Inokichi — Restaurant in Dazaifu

We were extremely disappointed with our dinner experience at this restaurant during our day trip to Dazaifu. As non-Japanese speakers and non-white foreigners, we were made to feel noticeably out of place and unwelcome throughout our dinner. Despite what earlier reviews suggested, there was NO English menu available, and the staff did not bother to help much with recommending or guiding us on what to order. In fact, we saw the boss/owner/head chef tell his subordinate/staff to receive and serve the other local Japanese guests first and leave us (unattended and helpless).

So what really stood out was the stark difference in treatment between us and the local Japanese diners. While they were warmly welcomed and provided with the full dining setup—we were not offered the same, which made us feel awkward and out of place. It was hard not to feel like we were being subtly sidelined simply because we were non-Japanese and couldn’t speak the language (and probably also since we were not Caucasians).

While the sashimi itself was fresh, the overall experience left a sour note. This restaurant experience was a serious and huge letdown, a heavy dampener to our otherwise pleasant day excursion in Dazaifu. The cold, rude and indifferent service overshadowed what could have been an enjoyable day trip.

We understand that language barriers can create challenges for tourists from overseas, but a bit of warmth and effort to make all guests feel welcome would go a long way. We hope the restaurant considers this...

This restaurant does not really welcome foreigners and that’s very unfortunate as it made our Dazaifu day trip end on a poor, depressed note. We were obviously not welcomed as we can’t speak Japanese. There was no English menu available (unlike what the reviews from a year ago said) and we were not given the usual small plates and sauce plates unlike how the other Japanese patrons in the restaurant were provided. We saw to our shock and utter disbelief how the other Japanese (local) patrons were heartily, warmly received and politely treated from start to end, in apparent stark contrast to how we (non-Japanese speaking) were sidelined and ignored during our visit and dining in the restaurant. We were made to feel lousy and second class during our dining there. Although the sashimi was fresh, the bad experience of being poorly/coolly treated as foreign patrons resulted in indigestion for us after we left the restaurant. We paid the full fare including customer service but in truth there was no service for us except rude &...

The place was full for lunch so it took a 15-20minute wait to get in. The food was good though. The salad seemed to have some truffle oil which worked well with the sesame balsamic dressing. The boiled fish was great and cooked perfectly with the meat being moist and soft and the sauce working well with the fish. The sashimi was also fresh with the chirashi having a white fish, a reddish meat fish, squid, some roe, and tamago. Nice place to try and with...