Gyūnabe Yonekyū — Restaurant in Tokyo

No one told you in advance how to have sukiyaki, but they would tell you off if you eat in the wrong way 😂. They only let me know the following afterwards:

“Please keep soup in half line.” “This water is for you to adjust taste” “You added too much soup”

They did so in a way that the guests in the next table can hear what they have said when they told you off.

Not to mention people who have joined tours of their partners seem to be able to cut the line.

When I was led into the restaurant, I was ignored for 10 minutes despite many vacant spaces just because they were busy. I was told off for putting the shoes on the wrong shelf (but I was left alone after I was led into the store). They even used a strong tone to ask me “did you use the alcohol?”

Also, rice was not included in the set. Considering the price for set A and B are above 3000 yen, I can only say that every single guest seemed surprised to know that the set does not come with a free bowl of rice.

When I left, the elderly man sitting at the cashier kept talking on his phone and made me stand there for 5 minutes. When I asked for the price for the bill, he showed an unpleasant face and spoke nothing, then he took out the receipt to show me the numerical figures for the bill afterwards, as if I shouldn’t have bothered him.

All in all, like many famous restaurants, they don’t care about you as they can make money anyway even without your few thousand yen. So their attitudes are not good and are self-righteous.

For 3 years of COVID, people haven’t been able to travel. So I can tell most people tend to tolerate poor services better than before.

However, this is to say that they can keep their poor attitudes so long as “food is good” and “we are famous”.

The 800-yen sukiyaki set at Yoshinoya (吉野家) would probably taste not as good as this restaurant, but I am pretty sure that the young staff at Yoshinoya would have a better service attitude than the ones at 米久.

Only when tourists start to leave this kind of restaurants for ones with better services (I don’t mean Yoshinoya😂, but other sukiyaki stores), then the owners would start to learn or let the restaurant go south.

I would have enjoyed the meal if someone had told me how to have sukiyaki in advance. Everyone inside could speak basic English, they just did not bother to tell you how to have a good meal. However good the quality of beef is, it’s not worth it when the attitude is lacking. Overall an...

The service is so bad, it’s almost laughable. For a country renowned for its hospitality and politeness, the staff at Gyu-Nabe proved otherwise.

The moment we sat down, a menu was presented to us, and this waitress with black hair kept repeating A or B, A or B without giving us a minute to look over the menu. After asking if she could give us a minute, she loudly huffed and stomped away, like a child pulling a tantrum because someone had the audacity to request extra time.

A young waiter then came to take our order. Later, when he and a waitress with box-dye blonde hair came to serve our food, they were conversing with each other and giggling, while the waitress very rudely slapped the dish of Wagyu on the table and quickly plopped the meat, tofu, and leeks on the table without saying a single word to us. The waiter helped the other people in our party and was explaining the steps while properly preparing the food, so at least one person was semi doing their job.

As for the food itself, we ordered six portions of the B option, which was the premium grade meat. The six portions came out in two plates, with two long slabs of premium meat and eight pieces of what they also called premium meat, but obviously looked smaller in size and with less marbling, on each plate. How two long pieces and eight smaller pieces equate to three portions is beyond me. I’m starting to suspect there’s a reason they do not allow photos, is so we cannot document the portion sizes and compare with what other people ordered. So in summary, 6 portions of “B” came out to 4 long pieces of meat, and 16 smaller pieces of meat. Total bill: ¥25,580.

For an establishment with a history of over a hundred years to condone their staff’s behavior to belittle and condescend their guests is indicative of the little respect they have for foreigners. Shame on the two female waitresses and the restaurant for their unprovoked hostility. I beseech foreign guests to heed my advice and take your time and money elsewhere as you will be blatantly discriminated against. If they do not wish to serve foreigners, they should put a sign up instead, but no, they’re shameless enough to take our money and begrudgingly serve us instead.

I understand now why a restaurant with over 100 years history has not earned a single Michelin star despite Tokyo being a metropolis dense with Michelins. Even Michelin does...

The meal was great but the waitress treats you like garbage.

I went in January 2024.

Sukiyaki is not cheap but the quality reflects that. If I need to pick a food to eat and eat only that for the rest of my life, this is what I’d pick. For more praises about the food, you can read other comments.

The waitress though, has the worst attitude. She slams the menu on the table, and she managed to scoff and sigh and speak at the same time. When I tried to reply in my beginner’s japanese, she rolled her eyes and gave me an extra long japanese sentence as if she’s saying, “You got that? You feeling smart now?”

I don’t expect a lot of things, some sukiyaki shops has the waitress kneel and cook the meal for us. I think that’s too much, and I don’t like it, that’s not what I am talking about here. I’m talking about the most basic amount of courtesy for a simple human to human interaction and she can’t even do that. The way she sets up the table, the way she tells us the pan is hot. It’s like she cannot stand the sight of us for a second longer.

In case you are wondering, I only speak in short Japanese sentences, and fill up the rest with English, to save everyone time and headache. I don’t use short form, “please” and “thank you”s, and end most sentences with “Desu” I don’t make any special requests. I don’t joke or use sarcasm. I don’t hold up the seat.

The shop does an excellent job making me and my mother feel like we are beggars asking for a free meal.

Funny thing I noticed. Maybe if you don’t look like an Asian, she’d treat you better. Another thing I noticed is that, it’s just this one waitress, some are less horrid than the others. I think.

I go to Japan every year, and she’s got the worst attitude of all the places I’ve been. We’d return but, I’d rather pay some...