It's been a long while since I went there but a recent review prompted me to register these comments.

My decision to NEVER go there again was the result of more than a few incidents, but here are the last two.

1. I ordered takeout and they missed one wonton noodle, which I didn't discover until I got home. I called and the lady says they'll just make it up by giving me a free one next time I visit. I hung up and then wondered how they are going to know that it was me when I ask them next. I also wondered how many times this has happened to me at this place, as this was not the first time.

2. So when I went to "claim" my noodle, I was greeted with much rudeness. It was before 5:30pm. There were THREE tables occupied with 2 or 3 customers at each. I chose a larger round table for four for myself as I have some reading material to spread out. The waitress yelled at me and told me to sit at the table for 2. I explained why I needed the larger table and she grumpily acknowledged it but walked away without a word. I then waited, and waited, and waited, for someone to come back to take the order, but no one did. I got up to walk out, and the cashier saw me but never bothered to ask me why I'm leaving.

This tells me they don't CARE. That's good enough a reason for me to never return. Oh, and the food, as pointed but many reviews here, is just mediocre. No worse or better than most of your average wonton joint.

One last thing....don't forget they also had a late night shooting there a few years back. Scared? You should be.

We went here because of a "free xiao long bao scratch coupon" found in a Chinese newspaper.

We ordered our food, and everything came in a timely fashion. Food was very good and portions were not bad. Prices were higher but not out of line, although the xiao long bao was indecently expensive at $5.50 for six (compared to $3.95 to $4.50 at most comparable restaurants.) We didn't think much of it due to the coupon.

But then that's where the trouble started. We presented the coupone when the bill came. The staff said we were supposed to present the coupon when ordering, and they quickly pointed out that it was in the fine print. I asked what is the difference between before and after the order, and they couldn't give me an answer. Is the service going to be different? Or the food? What? Give me something! But they couldn't. For a lousy $5.50, they were doing well at pissing off a good customer. Before I know it, three staff members surrounded me saying I shouldn't have read the fine print (when there are many words on the coupon).

I gave up and took out my Visa card, but that's when the second issue came up. They wouldn't accept visa for any order under $50! What?! I know this is not an uncommon practice but the minimum is usually $10, maybe $20, but $50???

I may be wrong but this is supposed to be illegal, or at least a violation to the credit card agreement. I googled and found this:

"According to the agreement signed between a merchant and Visa or Mastercard, the merchant cannot have a “minimum charge” policy. You might have seen signs posted in bars and take-out restaurants saying “$10 minimum charge for credit cards”. This is a blatant violation of the merchant agreement; click here to learn how to report merchants who violate this rule to Visa, Mastercard and American Express."

So I can only say that these people are unethical, cheap, and just don't know how to do good business. DON'T go there!

We had a pizza and a pasta, both listed as specials. The pizza, as expected, was very good. Tasty, hot, and not very heavy. The pasta, however, was a bit overcooked. The bread that came with it was a bit bland, and with not much sauce from the pasta to dip it in, I could only eat half of it and gave up.
The pizza took quite a while to be served but I appreciate that good food takes time. The waitress did apologize for the wait. All in all, a good experience.

I've tried their takoyaki at the Richmond night market, and have been wanting to try out the restaurant itself. When we arrived at 5:45 on a Tuesday, it was already filling up and late arrivals were made to wait.

We ordered the usual sushi and tempura. They weren't bad at all but not great neither. As the title suggested, value is there as they were priced accordingly. ie not overly expensive or cheap.

Service was inconsistent depending on the waitress. One kept forgeting to bring us an extra bowl despite several reminders. The decor certainly offered no ambience. The chairs were high school classroom materials, and the tables' height were uneven. (We had a party of 6 and so they put two tables together).

All in all it was good and I may return, but it wasn't what I'd expected, especially seeing all the people waiting for their tables outside.

(Please note that this is for an experience from a couple of years back.)

