I'm very unimpressed with this new restaurant. This new joint is evidently popular amongst expats - there were 3 other crowds aside from me, all expats. On a Sunday night, the restaurant was very very quiet. It's a bit pricey considering its location. Make sure you dress warmly before you show up on a winter day, the staff kept opening and closing the door and the whole place was really cold - may be worst near the door. Food: First, I asked the waitress for green tea. They don't have any. What Japanese restaurant do not have green tea? Not even a tea bag? ummmmm makes you think, doesn't it. She recommended Oo Long tea - I said fine, before realising they were going to charge me RMB15 for luke warm tea. Almost to the end of my meal, I found out they actually serve tea - for free, but did not tell me about it. Anyways.... Service: Through not fault of the wait staff, the food was slow. There were four tables and the food came out ever so slowly. I wonder what would happen if the place was full. Food: Food is average, the sushi is tiny, the various flavors of rolls did not complement each other. Tempura was average, but better compared to other food served. Note: They don't accept credit cards and do not have fapiao. Star rating: 2/5

OK, so for the record = I love Japanese food. And let i be known = I appreciate the effort made in making this a bit of a different type of japanese restaurant. I'm not referring to them playing crooner-big band music while you eat, but to the nicely designed space, art, staff uniforms. But please... Owners or staff if you are reading this: A lunch set a la japon is not served per item. Sets have - what - a dozen items, so you have loads of traffic to your table, from bringing you a small plate of pickles to the soup, then the egg, then the salad, then the whatever... Get it to us in 1 go. Especially if you plan to serve the rice AFTER you serve the meat and fish. KNOW your kitchen! Don't come back to me after 5 minutes telling me that what you just recommended to me is out of stock. Head of staff (or in this case 'queen bitch') = you have guests in your place of work. Please do not yell at staff that is on the other side of the restaurant. Don't be going out your way to be noticed by the laowai staff either. And it does not impress us when you publicly scold every waitress. Instead, why not concentrate on having your staff bring the food on time. We get one serving of fish, and 5 minutes later another waitress brings two more servings, insisting it is ours. We ordered one. Just one. With the small amount of tables there, it cannot be a stretch to remember who ordered what. Food = not that impressed. The salmon steak was grilled leathery dry. I found a frickin' clam shell in my boiled egg. The beef has more strips of union than beef. The (free) tea is tasting more like the tap water it was made from. The place has the look - yes. The intentions - also. But going there for Japanese food is not a good idea. Just the same = cantine next door has all of our praises. Hear it is same owner... my advice = dump Shoka and expand Cantine.