Ukai Hibachi Grill & Sushi Bar Woodlake

First time at the Woodlake location. Not impressed. Our party of 3, two adults and a teenager, arrived at our scheduled time and were told to have a seat for five minutes. Note, our granddaughter specifically requested Ukai for the fun. Only two of the hibachi tables were full. Finally seated and waited for the excitement to begin. Not to happen! Our server arrived to take drink orders and it was evident she was not happy with a three person table. Unable to answer allergy questions she trudged off to get answers. Ok, I can deal with that after all we really came for the food and the show. Our chef arrived with all the personality of a dead fish. Again, I point out we were a party of 3 in an other wise empty restaurant. More people did begin to arrive as was evident as our chef focused his attention on his next possible assignment. He did do the onion volcano but from there on it was how quick can I get these people served so I can get the next group. Sure he could spin the knife and flipper but no shrimp flipping to our plates or pleasantries. No effort to engage with us, just doing a job.
Now for the food. Steak was overcooked, scallops were undercooked, small and fishy tasting. Vegetables were a bit on the burnt side. Rice didn't arrive until after food was on our plate. I will say the ice cream and plum wine were delicious, but hard to mess that up!
Location - definitely needs some sound abatement. With only a few of the tables occupied it was almost impossible to carry on a conversation.
After having many good meals at the original Grand River location I was very disappointed in our experience.
Final note - as we were leaving our chef was serving a full table and having a blast, chatting it up, showing off his skills and really earning $$.

Based on other reviews I'm sure this one will fall on deaf ears but I feel better letting you know about our experience. Buyer beware!!

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

We've tried a lot of different Hibachi restaurants but was not overly impressed with yukai. The food was pretty good but the service was terrible. Our server never had a smile, seemed aggravated when we asked for things and forgot some items that we ordered. Our Chef was okay, we won't be going back.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 4

Service: 2

Food was good, but the waitress was so incredibly rude for no reason the whole night. Everytime we asked a question she would roll her eyes and act like we were wrong for asking stuff, such as if they can add flavoring to their drinks… which she responded with, “like the liquor flavor or what?” In a very rude tone. When I tried to talk to the manager to let him know, he just said he’ll talk to her, didn’t even apologize or say anything else. I wasn’t asking for money back, just wanted to see if we could at least get an apology. When your bill is $200+, I would expect better service. Definitely wont be back. We still tipped well because we know they split the tips with the chef.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 4

Service: 1

We took our 3 kids and all had a great time!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Called on Friday and was told they were open. Arrived at 5 pm on Saturday. Restaurant is locked up tight and no one answers the phone!

Our food was mostly burnt all cold! Due to not being cooked in the right order! Waitress over worked had to ask for every refill restaurant was cold 🥶 since they clearly couldn’t turn the air down. Worst experience we have had here and we use to come often! Do better for the price you charge!!!

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

The chef was new (nice guy though) but very slow at cooking so rice, noodles and veggies were cold by the time the protein was cooked. The food pretty much tasted like soy sauce only, very salty.
No yum yum sauce either.
The manager did take some money off of our bill but it just wasn't worth it unfortunately.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 2

Service: 3

Came for lunch at noon - parking lot was nearly empty - bizarre exchange w/ the host about how the waitress was slammed and how he wouldn’t be able to seat us - in a place that was 95% empty…. Maybe this is for carry out only.

Service and food was great!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

I normally do not post, last night we went to Ukai for my birthday dinner as it is normally our go to restaurant. However last night’s dinner was so bad that we could not finish it. I know everyone has off nights but our vegetables were burnt which means everything that was cooked after the veggies also had that burnt taste to it, so needless to say my lobster did not taste like lobster it tasted like chard burn vegetables. Not to mention that the chef who was cooking everyone’s meal would wipe his sweat off his face while over the cooktop. Not pleasant.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 1

Service: 4

Gluten allergies be aware. If you order the hibachi at a seated table there are no sauces and the salad and soup are not gluten free as they once were.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Bartender was amazing! Food excellent. 12/10.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

For the most part the food was good. The steak, which was pretty expensive, was very overcooked which impacted my rating. The waitress was amazing and wish her all the best with the new addition to her family.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 3

Service: 5

This place is a joke, ordered $67 worth of food and 4/6 meals were wrong and i wasn’t able to eat, they gave me $28 back, terrible service!

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Disappointingly, the food fell flat. Bland flavors, questionable freshness. Service was okay, but not enough to save the experience. Skip it.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 1

Service: 3

Recommended dishes: Sashimi, Roll