The Red House — Restaurant in Rusutsu

This place was disappointingly "mid". Apparently, it was bought out by a Aussie company and is staffed with a majority of foreign, seasonal staff. The food tastes like what you'd get at home, if you didn't know what salt and pepper were. For the price charged (clearly aimed towards foreign tourists in the resort), you could easily get a cheaper and tastier meal back in the West. An emphasis on how the food tasted underseasoned, very clearly cooked by inexperienced workers. The attitudes of the staff were also quite disappointing compared to expected Japanese service standards. Just an absolute disappointment. A short walk to the nearby Seico mart, 7/11, or even the overpriced international/Japanese resort food provides a better culinary experience than this place. Overpriced and immensely...

Dined here our last 2 nights in Rusutsu and wish we had discovered this place at the beginning of our time here. Easily the best food we came across here as far as flavor , quality and price point. Night 1 was the Shabu Shabu with the wagyu add-on Night 2 was the flavour bomb appy (carrot and eggplant ), miso maple chicken and lamb dishes. Friendly servers from Canada and Australia took good care of us.

We were lucky to get early table at 5pm both nights as it was booked up and we were only 2 people so you'll want to reserve well ahead of time if you have a group and want to eat at primetime hours.

If your staying next door at the Westin it's a short walk and...

To set expectations for future patrons, this is not a traditional Japanese restaurant. We ordered the lamb dish and it barely had any meat and was drowning in a sauce that was way too sweet. Not worth the $2900 yen. My friend was craving ramen but $3500 yen for a bowl is criminal, especially just having come from Tokyo where some top Tabelog and Michelin rated ramen were 1/3 of the cost.

The sauce on the carrots of the flavor bomb was great. The eggplant was battered and fried well, but again, sauce was way too sweet. Perhaps they cater to the Aussie palate, but this place was probably the worst meal I've had in Japan my 3 visits here (8 weeks...