Ginza Sand — Restaurant in Tokyo

Did the soup nazi turn Japanese?

Just finished off 5 of the 6 pieces of the Prime Beef 🥩 Filet sando for 2900 yen 💴.

So…

After waiting another day because the day before (Monday), they closed with not much notice. A handful of people came at the same exact time to be surprised.

Since it’s my last night and felt the pressure to eat as much as I could today, I headed over around 9:30p and waited shortly to order. It was surprisingly quiet with not many people - just the guy before me.

After I get to the ordering window, the owner (I believe) starts talking to me in Japanese in a tone that wasn’t the friendliest. I respond that I can’t speak English and he retorts “1 hour!” which confused me - I thought he was initially referring to getting a seat in some hidden back part of the restaurant. He repeated something about the hour and I asked him “So, if I order, do I come back in an hour?!” He confirmed that was the process. I point to the most expensive sandwich on the menu: “Prime Beef 🥩 Filet” and give him my credit card. 💳 For the first time on the trip, I was told I can ONLY use cash and weirdly Alipay as well. He obviously has a lot of Chinese customers.

I wanted to keep my yen 💴, but reluctantly gave up the 2900 yen. Yes, I just paid as much as $25 or so dollars 💸 for the sandwich. 🥪 Later, I realized that more and more, things are getting this expensive even back home. So, even though it was VERY expensive by Japanese standards, it was about par for the west. And you could easily spend that much for donkatsu or definitely 3 - 5 times more for teppanyaki or shabu shabu in Ginza. So, maybe it’s not bad.

I got back to my hotel about 15 mins away and wait 30 mins to come back in an hour.

After I get back, the soup nazi like owner isn’t there, but maybe it’s the daughter or a young girl who seems just as unhappy. Also, there’s a lot more people there this time. Normally, I’m able to walk up and get my order, but since the shop is so tiny, I have to wait behind a couple that needs to put in their order after the young girl finally serves them. She makes them wait for a bit as well as me since I was waiting to just pick up. So, as soon as they leave, I almost run in to make sure she doesn’t go back to frying or making the orders and asks for my name in probably the rudest way (minus the Shibuya Yokocho) I’ve been tested on this trip. After I tell her my name, she points to the filet on the menu and I confirm and she hands me my package.

I walk home and think to myself that the store might reduce chances for repeat customers given the time it takes to finally sink our teethes into these because of the time for preparation, the wait time for us to get there and the time it takes to get back.

Yet…it turns out the sandos are good and worth a try. If I’m close to Ginza late at night again, I may go through the hassle and attitude again - if...

The WORST experience EVER！！

We arrived around 10pm and we were served by a middle aged male employee with an EXTREMELY BAD ATTITUDE！

We met him in the front when we were outside the store and he completely ignored us. Inside the store he also ignored us until we greeted him first.

And that's nothing!

After we paid he wanted us to leave our names, supposedly so they can distinguish between customers. My name starts with a Y. I told him my name many times and he couldn't understand it (We don't know if he's pretending not to understand. He's got a very bad attitude.). Every time I said my name he rudely interrupted and forcefully gave me a Japanese name that sounded like "Miko". I tried to split my name in to letters but he interrupted me and said “Say your name!”I thought maybe he experienced something bad before we came, so I politely said that “It's okay, let me write it down for you.”Again, he rudely interrupted and said "NO!SAY IT! " so I said my name starting with "Y" again, and he said "Miko!" again very loudly, but the waiter was perfectly capable of understanding English, maybe he can’t speak in a fluent way, but with his English level he can definitely tell the difference between "Y" and "M", and he's not incapable of pronouncing the "Y" sound. What's more, my name does not sound similar to "Miko"! It was a really bad experience. As we arrived in Tokyo late, we were very hungry, the only restaurant in the neighborhood was open, and we didn't want to go out and make things difficult for ourselves, plus we had already paid for the food, so we had to settle for a horrible situation.

We really felt very OFFENDED and UNWELCOME! This one was our worst experience in Tokyo! As well as the food was just average. Judging by the photos shared with others, the wagyu was very inconsistent and the heat was often either too raw or too cooked. And the fried chicken had a fishy smell of chicken (we ordered the cheese flavor), we don't think this restaurant is worth going to either from a food or service standpoint! Very...

Terrible terrible terrible! Avoid at all costs

First of all, it’s a take-out only place, almost hidden with very limited space and tiny window for people to order the food. It only allows one customer at a time to enter the area. The cramped condition and ordering process was the first impression.

Second, huge language barrier. The owner of the restaurant didn’t seem to understand any English. He basically ignored everything I said and responded in Japanese only. Communicating with him was extremely challenging. While I understand that not all restaurant owners may be fluent in English, a basic level of communication should be possible to ensure a positive dining experience for all customers.

What was even more disheartening was the owner’s attitude. Instead of attempting to accommodate or assist customers facing language difficulties, the owner displayed an extremely bad attitude since the very beginning, which made me feel very uncomfortable. He even yelled at me when he was trying to ask “what flavor you need“ in Japanese, while I had no idea and ended up getting yelled at even more hysterically. The last straw was the “cash only” rule, I wish I had left already before I pulled out my credit card. He was so angry seeing I wasn’t able to pay cash after spending so much “efforts” communicating. He told us to get out and that was it. I was with my 3-year old that night and she was so scared witnessing that. She asked me several times why that guy was so mad and so loud, is he a bad person and should we call the policeman. I regretted so much going there, especially letting my little one experiencing this with me.

The owner’s behavior was not only unprofessional but also downright offensive. Those words and aggressive attitude from Ginza Sand left me feel humiliated and unwelcome. No one should have to endure such treatment when simply trying to enjoy a meal. I urge others to think twice before attempting to...