雲レストラン Kumo Restaurant — Restaurant in Kutchan

While the food had its highlights, the overall experience at this restaurant fell short of expectations, especially given the premium price vs other Niseko restaurants. Below I have noted a detailed summary of our visit:

Arrival: We arrived 10 minutes early for our reservation and were asked to wait outside until our table was ready. The staff assured us they would come to get us once it was prepared. After waiting 20 minutes, we went inside ourselves to check, only to find that our table was ready. The server apologized for forgetting about us. The restaurant was around 30% full at this time.

Food mix-up: A course from our “premium tasting menu”, a plate of sashimi, was delivered to our table. However, as we were about to begin eating, a different server came over to apologize and retrieve the plate, explaining it had been mistakenly served to us. The plate was then swapped with another tables. The portion we received was noticeably smaller than the initial plate. While errors like this can occur, the handling of the situation was disappointing, both from a hygiene and a service standpoint.

Course order issues: As we progressed through the tasting menu, the sequence of dishes became disjointed. The final course, miso and rice, was served before two preceding courses. When the “A4 Wagyu” arrived, we asked about the missing tofu dish and were assured it would be brought soon. Unfortunately, the server did not seem to follow up, and after waiting 30 minutes, we decided to request the bill. We asked if the tofu dish could be compensated, with the initial offer from the server being to remove a single beer (the least expensive item on our bill at 1200 yen). After expressing our dissatisfaction of the overall service, a manager intervened and removed two beers from our total bill of 41400 yen.

Distracted staff: Toward the end of our meal, the staff seemed preoccupied with clearing tables hastily and discussing their plans to leave for the evening, making remarks regarding their excitement of leaving as soon as possible. This gave the impression that service was winding down prematurely, leaving us feeling rushed and somewhat neglected.

While the food itself was mostly enjoyable and showcased the restaurant’s potential, the inconsistencies in service detracted significantly from the experience. For the premium cost, we had expected a higher level of attentiveness and professionalism. With improvements in training and service coordination, this could be a much more worthwhile experience.

In the meantime, while the staff are maybe still being trained, I would recommend...

We were here 5 days in a row for lunch as our friends were staying at Skye hotel and it was a perfect meeting point. The entire situation was extremely bizarre and inconsistent. Some days our food and drinks came correct and in a timely manner and other days dishes would be missing and/or wrong, drinks would come after we were done eating even though we would order them before the food and the service would be nonexistent, at one point we even waited 15 minutes just to be greeted at our table! One of the last days we were there we came to the restaurant for lunch and were told to come back in 30 minutes as "the kitchen couldn't handle the volume", I looked into the dining room and mentioned to the hostess that there were plenty of tables she replied that it's not about space but about the kitchen keeping up and again told me to come back in 30 minutes. She didn't take my name or the number of people in my party but we reluctantly decided to go for a few more ski runs and delay our lunch. We returned 45 MINUTES later to recieve the exact same response, the hostess just shrugged as if it wasn't her problem. I find this to be completely rediculous as February is their prime time so to not have an appropriate amount of staff that are properly trained and supply good customer service is unacceptable. The food isn't great, it's just basic food that's over priced, if/when we ever return to Niseko we would definitely look into other options but the atmosphere is decent enough and the location is perfect as you can slide...

If the atmosphere and service were not that great, I would not even bother about feedback as there might be some hope for this place if they really want to be international standard. Well, the price tags are international standard as the restaurant said.

Beautiful bar, tables and kitchen. The staffs were super lovely. The dishes were served so fast that we have to drink our 14,000 wine almost after dinner. (quite funny which we don't mind)

Every yakitori and the fried food were way too oily. I know fried food is supposed to be oily, but people who have tried fried food in Japan should know what I am referring to. I didnt want to write this till the Crab congee was served.

The ultimate disappointment is the Crab Congee. It is rice boiled in some crab broth for 5 mins. I wish the congee would have been cooked for a longer time. The rice tastes like rice and the crab tastes like crab. Nothing blends in together. It is 3500 Yen which is ok if it done up right.... but no... Don't mind paying international standard for good food.

The chef controlling every dish is not doing his job to quality control his dishes. Fantastic kitchen but food is of a stardard that I can't call it international.....but we have concluded that in Niseko, it is hard to find great restaurants as it is for the international crowd with diverse taste.

The Skye cocktail is definitely one of the best. Go have their...