Tamaganzo — Restaurant in Onomichi

Rude and unwelcoming - 失礼と不満 We arrived early-ish on a Saturday evening with no reservations. We semi-expected that places would be full but thought we'd check. After walking upstairs, we were faced with such a weird, awkward un-welcome. There were plenty of empty tables (and it's such a small town, it's hard to imagine them getting busy)... There were two small parties eating - and talking/laughing loudly - until we walked in. It was like entering an old western bar in the US... The doors creaked open, everyone shuts up and looks at us, tumbleweed rolls through... The staff (I'm assuming we spoke to staff - we couldn't tell) asked if we had reservations - we said no - and what followed was the most awkward, uncomfortable experience I've ever had in a restaurant - anywhere. We were turned away, tails between legs, attempting to find somewhere that would take us. I was bitterly disappointed as I'd heard good things about this chain of restaurants... My advice?...

A bit pricy if you are on a long trip, like most foreigners who visit Japan or Asia are (making the most out of a 10-14hrs flight). Other than that, the quality, love, attention to detail they put onto their plates is amazing. If you are smart, and don't speak the language, you will do what we did. Use the translate app of Google or Microsoft, and let them know you're sorry for not speaking the language but want to try their amazing food, and you will notice how their attitude changes from "ugh, this tourist..." to "I will try to help you the best I can" and they will even try to make you feel as comfortable as possible. Remember, you are the guest here, they are the locals, you must adapt to them, not the other way around...

The food was amazing, the atmosphere was super fun, and the Sake we tried... ohhh... you have to have your meals with some Sake to pair...

We looked around town for a place to eat and ended up here. We were warmly greeted and although we couldn’t read Japanese, we just pointed at what we wanted based on what people next to us were eating and the food arrived. The sashimi was fresh and a good amount. Steak tataki was excellent. We had another 2 dishes (a selection of tempura and pork rolls with asparagus inside, yum!) Add two beers each and some sake, as well as dessert and our bills was under 10k yen. This was easily our best meal in Japan over a 3 week visit if you consider the quality to...