Nijo Kizuki — Restaurant in Kyoto

Very unfriendly owner!! As I walked away from the ladies´room after dinner, the sliding door was inadvertently left just slightly open (I had just arrived in Japan, so I wasnt used to sliding doors that dontt close like regular doors). As I walked to my seat, the owner started shouting really angrily in a very loud voice at me in Japanese. (I was scared what was going to happen now) Luckily, there was a Japanese man, who kindly closed only the small gap in the door. However, I am a 60 year old woman and I have never been treated like that in any restaurant, not even by the owner or the waiters. Luckily, during my two-week holiday, I didn`t meet a single person so unpleasant, all the Japanese were very friendly. We spent 55,- euros/person + drinks for dinner, so the experience was definitely not worth it. There are much, much better sushi places in Kyoto with a cheerful, respectful attitude towards customers. Based on the owner's behavior, he clearly hates/disdains foreign tourists, so it would be easier for him to put a text on the company's page saying they are not welcome. I would never have believe, that there are such unfriendly people in Japan, and luckily the only one who was like that, was the owner at that...

Well I don't know if the chef dislikes foreigners or was he having a bad day. I won't post any pictures of the food, but the quality of the fish I must say was above average and the chef does have the skills to execute his dishes well. From what I can tell, he was trying to serve sushi, alternating between white and red vinegar rice which is an interesting touch. His attitude however, was little short of being despicable. When entering his shop, he gave us the vibe of us being unwelcomed giving short one word answers to our questions which was not customary in Japanese culture. When serving the nigiris, he pretty much lightly tossed the pieces on the serving tray and served all pieces at a pace telling us 'finish up your meal quickly, I wanna close shop'. That was at about 1pm and he had no customers in the shop. Following the rushed meal, and this seals this visit being the last time for me was when we paid the bill and walked out. At the entrance, he put up the most gracious smile like all other Japanese people waving us goodbye as though he was at his best service. Such two faced behavior is not acceptable in all cultures, and I will not be back again. Giving him 2 stars just because the food...

The head chef looked unhappy and tried to avoid any eye contact or conversation, which directly led to a heavy and oppressive dining atmosphere. When I tried to speak to him, he heard me but walked straight away. Here, no one bothers to introduce the origin of the ingredients or the cooking process; they merely serve the food mechanically.

In this situation, not being able to speak English can’t be used as an excuse. Many similar restaurants hire English-speaking staff or provide multilingual brochures, but here they clearly don’t care.

What’s more, even though I chose a relatively expensive set menu, I still didn’t feel full, thanks to the below-average size of the sushi. The dessert they offered was nothing more than a single, unprocessed scoop of ice cream.

All in all, from the ordinary flavors and rough knife skills to the mediocre menu, I cannot see any genuine effort or ambition from this restaurant. If you’re from outside Japan and want a place to remind you of every bad experience you’ve ever had, by all...