I bought their signature latte which I had enjoyed on a weekly basis for several months, all of which had been excellent.

This time, I ordered a small latte take out, and when I entered my car parked only half a block down, I took a sip. It felt warm and definitely not hot. I took another sip and then asked my wife to try it to see if she thinks it's cool too, and she concurred.

I walked back to the store and took it directly to the person at the espresso machine. With no smile or apology, he took the cup back and began making another one for me....and here's where the problem started.

He told me that next time not to bring it back with the cup half full. My reaction is:
1. Excuse me, you provided me with an inferior product, and I took the time to come back to let you know. The least you can do is thank me and make me another one.
2. He indirectly accused me of trying to get more than I deserve by drinking half the cup and get another full cup. The only reason why it was half full is exactly because it was cool, otherwise I would have burned my tongue trying to drink up half a cup within half a block.
3. On my way out, I stopped by the counter and told the lady who originally took my order that she should tell the manager about the bad service I received. Then the most unprofessional thing happened. The person who made the latte shouted back across the counter and across the restaurant that HE was the manager. What arrogance!!! I placed my latte on the counter and told the lady that they have just lost my business.

The lesson here for them is that a good product doesn't allow one to become arrogant. And the marketing lesson here is that when you have a good product, others will copy. Since then, I have found many that serve a latte that is just as good if not better.

Consistency is the key to a successful restaurant, and Torarenbo does it well. The rating above is pretty well the same each time we go, and we've going once a month for the past 12 months.
Best value: mango California roll. Consistently good. Never made ahead of time (despite being one of the most popular items). At less than $7, value is excellent as other places charge $10+.
Other items to recommend include chicken karaage, prawn tempura, and negitoro temaki.

Value = Benefit - Cost. And we got good value. My family go there once a month and the food and service quality are consistently good. Unlike many new Japanese popping up in town, this one has real Japanese chefs, as well as servers.

Price is higher than your regular restaurant, but the value is there. All sushi were good. Made fresh. Try the robata items. Also, the beef tongue was very good and reasonably priced for the quality. It was served with a mini stone stove so you can grill the meat at your table.

And if you're a sweet potato fan, try the 'Thunder Fries", which is sweet potato tempura/french fry style. With the blend of sauces served, they were fantastic.

Will continue to go.

We took our best client to this place after visiting its website. This was mistake #1 as the lesson learned here is not to trust everything a restaurant's own website say. Like a sitcom, everything that could have gone wrong, did.

1. SLOW service. All 5 of us ordered entree only for our lunch. Took them over 20 minutes to bring them out. At the 15 minute mark, the waiter who sensed that things took longer than usual, came by and instead of saying that the food is on its way, told us that he should have encouraged us to order appetizers. As we were fully engaged in our business conversation, this only emphasized the slow service.

2. THOUGHTLESS service. When the entrees finally arrived, they only had 4 out of 5. So the fifth guest had to wait over 5 minutes for his. Being polite guests, others waited until the fifth plate arrives before starting. This made the food colder than it should be.

3. VALUE-SUBTRACTED service. The portions were ridiculously small, practically appetizer size. For the price charged, we don't see where the value was. The service wasn't it. The ambiance (or there lack of) wasn't it. And the food quality wasn't it.

4. SUICIDAL service. Finally, to shoot themselves in the foot, the waiter tried to make it up by bringing us complimentary desserts. Two mistakes here. One, the size of the chocolate cakes he brought were absolutely ridiculously small. It was smaller than your safeway brownies. One bite and it was gong. Two, the waiter, with the help of two other servers, brought only 4 desserts. So the one guest left without dessert waited, and waited, and waited, for his dessert that never came. We had hoped that at least the waiter would have noticed when he came back to collect the plates, but no....not a word.

5. THANKLESS service. Thankless here refers to how the waiter, hostess, and the restaurant manager did not utter one "thank you for coming and see you again" to anyone of us.

None of us will be back, and no, we're not sorry.