日本酒とりまる 上野店 — Restaurant in Tokyo

料理は美味しくて、味も最高なので、今年2回目の来店でした。が、サービスに関しては、正直、言葉を失うレベルでした。 2人で入店し、カウンター席に案内されました。空いているテーブル席に座れないか尋ねると、店員1さんが「そこは予約席で、すでに予約が入っています」とのこと。まぁ、仕方ないかとカウンター席に座りました。すると、2分後、テーブル席の客が会計を済ませて帰ったので、店員2さんに「そこのテーブル席に移動できますか？」と聞いてみました。店員2さんは「ちょっと待ってください、確認します」と言い、テーブルを片付けた後、戻ってきて「その席も予約席なんです」と。はい、了解しましたとメニューを見始めました。（この時、店員1さんがさっき会計が終わったテーブルに「予約席」の札を置いて、ついでに「2階も満席で、すみません」と一言。） ところが、3分後、店内にカップルが入ってきて「席ありますか？」と聞くと、店員1さんが（我々の目の前で、物理的にですよ）「予約席」の札が置かれたテーブルに案内。カップルの一人が「ここ、いいんですか？」と一応確認したら、店員1さんが「大丈夫です」と即答。いや、びっくりですよ。唖然としました。すぐに店員を呼んで席を交換してもらい、さっきまで「予約席」だったはずのテーブルに座れました（ちなみに、「予約席」は私がさっきまで座っていたカウンター席に移動したようです）。 で、5分も経たないうちに注文を終えたところ、他の客3人が入店し、私たちがさっきまで座っていたカウンター席に案内されました。彼らが注文を終えて3分後、店員3さんが「2階に席が空きました」と言い、即移動。え、でもこの間、2階から誰も降りてきてないよね？会計も誰もしてないよね？という感じで、なんとも言えない気分になりました。 ちなみに、席料が一人880円で、今まで日本で経験した中で一番高い席料でした。

The food was delicious, flavors on point, so this was our second visit this year. But the service? Honestly, it left us speechless, and not in a good way. We walked in, two of us, and got seated at the counter. We asked if we could take one of the empty table seats, but Staff 1 said they were reserved. Fine, we sat at the counter. Two minutes later, a table cleared out after some customers paid and left. We asked Staff 2 if we could move there, and they said, “Hold on, let me check.” After cleaning the table, Staff 2 came back and said that table was also reserved. Alright, we went back to looking at the menu. (At this point, Staff 1 put a “reserved” sign on the just-cleared table and casually mentioned, “Oh, upstairs is full too, sorry.”) Three minutes later, a couple walked in, asked if there were any seats, and—get this—Staff 1 (right in front of us, like, physically) led them to the table with the “reserved” sign. One of them even asked, “Is this okay?” and Staff 1 was like, “No problem.” We were stunned, to say the least. Completely baffled. We immediately asked to switch seats, and suddenly that “reserved” table wasn’t reserved anymore—we got it. (The “reserved” sign, by the way, magically moved to the counter seat I’d just been sitting at.) Barely five minutes after we ordered, three other customers came in and took our old counter seats. They ordered, and three minutes later, Staff 3 came over saying, “There’s a spot upstairs now,” and whisked them away. Funny thing is, during this whole time, nobody came down from upstairs. Nobody paid and left either. Just… what? By the way, the cover charge was 880 yen per person, the most expensive I’ve ever...

We wanted to sit for a minute to get some takoyakis. When we order them, a cover fee magically appeared in our ticket, higher than the takoyakis themselves. We searched around to see if we missed any signs. NONE. We decided to get more food then so we could get more of the fee. We had to wait 30 min for the takoyakis, and after 45 min we asked about the rest of the order and they had missed it so they recommended to cancel. Result: a very very overpriced takoyakis and almost one hour of our...

Izakaya in Ameyoko Market There is a wide variety of food, inexpensive, and the quantity is appropriate for the price. Cucumbers in salt sauce are very good. The grilled fish was grilled well. The fish was quite fresh and didn't smell fishy. The fried chicken wings were nice and crispy but the sauce was a bit sweet. The chicken skin is well grilled but not crispy. The oysters were quite fresh. There is a seat fee of 400 yen per person, which would be better if you didn't have it. Good...