Aman Tokyo The Lounge by Aman — Restaurant in Tokyo

We’ve been following the Hotels instagram for a while, wanted to have the Omakase experience with my husband. When I noticed they had the Option for Afternoon Tea, which I have every time we travel anywhere. Decided to book the afternoon tea first and depending on how food was then book the Omakase experience. Glad we did that first, when you arrive you have this beautiful hotel. You arrive at the lounge and the space it’s beautifully designed.

They sat us down and we requested if we could seat by the window since the space was available. They agreed, once we sat down about 10-15 min passed by and no one had come to ask what we would like to drink, they seem understaffed. My husband ordered a glass of Rose, I went with the Tea. The gentleman checked the open bottle of Rose to see if it was still good and noticed it wasn’t, and he opened a new bottle to serve us, which is good service. He was very attentive, We had the grade and champagne espuma, the champagne espuma tasted like egg whites, we didn’t drink it. We then

received our Tea Service desserts and savory dishes. We first had a sweet which from our perspective was overwhelmingly sweet, the cookie later was hard and the flavors didn’t marry each other, we followed by a savory which if he had had a paper towel we would had spit out. My husband and I looked at each such other, and wondered why they tasted so horrible. We gave a chance to 2 other pieces and were the same.

We are chefs and we knew what were the issues. Scones were not freshly baked, they just got reheated, sweet pastries were premade of at least 2-3 days old. The savory were also old, the tortilla chip from the salmon was saggy. I believe the salmon one was the worst one, we almost puked. The sad part, was that I was so excited to have Tea with my husband in our second trip to Japan, fell we could had gone to a regular place and get better quality food.

We asked the server how long did the hotel opened, they mentioned it had been 10 years. You can tell because of the wear and tear the table set had, the restrooms look old and a bit dirty.

We wanted to go see the patisserie since it mentioned they are an open bakery window display, passed by and asked if the desserts for the lounge/ tea service were done by them. And they informed us that the lounge have their own cooks/kitchen. You could tell the difference from the displayed pastries they had at the patisserie.

Would I book the omakase service after this? Don’t think so. Scare to have a similar experience.

Planning to stop by at Amans Hotel in Kyoto this weekend, and see if the menu...

I had high expectations for our afternoon tea at this hotel, known for its stunning city views and refined atmosphere. Unfortunately, the experience fell far short of what was promised — and what one would reasonably expect for the price point.

Despite having made a reservation nearly a month in advance, my friends and I were seated at arguably the worst table in the lounge: tucked away by a wall, directly in front of a noisy bar, and clearly out of sight of the waiting staff. When we politely asked to be moved, our request was declined — even though multiple window-side tables with excellent views remained unoccupied. Perhaps they were reserved, but for the entirety of our visit, quite a few of them sat empty. The lounge was far from full, making the decision feel particularly dismissive and frustrating. From that moment on, our experience began to unravel.

The food, regrettably, was underwhelming. Much of it lacked flavor, freshness, and finesse. Some items, like the dried-out salmon, were visually unappealing and difficult to enjoy. While the “honey afternoon tea” set was visually stunning and clearly designed for social media appeal, the taste failed to live up to its presentation.

On a more positive note, the tea and drinks were enjoyable — once we managed to get them. Unfortunately, we had to actively seek out staff for refills or even a basic glass of water, as no one checked on our table without prompting. This may have been due to inattentive service, but was likely also a result of our poor seating placement, which seemed almost intentionally out of the way.

To make matters worse, when we requested a formal receipt at the end of our visit, the staff member reacted with visible annoyance, as if we were making an unreasonable demand.

Overall, the experience was deeply disappointing — especially so as one of my friends had traveled a considerable distance just for this occasion. At ¥12,000 per person, the service, seating, and food quality simply did not match the price. I truly expected more from an establishment of...

Be aware. Not 5-star courtesy. What does five-star mean to you?

My friend and I visited the lounge for the seasoned high tea on Dec. I requested our table at the window side when I made a reservation, although they said they would try but may not be able to do so due to the seating capacity in the same time slot. Anyway, I was hoping we would get a skyscraper view of Tokyo at dusk. When we got there, the waiter escorted us in proximity to the cross-aisle table without not informing us about the window side. I felt it was awkward that they put us in the middle of the room next to the wall WITHOUT conveying the reservation details I requested in advance. They could've responded better for effective customer communication.

From my experiences visiting so-called 5-star hotels, they comprehend our whole level of requests, minor to significant. The courtesy and hospitality reflect the action to acknowledge our needs...

The interior and installation seemed state of the art. We started tea late afternoon, around dusk, but the lighting was a bit far enough. So I requested a waitress if we could move to the window side. I saw empty tables for at least an hour while we were there. The answer was, "we have another reservation, sorry we cannot take your request." I noticed another a couple of hours we were sitting at the aisle table, none of the guests were coming to the window table! I knew her response was utterly on a manual script. That's not agile at all. If you follow the standard service rules, anyone can do that. 5 star creates something extraordinary experience for customers wanting to return.

That said, the overall experience was riveting and fascinating, the mini-meal including delicate finger sandwiches, filling sweats, warm scones served with clotted/jams, and a variety of tea/coffee. We enjoyed the time spent...