Sushidokoro Kurosugi — Restaurant in Osaka

I have had many amazing omakase meals in Japan and this was my first so-so experience. Food was mediocre and like what other reviews mentioned - it’s over-priced for the quality of fish we were given. The dinner menu price was ¥24200 for 8 dishes, 10 sushi, egg, soup, fruit) and some had to pay 10% more if booking made online (mainly non-Japanese as their Japanese website didn’t mention the same). No if you pay by credit card, it’s even 5% on top.

We booked their first seating at 7pm nearly 1 month ago and when we arrived on-time, reception told us the booking was made for 8:30pm as their 7pm was booked out (later chef told us the big party booked last week, which made us think why we got bumped out). The booking was made thru a Japanese friend, whom has been our Japan concierge desk for years and never once messed up any of our requests. Yet somehow the time was wrong and we still don’t know how it got messed up. We had to accept it as we came all the way already.

The restaurant was so empty during our seating. We ended up being their only customers for the second seating. We felt that chef was rushing the food onto us and many dishes already made and set aside before we swallowed down the previous piece.

We also made notes on our dietary requirement - no shiny fish (again my friend never once messed up before) but chef said he didn’t receive the request. At the end, he just took away that piece of fish and not mentioned what he can offer us with. We counted the total # and we only got served 9 pieces of sushi (not 10 - which was stated on their website). We didn’t verify with chef as 1) we don’t speak Japanese 2) we felt the pressure to finish up and go 3) they almost finish up washing their kitchen already so not sure what they can offer us at all 4) we were so disappointed getting average fish on the table so no point stuffing one more. We left the restaurant feeling a waste of our 1.5 hour time (for the first time).

Food was average quality and none left us a wow factor. The worst was the roll. The chef just scooped the shredded radish off our serving plate and squeeze some plum sauce to serve it back to us. I was shocked because I have already started eating them as starter and if he was doing that for all other customers, the saliva gets in his hand! I don’t know if this was because no other customer sees him. I see other review that they were at least cucumber roll but never had an experience that they would take food back after serving them to you.

I rarely write food reviews but I want to immediately share my experience. As a frequent traveler to Japan, the feeling of being cheated is rare. A bad dining experience with omakase is also rare and I was a small size lady and I have to say I was already hungry by the time we taxi back to hotel. I do understand they have the new shop opened and the owner was not there on the day of our visit. But keeping quality is a minimal respect to customers. I have really regretted coming here when there are many great omakase options out there. I saw the more recent reviews that were bad but I thought they were single incidence. Experiencing it myself had made me think that I shld really do my due diligence and update my restaurant bucket list because quality do...

I don't normally leave a review immediately right after a meal. But this was bad enough for me to want to do so!

I'm not even kidding, but we had one Itamae (chef) serving 8 people at one time. All were 1130AM time slot (most of us came into the stall the same time) . I'm not a sushi expert. But it sure as hell looks like the Itamae was rushing to cut, mesh and dish out the sushi to be put on our plates.. Why aren't there more Itamae??!

I'm not sure the sushi we ate were all suppose to be so warm.. Because most good Omakase I've had with fresh fish are often on the colder side of things, taken out and sliced in front of u.

Ours (all 8 of the ppl present) came from a box.. Pre-prepared. And that's actually fine by us ! Sometimes they come that way! But.. After much deliberation we honestly felt most of this lukewarm heat on all the sushi we had put in our mouth might be attributed to the fact that the itame's hand must be so hot and heated for slicing, rolling, and preparing/serving for all 8 ppl.. It was.. Not a nice experience for one bit.......

So how about the food?

Nothing taste fresh. Everything is slightly heated (as above) and sour??

often during omaksae nearly everything we put in our mouth melts.. And it's pretty fun to talk about which was our favourite and the best.. While in Sushidokoro Kurosugi.... After the 3rd to 4th sushi we had, it was more of 'Omg, will we ever get a nice tasting/good sushi'.. Our faces and reaction was a clear indication of our displeasure... And until the end, sadly no.. There wasn't a single good sushi. I was really hoping to give it a 2/5 and not be mean.. But this and the last thing concludes it was a 1 for me..

They asked us if we could finish up our last dish as there are others waiting. Our booking was 1130.. This was 1217.. Pretty sure they should at least 'allocate' us an Hour? Or start asking us at 1225? Hello?

So no. This is my worst Omakase ever.

If u would still like to go ahead and try.. Good luck. And if it's bad for u too. You know u...

I recently dined at Sushidokoro Kurosugi listed in the Michelin Guide for several years, and sadly, my experience did not live up to the expectations associated with that recognition.

Arrival and Service: My party of ten arrived five minutes early for our reservation. The restaurant was empty, and we would have filled the entire space, yet we were told to wait until the exact reservation time. We initially assumed they were still preparing, but this set an unwelcoming tone.

Once seated, we reiterated our two special dietary requests made during the reservation: one guest requested no raw food, and another requested no spring onions. The chef reacted negatively to the request for no raw food, scowling and stating he could only "try." When we requested a longer sear on the first piece of sushi, the chef's frustration was evident. He reluctantly prepared another piece, searing it longer but presenting it in a dismissive manner, which felt unprofessional.

Food Quality: The food itself was disappointing. Some fish pieces had tendons, which is typically unacceptable at this level of dining. Additionally, the appearance of the fish varied significantly; some pieces were pale, while others were shiny, indicating inconsistent quality. The rice was neither soft nor sticky, which is crucial for a proper sushi experience.

Conclusion: Overall, I cannot recommend this restaurant for an enjoyable omakase meal. There are better options available that would offer a more satisfying experience. Save your reservation for a restaurant that truly honors the...