alice y.'s Profile

The more I think about it, the more it pisses me off.  Too bad there's so many negative reviews here from other Groupon buyers with no responses from the owners.  They obviously don't care...

So I had 4 expired Groupons that I had bought for $12.  Groupon specifically says that expired groupons are good for their cash value.  So I call and talk to them, asking them to just combine the 4 $12 values for a $45 class - I was happy to take the $3 loss.  She tells me, "No, you may not combine them", which makes no sense, because hello? Cash Value means cash value.  But OK, I was feeling generous.  I tell them, "Fine, I'll bring three other friends; here's the first two: myself and my friend".  I pay the difference for the class ($45-$12=$33; $33X2=$66) and get two other friends to join.

...except my two other friends are too quick and they sign up directly.  And because you have to pre-pay, they end up not using my groupon $12.  So at this point, we've given them an additional $90 in addition to the $66 and my initial groupon purchase of $48. Yes, they scored $156 for me to use $24.  Sounds a bit like a bad scam, eh?  This just doesn't sound right to me, so I email the owner, Shelley, asking her to just credit back my two friends who paid full price for my two $12 groupons.  

And guess what she says? "Sorry, no refunds at this point!".  So I have to use another $66 in order to use my remaining $24.  WTH.  This is so wrong.  I guess I will take this as a lesson and bite my losses.  

Sorry, Bambini.  You've lost a customer for good with your bad judgement.  We sent our kids here two summers in a row, but with this kind of nastiness, I don't care how cute your classrooms are.  It's just wrong.

The South Bay has yet another izakaya with the introduction of En, a collaborative project between the owners of Rokko and Tanto.  En has very nice ambiance with simple, subdued yet warm decore and a casual atmosphere that maintains the quiet calm of Japanese serenity.  The sake is selection is very good with some treasures, such as Tokugetsu, but many of these are offered only in 720 ml bottles.  (i.e. Bring your drinking friends with you.)

The food selection is a touch more... casual.  There aren't too many dishes on the menu that a good JP cook can't make at home, and there is no surprises or special treats.  Everything is uniformly good without being spectacular.  There were no dishes that we will wake up to tomorrow AM hoping to get another taste of - and a good example of this is manifested by how many of the dishes that were warmly and enthusiastically received when it first arrived at the table that ended up languishing and left uneaten by the end of the meal.  

The true value of this place is likely to be in the price point - 4 ppl being fed to the point of completion - $21 per person.  This is hard to beat.  Yes, we ordered a number of veg items, but we had a good number of non-veg items.  And no, this does not include sake, but jee, $21 to get your fill of JP izakaya food is a pretty good deal!

...but of course that is assuming you don't make JP izakaya food at home... :P