Our Jiko experiences have always been stellar.
We had a bad experience both with Tiffin's (service, and some of the food) and at ROL (we had the dining package) we won't be back on our next trip.
Our server pushed the octopus app pretty hard so 4/6 people got it (all have eaten/like octopus) and it was salt/brine overload with both olives and capers some octopus was pleasantly grilled while others were either burnt to a crisp or not grilled at all. Whomever was doing final plate checks must have been on break.
When it came to Entrees one person tried to order the new Smoked Wild Board Bolognese and the server said to "try again" and "I can't let you get that". So that person switched to the new Hibiscus Glazed Chicken with Sweet Potato pap which I loved but that person didnt like at all. Pretty much everyone else got the Wagyu and for the most part enjoyed it.
I got the Lamb which overall was cooked well (read: cooked in an immersion circulator to perfect medium rare) but I didnt love the salsify puree and pepper relish/salsa that came with it. Everything together kind of tasted like weird meatloaf and mashed potatoes all loaded up with what might have been Fenugreek. Although I was amazed how perfectly cut the peppers in the pepper relish were cut into eensy weensy perfect little squares. Again, this is was my personal taste/preference/experience.
We seem to definitely be in the minority with regards to people's Tiffin's experiences but I'll always be headed to Jiko for AK area dinners over tiffin's for the foreseeable future.
After we finished the entrees another one of the servers was cleaning a 2 person table next to ours and somehow knocked over pretty much everything off the table which sent broken glass under our table and the table next to ours with 4 people seated at it.
The person that came to clean it up didnt do a great job cleaning under the empty table that the stuff got knocked off of and they sat people there minutes later, luckily when the people about to sit down looked under the chair they pulled out because they found more pieces of plate and wine glass that we couldn't see with the booth we were in partially blocking our view.
The desserts were pretty good we had the sorbet tasting (Lychee and Guava), the chocolate bar thing (laughably small), and the passion fruit curd which was pretty good
We had two people in the party that ate at Tiffin's last August and loved it and were the primary reason for all of us going, they apologized and said that it wasn't nearly as good as when they went last Summer.
We also went to Nomad Lounge beforehand but didn't have any food but the drinks server and atmosphere were excellent.
ROL seating was a mess, partially people not responding to CMs partially CMs not giving clear direction and two CMs giving conflicting directions, They also weren't calling people out who weren't responding to their direction and just repetitively yelling the same blanket direction because a few inconsiderate people wouldn't listen.
They also smushed the ROL Dining Package section with leftover standby (they announced that they were doing this) near the start of the show making what we thought would be a pleasantly comfortable with a little bit of room between pretty much each individual party in the whole section uncomfortable on top of everything else that happened beforehand.
The show itself was also meh and overhyped IMHO, I'm sure my mental state at the time didnt help either. On top of all AK isn't that well lit an night and exiting it in a giant horde was a little more "challenging" than exiting say Epcot or MK.
Thankfully our amazingly funny Mears cab driver turned the whole evening around for us.
