QOMO Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Dusseldorf

Located at the top of the Rheinturm, Qomo sets expectations high with sweeping views of Düsseldorf’s skyline. And I’ll give it this: the view is absolutely stunning, especially around sunset. It’s the kind of romantic, cinematic backdrop.

Getting there, however, is another story. Despite receiving no fewer than five reservation confirmation and reminder emails, not a single word mentioned the 30-minute queue for the elevator. Yes, I timed it. This lack of communication left us waiting awkwardly in a tourist-crowd bottleneck—not exactly how you want to start a supposedly refined dining experience.

Now, let’s talk about the food. Qomo labels itself as Japanese fusion, but much of what we were served tasted more like confusion.

The scallop ceviche was so salty I genuinely worried for my kidney function. The sushi didn’t have that fresh, delicate glow you expect from sashimi-grade fish. It looked dull, and unfortunately, tasted the same. The much-hyped wagyu skewer? It had the texture and flavor of basic beef—not tender, not marbled, just... sad. I couldn’t finish it, and my (merciful) friend ended up taking it off my hands. Even the edamame wasn’t spared—some pods were still undercooked. How do you mess up edamame?

Ironically, the most enjoyable item was the roasted potatoes—which, in a Japanese restaurant, says more than it should.

I’ll have to say, my friend was happy with her few dishes, one of them being the octopus starter, which I also find decent, a little heavy-handed on the salt (a recurring theme), but the octopus itself was fresh and properly cooked so I suppose there are hits among the misses.

Service-wise, things weren’t much better. The ladies’ restroom was out of service, and other guests were casually advising me to use the men’s. Not ideal. Waitstaff were clearly overwhelmed: one accidentally knocked several items off a nearby table, which was very close to ours. When I asked for soy sauce, the waiter poured it generously—filling my entire tiny dish, as though I were about to eat sushi like a bratwurst in gravy. I’m sure he meant good tho. He was very very nice and polite during the whole night.

Look—if you’re just here for drinks and the view, you’ll probably have a lovely evening. And to be fair, a lot of guests (especially those not particularly familiar with Japanese cuisine) seemed perfectly happy. But if you’re coming in with high standards for food or even a basic expectation of authenticity, be prepared for disappointment—served with a side of soy...

Beautiful location, and the non-vegan food is certainly good. However, two clear downsides: The waiter made two mistakes, causing unnecessary waiting for both the beer and the vegan sushi. The vegan menu is disappointing. It’s the usual “afterthought” approach: edamame, simple salads, and a few types of basic maki rolls, all made by combining the same handful of vegetables in slightly different ways. There’s no real main course, no warm dish, nothing original or substantial—just the bare minimum using what’s already in the kitchen. As a vegan, you immediately notice the lack of effort and creativity compared to the rest of the menu. People are left out due to the lack of diverse options; what’s expected is genuine effort in creativity and variety of ingredients.

And this isn’t about asking for the impossible—Japanese cuisine actually offers plenty of vegan options beyond the basics. For example: • Grilled or marinated tofu dishes (agedashi tofu, tofu teriyaki) • Vegetable tempura • Vegan ramen or udon bowls • Inari sushi (rice-stuffed tofu pockets) • Warm donburi with seasonal vegetables • Japanese pickles and seaweed salads • Vegan tonkatsu made from soy alternatives, tofu, or chickpea flour

A bit more creativity and a willingness to use the variety already present in Japanese cuisine would make a huge difference for vegan guests.

Hope it’ll helps for the future, best regards.

EDIT 4/28th My reply:

I’d like to add that this is not a matter of whether your concept is “primarily” vegan or not. When you run a restaurant—especially in such a unique location where there are no other alternatives available—you have a responsibility to be inclusive. Otherwise, you’re effectively excluding an entire group of customers, which is simply not acceptable.

Inclusivity today means offering real options, not just two kinds of maki and a couple of basic salads assembled from whatever is already in the kitchen. In Germany, well-thought-out and creative vegan options are now the standard, not the exception. There’s a huge difference between not having a fully vegan menu and providing only the bare minimum—just a couple of rolls and a few edamame. No one is asking you to change your whole concept, but simply to ensure at least one decent alternative for everyone, especially given your special location.

I hope this will be taken not as gratuitous criticism, but as a real invitation to make your restaurant more welcoming and accessible to a wider...

The only reason why I don't give 5 stars to this place is because of the unpolite and unpleasant hostess (I don't know her name but she had short blonde hair with a tattoo on one of her arms). We discovered this great restaurant during my visit to Düsseldorf, the views are amazing from the top, specially at night and the food was delicious, not to mention the cocktails that were amazing. Me and my friend arrived with no reservation on a Sunday evening around 19:45. We were told by the hostess that a table may be available around 20:30 and that we could wait at the bar (we supposed that they were waiting for the tables previously reserved since we saw some empty tables). So we decided to wait and order some cocktails that were truly tasty. The 2 guys at the bar were very friendly and nice to us and actually thanks to one of them is that we got our table for dinner in the end. We noticed that at 20:30 people started to arrive and my friend decided to find out if we could get our table, the hostess walked by and when we called her by saying "excuse me" she didn't even turn around and just said "hold on". We decided to wait patiently until she was not busy and suddenly it was 21:00. She never came by even though we were very close, never said a word to us so my friend got up and went to ask her about the table (since people stopped coming and there were a few empty tables) she said "sorry but we're full". We were a bit disappointed but moreover annoyed by her careless attitude to us. So we decided to take another cocktail at the bar. Suddenly, one of the bartenders asked us if we wanted a table so we could have dinner, we said yes and he went to talk to the hostess. Around 5 minutes later he took us to our table and there was this lady arranging the table, but she didn't even look at us or say something like "sorry for keep you waiting" not a word at all and just walked away. In other words, our experience would have been perfect if it wasn't for this lady that has no sense of service and education. Leaving this aside, I highly recommend this place but it's better if you can reserve in advance. We enjoyed amazing cocktails and...