total of three times. Geez... makes one wonder why they were so keen to know how their customers come to know about them (so they know which review platform was getting the traffic?), and, if that's the only thing they train her on her waitressing job. She was really polite, but was waiting for her customers to lead her in everything.
If the inadequate service was all there was that day, I could consider it an unlucky day with an awkward waitress. But service was not even the thing that had disappointed the most at Yakiniquest... the food was. The so-called premium wagyu were all in miniscule slices and portion, and they tasted bad as most were very poor cuts. I am not a big eater yet it was not enough to fill. Everything was pretty average - from starter to dessert, except the price. For the same price you could get a very good meal at many good restaurants.
It's been a few months since we were there yet I am still very disappointed by the very poor cost-performance we had from the restaurant, not to mention the amateurish service. It ruined a birthday celebration.
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