Hito Japanese Restaurant in Mount Kisco, NY- A Series of Unfortunate Events

Hito Japanese Restaurant in Mount Kisco, NY has great reviews across Yelp and Open Table. I went based on the research I did. What happened next was a series of unfortunate events for everyone involved.

It was a mid-January night. I met a friend at 6:30pm. The restaurant was completely empty and cold. We asked for the heat to be turned up and they thought we would be more comfortable in one of those Japanese styled rooms in the back. Something was wrong with the design of the room. The distance from the tatami to the floor was weird; my legs were hanging off the tatami like those of a small child sitting on the edge of a cliff. The distance from the tatami to the table in the center of the room was off; I could not sit close enough to the table without hunching over. The table was too low. I tried to pull my legs up, sitting cross-legged and leaning back against the wall. The walls looked like they were constructed out of 4’x 8′ plywood and were barely decorated. The walls were also hard and uncomfortable to lean against.

Despite my discomfort, I tried to order. Because we were now located in one of the rooms, the wait staff forgot about us. We waited and waited. After 20 mins or so, a waitress finally came. When the food came after another 20 mins, I saw that my chopsticks were uneven. That was blasphemy in the Asian culture! I got up and went outside to show them my chopsticks. The Asian male behind the counter thought it was a little funny that I was fuming – he handed me another pair of uneven chopsticks. I declined and picked out my own out of a big batch they had behind the counter. I said to him, ” You really should know better.” Salmon Roe/Ikura with a Quail Egg Yellow Tail/ Hamachi  Nabeyaki Udon – tasteless. Came without togarashi, the Japanese red chili pepper that always accompanies the udon
 Shrimp Tempura – greasy
Seared Tuna/Maguro – compliments of the restaurant. Why would you sear your raw fish and smother it with teriyaki when it’s better raw?
Mochi Ice cream compliments of the restaurant. This was good.

Perhaps the food was better than what I thought that night. Perhaps I am just an ungrateful person. It irritated me greatly that the Asian wait staff did not have more pride in their service level or a higher bar for chopsticks. You only see uneven chopsticks in the cheapest of the cheap restaurants in Asia; takeout joints in most places do better than this fancy restaurant in Mount Kisco, NY.

For a $70 meal, I expected and demanded even-length chopsticks.

The wait staff seemed to have recognized their shortcomings by offering complimentary dishes. Regardless, it’s difficult to like your dinner when nothing went right all night.

This experience took place at

Hito Japanese Restaurant

26 E Main St
Mt Kisco, NY 10549
(914) 241-8488