Itamae Sushi Hanare Akasaka — Restaurant in Tokyo

A massive disappointment. Having watched the great review videos they promote on their website, our experience was nothing of the sort. After making a reservation weeks in advance we entered expecting to change into yukatas only to to be told we could “maybe change later” after sitting down.

We were then shown to our seat at the bar, and expected to see all the great fish and seafood out on beds of ice, but everything was bare! Instead we sat at the bar beside a few dusty corals and sake bottles (which were very dusty).

Next we ordered the matcha expecting to be able to whisk it ourselves (they even have instructions for whisking in the menu) only to be brought out pre-made glasses of matcha tea. Next we ordered some sushi, including the tower and other combos, only to see the chef at the bar pull out a pre-made tray of cut fish and hastily put together our orders. The fish and uni we ordered did not seem the freshest (the uni was brown and mushy, and the tuna tasted fishy and we found several fish scales in our sashimi) and after finishing our meal in disappointment, we left.

I should also note that the restaurant was not very busy when we first arrived but gradually began to fill up during our meal. Nobody was given a yukata to wear and you could sense other guests were a bit taken aback at the experience received compared to what they had likely seen promoted on the wonderful video reviews of this place.

I get the sense that this place is doing well based on says videos and have let their standards slip as a result. I try to avoid using the term “tourist trap” but I feel that best sums up the bait and switch feeling we had after...

So I know this is a touristy restaurant and we were looking forward to that. But this place is a tourist trap in all the telltale ways. Poor service, mediocre food, no standards, etc. It's as though they think that tourists don't know any better (because they're not from Japan) so they give them mediocrity and let the place go to hell. The very bottom standard for restaurants in Tokyo is so good in terms of food and service that it becomes very obvious when a place is a tourist trap like this one, since it's such an outlier. The service was terrible. It was impossible to get anyone's attention and then when they did, it took a long time for them to help you. Our hotel booked us seats at the counter. When they tried to put us at a booth, I told them about our reservation at the counter and the guy just said "no". So I explained to him about our reservation. Then he kept just saying "no". This went back and forth for a while until I showed him a piece of paper from the hotel with our reservation then he relented. Very weird. The food is way subpar for Tokyo, and I don't have high standards. So many 100 yen (per order) sushi places throughout the city are very obviously better. They just don't bother with the quality of the food. Also they don't seem be bothering with the things this place is known for. They don't give you a yukata to wear, they don't serve you food on the wooden paddle, etc. I wish we hadn't come out of our way across the city to come here as there would've been much better place a block or so from any hotel anywhere...

This was our first sushi experience in Tokyo. The staff was friendly, the restaurant was clean and busy (to me, ALWAYS a good sign). I want to be honest to you, the person reading this, but also respectful to the people who run this establishment. The sushi is good here, but I gotta say: our only memorable bite, was their unagi. It was delicious but in comparison to our other selections, there wasn't too much that left an impact. I will add that their presentation of sake was highly impressive. If you're staying nearby, we stayed less than a 2 min walk away, this is a reliable place to get some pretty good sushi. The staff really exceeded expectations here and were very quick refilling drinks delivering our food and the decor of the place made it feel like I had stepped back in time. Is this the beat sushi place in Tokyo? I won't lie, probably not. But for the price, the experience, and the service I will give them 5 stars. We did eat at a few other sushi places, but they will not be getting those 5 stars because they didn't hit all the boxes. Itamae Sushi does. I do think there is room for some improvement, but overall, they earned a stamp...