KIBOU Japanese Kitchen & Bar Reviews Summary

Service

Pros:

• "Awesome service, great food!"
• "Our waiter was helpful and attentive, topping up the water and taking drink orders when we were ready."
• "The staff were friendly and relaxed and we enjoyed having a drink in the bar before our meal."
• "Service was excellent, along with the food, and reasonably priced."
• "The staff were unbelievably friendly and genuine!"
• "Staff are super wonderful with a great explanation of the menu and food knowledge."
• "The service was great - friendly, efficient and helpful staff."

Cons:

• "The servers clearing the table before you had finished your food can make for an uncomfortable dining experience."
• "But their policies and their lack of attention / clearing the table were poor."
• "Despite the good food, the staff need better training because it definitely wasn’t worth the £100 price tag for 3 people."
• "Service could’ve been better as it felt like we had been forgotten a LOT of the time."
• "We waited very long for our sushi."
• "Booking was very difficult and nobody ever answered the phone."
• "The service by the waitress really was far from satisfactory and she appeared to be utterly miserable."

Food Quality

Pros:

• "The food is amazing - super fresh fish (best sushi I've had in a long time, especially at this price!)."
• "DELICIOUS, absolutely delicious food at Kibou."
• "The sushi, sashimi and those snacks are fresh and taste good."
• "Volcano rolls were really really good; gyoza were really nice too, good flavour and good texture."
• "The food is top-notch, full of flavour, well presented."
• "The food was incredible- fresh and tasty."
• "The food is excellent and puts places like yo-sushi to shame. It's just so much better."

Cons:

• "The sushi is good but nothing special."
• "Beautiful interior, however, food was really disappointing."
• "Despite the change in price for the vegan one the quality and quantity was unacceptable and was no better than a supermarket sushi."
• "The gyozas were soggy and bland, the ramen was bland, salty and the noodles were very overdone, and the chicken katsu was hard and rice was plain and bland."
• "Pork ramen wasn't bad, but the char siu pork and noodle need improvement. Meat too fatty, cheap quality noodles."
• "Nice sushi and gluten free options but the duck donburi was inedible."
• "Actually very disappointed. The people and atmosphere was great but don’t order the sukiyaki. I paid £19 for basically a bowl of salty soup with a few bits of meat and mushroom plus a small helping of noodles. I came out hungry!"

Ambience & Decor

Pros:

• "The interior was beautiful and staff were very friendly."
• "The place had a great atmosphere and decor enhanced the experience."
• "Amazing decor with modern art in Japanese style."
• "The decor is super and authentic, the music is spot on."
• "The decor is nice with the cherry blossoms around, seating was good and you can see the fish on display as well."
• "The new venue is stunning!"
• "The decor is next level 😍. Its unique and far from the copycats that rife new Restaurants."

Cons:

• "We were greeted by a lovely personnel and were seated in little cozy gloomy corner."
• "The shop is underground and the inside is a bit small."
• "It is difficult to go in a wheelchair."
• "Firstly it was dark. Actually hard to see dark."
• "Only thing I didn't like tables next to us were too close I felt like I was having dinner with them."
• "Overall experience felt a bit commercial and 'chain restaurant like' on this occasion."
• "The only reason this place is not getting 5 stars is because the toilet were not in great shape."

Value

Pros:

• "Out of this world sushi at decent prices."
• "The food was out of this world, and definitely worth the price tag it has."
• "It is pricey but it's worth the money, I would say save it for a special occasion!"
• "The quality of the food is extremely high and you won't get it anywhere else especially for this price."
• "The price was very reasonable as well. We spent just over £70 for 3 people."
• "The food is good value for money and staff are very pleasant and helpful."
• "Food is moderately priced."

Cons:

• "It is expensive."
• "However It hurt me to say that Kibou sushi became the most overrated and overpriced sushi restaurant in Cheltenham."
• "Nothing was done and we were charged full price (£8 for each plate!) at the end."
• "Definitely on the pricier side, with a few items seeming overpriced given the portion sizes."
• "Ridiculous prices which are not justifiable even during these times."
• "It's not 'authentic'. The prices are sky high for dishes which are not even interesting."
• "The bill was a bit eye watering, but it was worth it."