Barbacoa Shinjuku Branch — Restaurant in Tokyo

There was a bug in the salad but what’s more disappointing was the manager’s response to this. Here’s what happened:

I am on a business trip in Tokyo and was having a team lunch. I went to Barbacoa twice at Roppongi Hills and enjoyed it so much I suggested we go to the Shinjuku one which was close to our office. We were eating the salad and found this bug in photo. When we told the waitress she quickly took it back into the kitchen. I was expecting some type of response. Meanwhile the manager was walking around our table and someone from our group table ordered drinks (She didn’t know what happened because I was at the other end of the table and didn’t make a fuss) I was a bit perplexed that the manager said nothing about the bug so I asked the waitress if she saw the bug in the salad. She said yes and she told the manager (the person who took orders for the drink) When the manager walked by again I asked about the bug. He gave a short I am sorry with his arms perched on our chairs. I asked him why he took no action until I brought it up. He spoke something in Japanese knowing that we don’t speak Japanese and I knew he spoke some English. But he then continued to stare straight into my eyes, arms still perched on the chair rests, as if he was challenging me to do something about it. To be fair, the waitress who took the salad away was trying to be nice throughout the meal. When paying, the manager gave a short apology to one of my team members but he still decided to say nothing about the bug to me. He knew I was unhappy.

Mistakes can happen but how the manager handled the situation was frankly quite disappointing.

** After posting this review, I scrolled through the other reviews and it looks like the same manager has an attitude problem since years ago and nothing has changed. If you are interested in trying Barbacoa, I highly recommend you going to the one in Roppongi Hills. Great service there and for the price you are paying, why settle for lower...

I've been here many times and left happy, but my recent trip from yesterday was quite disappointing. The people cutting the meat were sloppy and dripped grease onto our table, napkins, and inside our drinks multiple times. One of them just put the slices of meat on the tray plate and walked away, leaving us to serve each other across the long table. Our server (who was great btw) brought over our check at closing time, and about 20 seconds later an older female server came over and angrily said "You need to pay now!" while we were literally counting the money to make sure it was the right amount. It was very rude and off putting, especially when she saw that we were paying and walked away without saying anything else.

Maybe it's better to go earlier during the day when the staff is more focused and in a better mood? Either way, I'll stick to the other locations...

Negative points: ELEVATORS: The elevators are blocked until 11:30 on the dot even though reservations start at 11:30. There are often 30 or 40 people waiting on the street level to take one of the elevators that fits 8 people. There is no other access to the restaurant, no stairs or service elevator options. Once inside, you are told you have 90 minutes to enjoy your meal, even though the reservation stated 120 minutes. SERVICE: The service is very polite and gentle. However, the frequency waiters go around with meat has decreased significantly in recent months. The waiters came to our table only 6 or 7 times and lots of meat cuts were not offered in the course of the meal. For instance, there were no chicken hearts or cupim at all. We love grilled pineapples, but the waiters were quite stingy. Overall good place with some...