Maguro Koya — Restaurant in Nara

This place is not run by the same old owner anymore. It is run by a middle aged man and the whole place lack the Japanese hospitality,serving sub standard/mediocre maguro. Once you entered, they just want you to order quickly and get on with your meal. We came around 12:15pm and there were empty tables inside, hardly any queue. There was not a single Japanese customer too. Mostly tourists and foreigners. We should have noted this sign but because of the high Google reviews, we decided to give it a try. We ordered the high quality fatty tuna bowl at ¥2700 per bowl (2 bowls) and our children ordered the lean tuna bowl and the medium lean tuna bowl. We also ordered an extra serving of Al carte high quality fatty tuna (¥2500) and another medium fatty tuna for our children to try. The Ala carte tuna plates were a far cry from the picture we saw on their menu, menu picture shows 7 thick slices but we received 6 small square slices. When I asked the chef (the middle aged owner), he said it was the same as he served by weight, please see the pictures attached and see if that was a blatant lie.The Ala carte high quality fatty Tuna pieces were not premium too, when we tried to pick up with the chopstick, the piece of tuna just fell/ disintegrated into small pieces. The rice bowl was served with the worst sushi rice I have ever eaten n in my life, it was more like plain rice with a tinge of uneven sprinkle of sushi vinegar, most unpalatable! And the miso soup was plain and tasteless, no seaweeds, no spring onions, just like miso paste diluted into hot water. The rice bowl came with 7 slices of tuna and a small Portion of rice below. The tuna were just mediocre. Hence at ¥2700 for this tuna bowl, it was expensive. Although I was hungry, I did not finish the rice and that showed how bad it was. This place is a trap for tourists and their locals stay away now. If you look carefully at all the photos on their Google listing now, the old restaurant even have counter seats and an old man serving behind the counter. This restaurant now has done away with all the counter seats. And a high counter which only shows the face of the chef. It was a regrettable lunch and worst service in all the restaurants I have...

Honestly, the food was good. The problem is their ordering system and manager. They have a tablet ordering system. When ordering a set meal, you select what you want, and then press another button to add it in your cart. We did this for our tuna bowls. But then we wanted to order tuna karaage a la cart, which we did, but then the waitress brought out a 4,800 yen (~$30 USD) plate of uni, which we didn’t intent to order. The problem is, for a la carte, if you accidentally press a menu item, it automatically adds it to your cart, and, admittedly, didn’t see it in our cart when we press the order button. It is very easy to accidentally press a random item on the tablet and there should be a confirmation to add it to your cart.

We told the waitress we didn’t order it and she gave us a very awkward stare and refused to take it back. She then got who seemed to be the manager or owner to come tell us (through phone translator) that there is a no place n the world that would take it back, which I told him that was incorrect. There was no compromise nor solution offered.

After our meal I went to pay, but tried showing him the issue with the ordering system. He made no attempt to listen and understand, and rudely said “Speak Japanese!” Then I just told him and the staff that it was bad business and could tell that the staff, who spoke some English, understood. Just a bad way to conduct business with a bad ordering system, and obviously would not support this business again. This was my second trip to Nara, btw, and plan to come back in the...

Stream of consciousness notes: Hand written sign advertises the restaurant from the inside of a top window pane; Japanese talk radio is on medium volume playing through a single-speaker 80s transistor radio;  the temperature in the restaurant is easily 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27c) as the kitchen is less than 5 feet from the tables at it's furthest point; a few locals are eating here with us, but not packed, and not a tourist in sight; light bulbs hang bare from the ceiling by lamp wire.

This is the type of place where I was surprised to find an English menu. It is off the beaten path and beyond the foot traffic where others go. We stumbled upon it after not wanting to wait in the lines of the restaurants a couple of blocks away.

I ordered the toro tekka don and my wife orered the tataki. The blue fin was the best toro I've ever tasted. I was unable to peer over the bar table to watch the prep, but I'm wouldn't be surprised if it was directly sliced from the tuna to-order.

My wife loved the tataki, and after I tasted it, I placed an order for myself. The soy vinegar really makes the dish, and the texture of the cabbage is an interesting contrast to the consistency of the fish. For the cost of 700 yen, you can't go wrong.

Unpretentious, authentic, and high quality. As a tourist places like this are not easy to discover. If I ever make it back to Nara, I will certainly be...