Shinsei Restaurant

Good but not good enough. My husband and I are very loyal to a certain sushi restaurant in town. Over ten years and at least 100 dining experiences, and it has not failed us. However, on a recent Thursday night, we decided to branch out and try Shinsei. I've heard that the starpower (Owners are celeb chef wives of Kent Rathburn & Dean Fearing) doesn't overshadow the focus on food. On our visit, this much was true. The food was creative and very fresh, and the wine list offers good pairings. Unfortunately, that is where it stops. The service was neglectful and obligatory. Also, the chairs at the sushi bar aren't the right hight. They are too low, making you feel as if you're eating at the kids' table at Thanksgiving. Add to that the hide-n-seek service, and the analogy is complete. The "big people table" has all the condiments and tea refills while the kids' table settles for mismatched chairs and no butter knife. We decided against dessert since the sushi chefs and servers were so focused on getting their sidework done (C'mon HP and PH folks, not even you go to bed at 9p on a Thursday). Plus- in my opinion, cleaning rags and sushi rolls just don't mix. A good restaurant has fantastic food, but also the gift of hospitality. Shinsei, you should learn a lesson from Teppo and Tei Tei. Certainly "Chef Elvis" should have learned hospitality at his former stomping grounds. Won't be back- there are just too many good sushi restaurants who have earned my loyalty.…

Love this place!. When this place first opened the wait was long and I think they were still trying to work out the problems. I love this place and I am a "baby" sushi eater...my sushi consists of cooked pieces...but I have tried some of the rolls that my husband gets and I LOVE it. They have expanded their restaurant and wait isnt bad if you go early. I have never had a bad waiter always have great food. I did have a party there once and they do make you order from a pre set menu and I did not like that..i dont like not having your own meal. The food was still good you just had to share...…

horrible service. I was a big Top Chef fan and my sister loved the chef at Shinsei, Casey. I decided to go there for my birthday and emailed the owner for reservations. She never replied. When I called, she said she thought the co-owner had called me. She recommended to have a set menu since it was a large party (12). She was supposed to email me the menu but it never came even with further request for it. As luck would have it, the reunion show for Top Chef was airing that nite. My husband asked if Casey was in and if she could come out to say hi since it was my birthday and were big fans. He said she was too busy. The waiter was also very snobby. When two friends had come late and asked what were the specials, he said "oh it's not like i haven't said this a million times tonite" Then when Casey won "fan favorite" on the show, she surprisingly wasn't too busy to come out and get congratulations from the staff. the kitchen was right next to us so she actually passed our table. the waiter then came up to me and said "oh there she is" didn't even offer to ask her to come over. I was very disappointed in the service especially from the owners whose husbands own excellent restaurants in dallas. one of the owners walked passed us early on and just glanced at us and never said a word. Food was ok, but bad service always ruins a meal. Last thing, on the menu they state they add 18% to parties 6 or more but on our bill it was 20%.…