Toyo-no-akari — Restaurant in Nara

NEVER STEP FOOT IN THIS RESTAURANT, IT IS THE BIGGEST SCAM IVE SEEN IN JAPAN. This place was the worst place I’ve ever been to on this planet, and I’ve been everywhere in the world. First of all, they didn’t tell us about the sitting fee( on top of the buy one drink fee) which was alright, and then when we tried to order white rice, they said they had none. That’s when we tried to leave, then they brought another staff who tried to get us to stay, and then the owner came and said you can’t leave because you already ordered the drinks and they had made them(hadn’t brought them to the table). This didn’t make any sense to us because we had ordered the rice Together with the drinks. Then, he condescending told us that this is an izakaya and they’re not supposed to serve food and only alcohol, and said we have to pay for that even though it hadn’t been brought out yet. We told him this was wrong and it was outrageous that he was charging us and we just left. Borderline called the police. NEVER COME HERE EVER. DONT THINK TWICE, THINK A MILLION TIMES BEFORE...

BEWARE OF SCAM! Don’t go here. This place forces you to pay 220 yen per person and requires you to buy drinks per person so upfront fee without any food is around 2000 yen. When confronted about this, they lied to our faces and said that they already made the drinks before we even finished ordering. Looking at the recent reviews it seems like this place is going down under. Stay away! Tried to order some basic rice and they said they didn’t have any and other items on the menu, citing that they are a drinks place not somewhere that serves food. Idk why they even have a menu in the first place. This is a scam scam...

We ordered a soup that we cooked ourselves, along with some snacks. The food was delicious, and the overall experience was wonderful. To wrap things up, we decided to try a sake tasting. When I mentioned to the waiter that my name shared a word with one of the sake names, she stayed and chatted with us for a while. She absolutely deserves five stars—she was incredibly friendly, professional, and engaging. Her warmth and kindness truly reinforced my impression that Japan and its people are uniquely special, in the best way possible. She is one of the best ambassadors of Nara city, city where I wish I would...