The evening started out promising, it was a Saturday night after all, and Onami is the newest Japanese Restaurant in a city that surprisingly seems to have a massive appetite for Japanese food.

Onami is situated, or more like secreted away, on the second floor of our swankiest shopping mall in the entertainment hub of Nairobi; Westlands.  When we entered we were ushered in with loud Japanese greetings and an interior so opulent it’s just astounding.

The evening began well.  We sat at the U-shaped bar and ordered drinks as we waited for friends to arrive.  The service seemed prompt and good.  So far, so good.

A Japanese chef expertly sliced, and diced all sorts of morsels in front of us…the night looked promising.

The ten of us then moved to a central table and placed our orders.  The waiters moved off with our order, and vanished… one hour later nothing, one hour ten and many glasses of wine later a warm plate of noodles arrived for one of our group..|  we waited, nothing.

After making enquires as the luke warm noodles got cold, the manager explained in more of an accusation then an apology that as we had all ordered Sushi the Chef was overloaded…This is a Japanese Restaurant isn’t it?  Its raw food, how long can it take?

Well apparently ‘longer’.  We sat, we drank, the noodles made conversation.  When the sushi arrived it was inhaled without question.  I suppose it was good.

Satisfied, sated, we sighed and asked for the bill…….  We waited, and waited.  One bill came.  Apparently we confused them.  WE paid that bill.  We waited.  By now the restaurant was empty aside from 12 idol waiters and the managers who had moved to a table near us and were tucking into lobster.  We waited. 

One of sushi-ites got up and went to the cashier and was told by a lobster eater to sit down and wait for her bill ‘it was coming’.

As some of us have careers, some families and some don’t want Japanese to be their last meal we decided to leave.  To our left were a migration of waiters, and to our right at the seafood waterhole a feasting pride of managers… We got up, without our bills, and left.  Was the free meal worth the indifference, no.   Maybe their service will improve, maybe they will google the word ‘hospitality’, I don’t know but one thing I do know is Onami, Oh No Way!

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