Negiya Nyorosuke Pontocho — Restaurant in Kyoto

Summary: good food but overpriced, service started lovely as usual in Japan but ended up leaving us very upset.

My partner and I had a reservation at 6:30 but were 8 minutes late. I was very grateful to the male server who immediately let us in and held our table. We had the wagyu sukiyaki, draft beer, Gion sake recommended by the male server, and 3-piece unagi skewer. All the food was really good, though a bit expensive compared to other places I have been to in Kyoto and other places in Japan. Our total came out to be about 16,720 yen; to put in perspective, we have indulged in similar amounts of quality food and alcohol at other places, and the bill is usually between 7,500 to 12,000 yen.

At this restaurant, many of the servers (male/female/etc), including the one who recommended the sake, were very nice to us, as we have become accustomed to while traveling through Japan for a month and a half. However, one of the female servers who speaks a little English made us feel like she was rushing us to pay with cash (even though I saw on their website that they accept credit card, and restaurants like this with high price tags in touristy areas normally accept credit card), and she was condescending in picking out the exact coins and bills I should use. I've paid with cash many times before and can count. I am a functioning adult. Her first insistence on how to pay was even wrong, and we had to recalculate based on how I was originally going to pay, with her preferred method of cash.

We were there for less than 90 minutes, even including the 8 minutes we were late; demand was slowing down (close to 8 p.m.); and they had just let in other bigger parties so turnover was happening just fine. I was ashamed about being late and worried about our reputation for the future, but nevermind. I would never go back here even if the food is good. Thankfully there are many delicious restaurants in the Gion-Pontocho area with more affordable prices and much better service.

Our lateness aside, it seems we are not the only people who have experienced rude service here based on past reviews, so we shouldn't have been...

A great discovery of a new (for us) way to enjoy eel in a beautiful part of Kyoto.

Walking along Pontocho in Kyoto means passing by an endless row of Izakayas and restaurants, one looking more astonishing than the other one.

Not surprisingly many of these restaurants offer Wagyu, which we had the night before, so they were not an option for us.

Negrita Nyorosuke caught our eye because they offered something special, eel, which we hadn't had yet in 10 days in Japan.

When we entered we were immediately warned to get at least 1 drink & 1 main each. Fair enough for a Friday night at 8pm.

We were lucky to find 2 seats against the counter (always my favorite position).

We ordered skewers of grilled vegetables which were really really tasty, with the vegetables tasting of high quality.

We also ordered 2 bowls of "eels on rice". Unfortunately due to a misunderstanding initially we only got 1 ball.

As soon as the chef understood the mistake he quickly prepared a 2nd bowl.

Because the preparation would have taken 15-20 mins (and they kindly warned us of that) they brought us some additional bites to kill the time.

The eel was very tasty and cooked to perfection. It literally melted in mouth and it was not so easy to pickup if one wanted to take away the skin (which I didn't as it was very good!).

Like others have mentioned I found the eel a bit too sweet, especially during the first few bites. I also found myself getting quickly used to the taste and actually arriving to the end of a fairly large plate wanting more (which to me is always a sign of great balance in flavor).

As an aside: I absolutely LOVED the design...

Overall our worst experience dining out in Japan. The food was good, though expensive. Service was decent until the end, when it took a nosedive.

Food: We had the wagyu beef sukiyaki. The flavor was good, though as others noted you get about 6 thin slices of beef per person. You can get better food for less expense elsewhere.

Service: Generally fair, though we were rushed out the door. I normally wouldn't mind since restaurants need to turn tables around, but this was something else. First we were asked to pay in cash even though they take cards. Okay, we can accommodate that. Then the hostess commented (incorrectly) as my partner took money out, saying that we didn't need X bill (we did) and we just need to give her Y coins. The whole thing was very awkward and made the process take longer than if she hadn't tried to "help" us. And it felt very tacky given that it happened right after she spoke to some folks who wanted a table, then she pointed to us and said they could...