Shinzushi — Restaurant in Beppu

This should be an easy 5 star rating but the main sushi chef really ruined the whole mood of the evening. The restaurant is small and quaint and is tastefully decorated. It feels comfortable. It feels like you would really like to enjoy yourself there, but...... Sitting at the counter with my Japanese wife and her dad from Osaka we were astounded at how rude and arrogant the sushi chef was towards us. He seemed VERY put off to answer any of our questions regarding the different fish that were available that evening. Getting information from him was like pulling teeth. I'll come back to Rude Sushi-san man shortly. The rest of the staff were absolutely fantastic. The woman sushi chef was very helpful when it came to finding a special, ichiban sake that was not on the menu. She always had a great smile. Not like sour sushi dude. He barked at his staff occasionally when something obviously displeased him and they seemed to walk on eggshells around him. Serious signs of workplace abuse it seemed to us. Sad. It really was so sad because the food was excellent, quality was ichiban and presentation was magnificent. We were ordering Al a carte so for 3 us, with all the sake, the bill was over 45,000 yen (over $300 USD) so it wasn't like we were budget diners. We would have had more and enjoyed more sake but when Mr Sour Sushi literally waved us off from ordering from him at the counter that was it. He told us to order from the one young fellow who was very polite and generously pleasant. It seemed like the whole staff tried as hard as possible to be happy to offset Sushi Chef's disdain to his customers. With the unpleasant dismissal from our sushi chef we decided it was time to stop giving this angry man more of our money. Enough was enough. I paid for the meal and when everyone else pleasantly wished us well and gave their thanks as we departed, Rude Sushi-san purposely walked away (we could see him behind the curtain) and avoided what would have been at least a slightly redeeming thanks and goodbye. Perhaps he does not like Japanese from Osaka? Perhaps he did not like that I was with Japanese from Osaka? Whatever it was, it was suddenly the most unwelcome feeling that all of us experienced. I feel really bad because the food was great, the staff were awesome, but the one guy (owner??) was so rude and arrogant that you just cannot feel comfortable and welcome. We travel to Beppu to see another nearby family member but I sadly cannot recommend Shinzushi due to the owner's poor and sour attitude. Maybe he is not the owner and they can give the job to the wonderful, happy woman working the sushi counter. We will be gladly spending our money elsewhere in Beppu. There are many sushi restaurants to choose from who will gladly give you a smile, answer questions (or provide more info) and appreciate your business. Not this...

To say this place is incredible is an understatement. Everything here is fantastic down to the staff and Master Hatono himself. He was very friendly and took the time to talk to us about how all the fish was locally sourced. I’ve never had such good sushi. We tried MANY things our first time here and decided to make a reservation for the following night for the the omakase menu (which should say something about the...

One of the best sushi places in Beppu. Please visit as staff are so friendly and they have an English menu and some staff can speak English so you will have a great experience with...