Kabi — Restaurant in Tokyo

High expectations not met. Very bitter and one dimensional food. And then a disgraceful episode of being overcharged ¥30,000.

This was really troubling and it’s tough to understand “the mistake”. We booked the 4 counter seats a few weeks ago, while we gave our credit card for the booking (we live relatively local). Our out of town Chinese guests, however, insisted to pay so they gave their credit card. Our server left and came back a few minutes later with an iPad. Fortunately we accidentally saw the total amount on the iPad and asked for a paper receipt. This is the picture posted with the review - there were 4 of us, we had 2 non-alcoholic pairings and 1 alcoholic. We were aghast to see a total of 6 pairings and 4 additional glasses of wine that were allegedly a “mistake.” How did this happen or perhaps the question is why did this happen? There was no other 4-somes, all the other tables were couples. we were the only seemingly non-Japanese - although I stress seemingly as we speak Japanese. When we complained of course they fixed it but the Japanese manager/chefs didn’t come out to apologise. I thought this was disgraceful and went and asked them myself to apologise to our guests. If they were Japanese the owner/manager would have been bent double in a bow but none of that was offered. So I have to ask what really happened here to our Chinese friends?

For sure this leaves a bitter taste in one’s mouth but not as much as the food did. Kabi means mold so are they sending a message here … It wasn’t to my taste at all, but our overcharged Chinese visitors loved it and didn’t let the 40% overcharge. The non-alcohol pairings were similarly awful but the wine, sake, beer seemed to be only hit - so good they charged us twice.

Another complaint is the water charge. There was no drink menu and a few of us went with sparkling water. The 4x ¥800 charge here was quite a surprise as it’s for 4 small glasses, probably less than 200ml each and not 4x bottles - and we never saw the bottles. We were expecting charge for one bottle like in every other restaurant. This is BAD profiteering similar to rental car companies charging excessive amounts for gasoline. Another bitter reminder never to go back

Finally and most Interestingly we were the only group not talked to by the owner/ manager couple who bounced around participating in small talk with the other customers. Maybe we weren’t hip and Instagram influencer...

Experience unfortunately ruined by bad service.

We all enjoyed the food, wine and non alcoholic parings. delicate dishes showcasing seasonal ingredients, interesting non alcoholic drinks paired nicely. Wines were great and also paired nicely with the food.

However as we were sat at a table and not at the counter we didn’t know we could get more wine, until we were told by a staff member that we could get more wine if we finished the first pour and we still had food in front of us, we were on about course 7 by this point. We had been sitting with empty glasses whilst the other table and counter guests were getting more wine.

The next wine was the Pinot noir which was my favourite from the meal, so after I finished, I asked the server for some more wine, after seeing her pour wine for the other table. She was hesitant as it was the end of the bottle and she didn’t want to open a new one. She poured the remains of the bottle along with the sediment in my glass and walked away. We then witnessed another staff member open a new bottle and pour to other guests sat at the counter.

We got one more drink with the final dessert, but didn’t get any extra wine even though we finished our glasses before finishing the plate. I didn’t come to the restaurant to drink, but I feel like our table was forgotten about. However our water was topped up regularly.

We were given drinks without descriptions throughout the meal, leaving us guessing what they were until the staff returned.

They were kind enough to speak in English for the service however the broken English from our server was difficult to understand the descriptions for myself, my partner and her sister. They should have spoken in Japanese and let us deal with the translation.

These are just a couple of the faults along with some rude service.

I had followed kabi for a while and I was excited to eat here on our travels from Canada however I was disappointed by the experience. Hopefully they see this and can tighten up the service to match the quality of the...

We walked in excited and left feeling a bit duped.

The food? Passable. Not bad by any means, but nothing that tied together in a memorable or cohesive way. I've had more thoughtful meals at local restaurants.

The non-alcoholic drink pairing was a bold idea, but poorly executed. It felt more like a concept than a finished product. I’d actually love to see someone skilled take it further. But charging nearly the cost of the meal for those juices? That’s a level of confidence I can’t quite respect. I had been to Kabi before several times before their michelin star, it was a better experience. This was also reflected in the cost 8,000JPY vs the now 30,000JPY

Furthermore i even left the meal hungry, this should never ever happen when ordering a tasting menu.

I held off on saying anything for a while because the staff were lovely—attentive, professional, clearly doing their best. They were the highlight, honestly.

But this restaurant feels like it’s trying too hard to impress the wrong people. There’s ambition here, sure, but it’s not grounded in self-awareness. Someone needs to recalibrate the vision before it...