ENGAWA1441 — Restaurant in Fujikawaguchiko

My experience here was... not great. l unfortunately can't recommend this place to foreigners visiting the Fuji area.

I'll start with the good. We'd made a reservation with our hotel, but because our taxi was running behind, we arrived about 10 minutes after our reservation time. The host did allow us to keep our reservation, thankfully. The staff there also did help us call a taxi to return to our hotel. This was a bar type place, so it was open a bit later than many of the restaurants around Lake kawaguchiko, and the drinks were good.

Now, that's about all the good that I can say. Perhaps it's better for lunch, I'm not sure, but I wasn't impressed with the food or the service.

This place required a 1 drink minimum (nonalcoholic is okay), but you typically only encounter that if the bar only has finger foods, since they make the money off drinks. This place, however, also emphasized their steaks, which I couldn't categorize as finger food. Idk, a bit weird, and water was self-serve.

For an appetizer, we had the mochi cheese pancake, which was fine. Comparable to the ones you can get at a korean bakery in the USA. It was served with ketchup and honey.

For the main course, one of my companions ordered the steak and cheese, which they said was good. I ordered the spicy chicken and cheese. My chicken was not at all spicy, though, and the bigger problem was that both of these dishes felt like they needed a carb to go with them, as they seemed more akin to dips. So we split a plate of garlic bread, which barely had any garlic butter on it. That leads me to my second issue with the food-- the portions were exceptionally stingy for the price paid for them. This was quite different from my experience with other Japanese restaurants. Usually the cultural norm is you leave a little bit on the plate to show you've been fed enough, but I had to stop the server from taking away my skillet before I got a chance to eat the remains of my dish with the garlic bread.

My other companion ordered the shrimp and broccoli ajillo, which they enjoyed. That at least did come with some bread to dip into the skillet. They also ordered French fries, which was a surprisingly fair amount and came with ketchup, but were unsalted.

So, as you can tell, this place aimed to have an international appeal with the food, but while it fell a bit short in that regard, it was even worse when it came to service.

It was clear that the staff didn't know much English, which is fine, because we could (and did) use Google translate--when we could actually talk to the server, of which there was only one. So that meant that 1. Everything took way too long to come out, and 2. We had a hard time getting the server's attention. I know he was bussing by himself, but it sometimes felt like he completely ignored us. And the unfriendly expression he wore the whole time didn't exactly help either. At least on the Qr-code driven ordering system there was an English language option available.

The atmosphere certainly was laid back. The couches we were seated at were comfortable, but maybe a bit too low for the table height. There was some generic hiphop song playing over and over again, which I could've done without.

I think if you're in the kawaguchiko area truly desperate to find a place that's open, maybe try somewhere else in town, or save the cab fare and pick up something from Lawson. That's what we did our first night, and we were much...

I will not recommend this for tourist. There was two young staffs and one old male staff on the day I visited. The old male staff was expressionless. No smile on his face and he talked too softly that I could hardly hear him but he was the receptionist and the one who took order and cleared up tables. Maybe he was too busy so he ignored what I said.

I can talk in simple Japanese. When he was cleared up the table next to us . I tried to asked him my set drink had not come yet. I said すみません, and he did turned his Head to me and nodded. Then I told the issue of my set drink in Japanese with the same voice. But he didn’t respond this time. He kept clearing up the tables and left then. I tried to drew his Attention by kept looking at him but he looked the other way. I waited for about five minutes and then I gave up. I turned to wave at the staff at the cashier and told him I wanted to cancel my set drink as I was in a hurry.

Also I noticed that a couple came in and the old male staff greeted them at the door . Seems like the couple cannot talk in Japanese and the old staff didn’t give them any instructions. I saw him turned around and left after the couple said table for 2. They was confused to watch him left and then they tried to find the table on their own. But when they sat down the old male staff appeared and took them to other table.

The attitude of the old male staff made me feel uncomfortable and seems like he didn’t welcome tourist.

Btw, the food wasn’t that good too. Do not deserve high ranking....

I recently had the pleasure of dining at Engawa1441, and while the experience had its highs and lows, there were definitely standout moments worth mentioning.

First off, the steak was nothing short of amazing! Cooked to perfection, it was incredibly tender and bursting with flavor. It definitely lived up to the high standards I had heard about. Paired with a flavorful salad, which was fresh and vibrant, my meal was off to a fantastic start.

However, my excitement took a hit with the mojitos. I ordered them twice, hoping for a different outcome each time, but unfortunately, they just didn’t hit the mark. They lacked the refreshing taste and balance you'd expect from a well-crafted mojito. It’s clear that some additional training in cocktail preparation is in order.

On a sweeter note, the cheesecake was truly delightful! Rich and creamy, it was a wonderful way to end the meal. That said, the portion was quite small, leaving me wanting just a bit more of that deliciousness.

Lastly, while the food quality is commendable, the overall ambiance of the restaurant could use some improvement. Given the exceptional steaks and desserts, the atmosphere should reflect that excellence. A few updates could really enhance the dining experience and match the caliber of the food.

In summary, Engawa1441 is a great choice if you're looking for an incredible steak and a tasty salad. Just be prepared to skip the mojitos and maybe share the cheesecake if you want more than just a taste! With a few tweaks, this place could...