Sushi Ippei — Restaurant in Kanazawa

TL;DR: Worst sushi experience in Japan. The food itself was mediocre, but all was made even worse by the attitude of the two people working there (I assume husband and wife, chef and server respectively). —————— Myself (living in Tokyo) and my 2 friends visiting from Europe had to come here after two other sushi restaurants that were recommended by locals were fully booked, so it was an improvised visit. We noticed that this is a place that caters mostly to tourists (never a good sign…) but it was our only night in Kanazawa and we wanted to try some sushi here. After a 30 min wait in the queue outside, we were seated at the counter. The lady (who speaks decent enough English) recommended us the “nigiri set”: 8 pieces for 1700JPY. Since it was her recommendation, we started with it. Here came the disappointment: you would assume that if you order a set menu, which is recommended by the restaurant, you would get good value for your money. Instead, we quickly realised that it was a “scam”: the sum of the values of the single nigiris that we were served, didn’t even get close to 1700JPY. 3 out of the 8 pieces were “Tamago”, “Ika” and “Tako” nigiri, each for 100JPY each on “à la carte” menu. The rest were 200JPY-each pieces. When I asked the chef which fish we were being served (I speak quite good Japanese, so it wasn’t a language issue) he dismissed me saying he was too busy to reply (??). I then asked her wife then, and she mumbled something but didn’t want to reply either, clearly. That made me realise that it wasn’t just an honest mistake, but a calculated one: they didn’t want us to know which fishes we were served exactly because they knew already that if we tried to then sum their values on “à la carte” menu, we would realise how bad of a deal we just got. All in all, the nigiris were also pretty small, the fish nothing special, and everything was made bitter from the taste of disappointment of getting such a bad deal (and the thought that they consciously try to scam tourists like this). Afterwards, we ordered a few other “special” pieces because we were still hungry after the set and still wanted to try “Otoro”, “Ikura” and “Uni” as my friends don’t get to eat sushi so often. Those were not “special” either at all. Overall, very disappointing experience. I would have not posted such a harsh and long review if the food was just mediocre, but the fact that they recommended something to us that was clearly a “scam”, really bothered me. Dishonest behaviour from the owners, stay away from it. There are so many honest and kind people running amazing restaurants in Japan, that you shouldn’t be wasting your time and...

Sushi here is AMAZZZING!!! Ran by a husband and wife duo. My boyfriend and I got the recommended set of sushi the owner recommended and every piece was so good and fresh! No fishy tastes whatsoever! The owner asked us if we’re okay with Japanese style sushi made with wasabi inside. We love wasabi so it was amazing! But if you’re not into the fire sensation, I’d ask for none or less as you can really taste it. The sashimi really melts in your mouth almost.. I wish to have visited again today but unfortunately they’re closed on Sundays and I’m in Kanazawa for only 2 days :( would 100% come back if I visit Kanazawa again. Honestly the best fresh sushi I’ve ever had and the price is reasonable for the quality you get...

Having seen the raving reviews, we left with disappointment. We walked 25 minutes from our hotel to get here for dinner and I really wanted to like this place. However, the food left much to be desired. The sushi rice was not compacted enough and was falling apart on the counter even as we tried to pick it up with our chopsticks. Certain cuts of fish/shrimp were also not presented particularly well (e.g. torn flesh) even though it was the most basic, although they did taste fresh. Having visited many places at similar price point, unfortunately this is the first place that I have felt indignant enough to leave a...