Sushiiwa — Restaurant in Kyoto

I do not like this restaurant and do not recommend anyone to come. Honestly the sushi didn't taste bad, food quality and service were all good. The ONLY problem was that it was WAY, WAY OVERPRICED. My wife and I ordered a 8000 yen lunch set, before tax, and also need to charge 10% or 15% (I don't remember exactly) service charge. To western countries reader service charge is extremely rare in Japan. I have travelled to Japan over 30 times and visited over hundreds, if not thousands of restaurants in different price level, I think probably less than 10 restaurants or less have charged service charges to me. So eventually I spent slightly less than 10,000 yen per head in this restaurant, and with this price there was no O-toro, no chu-toro, no ikura, no uni, no hotate, no nodoguro. All sushi pieces were very regular white-fish and a regular shrimp. I did hear the next table had O-toro and nodoguro and some other high-price fish, I'm sure they were ordering a more expensive set. My point is, my sushi set was at very most around 2500 to 3000 yen in other sushi restaurant, but here charged me almost 10,000 yen. I had some 1500 to 2000 yen sushi set which had better taste and better fish before. I guess this restaurant was mentioned in some travel books or website in western world because the owner (also the main sushi chef) speaks fluent English, which I have never seen another sushi chef could speak fluent English. So if you speak English and want to have a nice communication with sushi chef, then by all mean visit here. But be aware that the price of a good talk with the chef is already built-in to the meal...

This restaurant seems to be a tourist trap. Today, most of the diners were European and American tourists, and the prices were at European and American levels. During my trip to Japan, I've never encountered a restaurant that charges a service fee. Basically, all restaurants have clear pricing, and the listed prices are tax-inclusive. However, this restaurant adds an additional 15% to all prices, which is the final price. Among that, 10% is tax and 5% is the service fee, which is very un-Japanese. Moreover, the food is not worth the price. There was a fatty salmon dish, where the fatty part was hard to chew and swallow, and the sea urchin was very fishy. I was fortunate to visit a sushi restaurant that offered fresh sea urchin with no fishy taste. So when I tasted the fishy sea urchin here, I immediately understood the level of this restaurant. Only non-fresh seafood will have a fishy taste, while fresh seafood won't have any taste at all! Also, the service was not good. I don't understand why they would charge a 5% service fee, as I had to ask them for water refills myself. Moreover, the first time they served mineral water, and the second time it was tap water. Can you imagine how disappointed I felt with a mouthful of fishy sea urchin taste, drinking the tap water they refilled, and still having to pay an exorbitant 20,000 yen per person? I sincerely advise tourists not to visit...

TOURIST TRAP. If you're someone well-versed in sushi, avoid this place. This is advertised as Steve Jobs's favorite sushi restaurant. I should have known better than to take sushi recs from a non-Asian. I had an inkling when the moment I walked in and it was all foreign customers. This was the worst omakase I've ever had especially at the price point of like 17,000 yen. For that pricepoint, I'm expecting amaebi, uni, toro, etc. of the highest quality. They advertised the 17,000 set as a "toro" experience but there was only one piece that was very uneventful. The worst piece was the beef sushi. I could not chew through it for the life of me, felt like throwing up but didn't want to waste food. I've had way better in NYC for $70 and actually even Miami/Atlanta out of all places (which is ridiculous). The appetizers and dessert were way better which is usually the opposite in omakase experiences. Service as like every restaurant in Japan, is obviously impeccable. The people were very nice. The owner is fluent in English which does make your life easier if you don't speak Japanese but honestly the food is so disappointing, I'd never come back even if I were to order a la carte. I was very annoyed to have wasted one of the few meals I had in...