Ashi Teishoku & Diner — Restaurant in Tokyo

Many restaurants were closing early or simply closed in this neighborhood due to new year's celebrations so we've randomly walked in this place: we were amazed by the fact that there's a sign right at the entrance saying 'You're welcome to walk in and ask for help/directions'. We assumed the place will have an English menu as logic would suggest. They don't have an English menu but that's fine can't really complain about that. At first we really liked the environment, the music, the lights: it felt cozy. Problems started right after a couple of minutes. We were given a menu with individual items: to have a full meal in this kind of place you need to have a set menu, ordering individual items it's too complicated, especially if your menu it's just in Japanese. The waiter/owner of the place had no one else to serve and he was waiting/looking at us struggling with the menu for about 10-15 minutes. After this long he realized we might need help with the order and he brought us a different menu, this one comes with set meals. And, finally he started to speak English with us and explaining what they can cook for us. As I mentioned earlier we were struggling with the menu meaning that we were literally taking pictures of it and translating with google lens one by one word. Pictures were saved in my phone, this detail will come into play later. Important to mention: the food was good, this we can't really complain. We enjoyed the food, finished our meal and this is were all the drama starts: our bill was a number written down, just like a lottery number or a phone number. It was the first time ever we received such "bill" in Japan. I felt immediately suspicious because the number looked higher than expected but we still paid and left. After calculating in our minds the amount we were actually supposed to pay we realized there was an overcharging/scam issue. We reached out the owner through social media account the day after asking for a detailed bill: we wanted to see item by item how did he come out with 9020¥. Drinks were charged more, some taxes were added and the starter that we did not order was added too. I won't focus too much on the starter because I understand probably in this kind of restaurants the starter is always served and it's always part of the bill. Let's just focus on the concept here: his numbers were wrong, we've been lied to. You remember when I said the pictures of his menu would come into use? Funny enough, to proof that he was wrong we had to share the pictures of his own menu to him. How amusing is that? And here comes another lie: 'the menu was not updated to 2025 prices'. It would’ve been more honest—and frankly more appreciated—if he had simply admitted, “You’re foreigners, and I tried to take advantage of you.” So to wrap this up after proving the owner was guilty of overcharging us and lying we still gave him one more chance: refund the overcharged amount and leave no trace of review online. This came to his convenience since 1000¥ it's a very sweet price to pay to avoid such review. It has been over 2 weeks. Money never reached our account. So please people, if you're foreigners be aware, ask for a 2025 menu and insist on getting a detailed bill at the end of your meal!

P.S. We spent about 3 months in Japan in the last 2 years and this was the FIRST and ONLY time someone tried to shamefully take...

Hands down, Ashi has raised and set the bar up high for any other place to match. I can’t find a single fault. Everything was seamless at Ashi, from the food, to service, to the interior decor and music vibe. It was so good, I’m planning to drop by again on the coming Tuesday evening before i fly home from Haneda Airport at night.

I arrived alone on a Wednesday night and the bar counter seats were almost full. Lucky for me there was a single counter seat left vacant. The gentleman behind the glass gestured me to come in.

As soon as I set foot inside, I instantly vibed right away with the music. Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, De La Soul, etc. I could tell right away, this was my kinda place. The gentleman mentioned earlier is the absolutely charming owner of the place, Junjiさん who attended to me all night. I guarantee you that he has perfect taste in music, is wonderful to chat with, and pays detailed attention to service. He was constantly checking up on me to make sure I was having a great time which was so kind of him to do. It was a full house yet Junjiさん and his team juggled the crowds with excellent service.

Gotta say the food was spot on! The steamed chicken was so comforting, it reminds me of home (steamed chicken rice and Mala spice). The meat was perfectly tender, the Szechuan peppers gave it an extra depth of flavour and nuts gave it a nice texture too.

I also had the seabream carpaccio which was TOO damn good! I swear I’ve just had seabream carpaccio at a MICHELIN starred Japanese-Italian restaurant (if you look at my recent reviews) which was so mediocre for a restaurant with prestigious accolades. Maybe MICHELIN restaurant needs learn and to take notes from Ashi’s chef! The seabream was sliced perfectly and went so well with the dressing, shallots, tomatoes and everything else.

While I can speak basic conversational Japanese, I am still taking weekly lessons in reading. So Junjiさん personally guided me through the menu, giving me his recommendations and showed images too. And I didn’t even have to ask, he offered to assist as soon as I was seated. Again, this points out his excellence in service. Junjiさん surprised me by whipping up 2 concoctions which he chose for me. First was his take on G&T with bitters, and second was a plum wine, both were wonderful!

Plus point - they have an outdoor smoking area. Which is great because it is impossible to find any outdoor smoking area in this part of the city.

Thank you once again Junjiさん and Ashi team for a more than perfect night. See you again on the coming Tuesday, got to have that carpaccio again before I leave! And probably in June if I fly to Tokyo for my birthday.

Until then, I’m wishing your team all the happiness, health and recovery, and good times ahead!

Sincerely, 愛达...

great food but very rude staff. For some reason they treated us very different from the other customers. When they delivered food or took something away they didn't even make eyecontact or said something. Meanwhile they were laughing with other customers who clearly looked like regulars. When we had decided what to order of the menu, they said that they gave us the wrong menu since the one for the evening is different. Of course the prices were way higher on this one. At first I wondered if they perhaps didn't like foreigners but when u check these reviews, u'll see that more than a few people (both foreigners and Japanese people) talk about a difference in attitude depending on the customer. I think this is very unprofessional and it creates a very uncomfortable athmosphere. I also want to add that while I am not Japanese I do live here and we communicated with him solely in Japanese so that couldn't have been...