Teriyaki Anarchy Sake is a new Japanese influenced bar on Smith St. It’s not authentic and isn’t trying to be a flash izakaya like Kumo. I met two friends there last Friday night for drinks and food. I began with a Bloody Hugo, a Bloody Mary inspired drink with wasabi instead of tabasco, which I liked a lot.

We arrived at 7pm when the bar was about half full. We ordered drinks, then food, and one of my friends managed to get a second beer along with the last of the food, which arrived as it was prepared. The food is mostly good, with everything modestly priced and there’s plenty of choice for vegetarians.

As time when on the bar became busier and the staff were not able to cope. No one came to clear away the empty plates or offer more drinks. We kept being asked for the spare stool we were saving for a possible late addition to our party.

Realising what was happening and wanting more drinks, we went to the bar and asked for the bill so we could go somewhere less busy. We sat back down at our table and waited. And waited. Eventually we grabbed the menu and began adding up what we’d ordered so we could leave our payment on the table and leave.

We could have easily walked out without paying as no one had the time to notice, but that wouldn’t have been fair. Just as we were about to put our money down we finally got the bill. We immediately handed over our cash and were out the door.

Teriyaki Anarchy Sake has a great atmosphere with reasonably priced food and drinks. All it needs is some more staff on busy nights for it to be somewhere I’d want to stay at for hours rather than eating and leaving.