Kappou Yoshiba — Restaurant in Tokyo

Yoshiba was a mixed bag for us. I had read online the good and the bad about others' experience here, but thought the good outweighed the bad. We had reservations, but were not able to choose our seats near the ring to view the sumo singing (understandable, it was a busy night). Our first waitress was an older woman, and she was not nice. Very kurt, spoke her broken English rudely like we were a problem, while we were trying to be very nice. Took a long time just to bring drinks and take our order. Also, there was smoking allowed, so there was some of that. Our second waitress however, was MUCH nicer. Very helpful, she even started our burners and practically cooked our food for us, we loved her. The sumo singing at 7:30 was nice, went on for maybe half an hour. And the food itself was pretty good, I loved it. Imagine a tasty broth with lots of veggies and meat, it was SO good. If you can humbly take a rude waitress, and focus on the food, friends, and atmosphere, you'll enjoy this place. If a bad waitress will linger on your table's vibe, you won't have a good time. I'm convinced if the first waitress hadn't been so rude, people in our party would have enjoyed...

Go in the evening when the sumo-themed entertainment is there-- it makes for a memorable experience, and is half the point of the restaurant. The walk to the place from the nearby Ryogoku Station is scenic as well as you pass through the Sumida River and even through a beautiful garden by the Sword Museum.

We were a group of 4. We ordered agedashi tofu, a sashimi set, the tuna extravaganza set (with chuutoro and otoro!), and miso chanko. Servings were generally good (the sushi and sashimi could easily have fed us), and sometimes overwhelming (the chanko-- they say it serves 2, but it can serve more than that unless you want to split the toppings evenly). They didn't scrimp on the quality and quantity of the ingredients. Prices were also reasonable, with us averaging around 2000 yen each, and this was with chuutoro and otoro and their flagship chanko.

The staff were attentive, friendly, and patient. Some speak English as well (which is good, as I was the only one who could speak Japanese in the group).

They have a debit/credit card swiper, but it failed during the time we came. It's probably the swiper / bank itself so I won't dock...

10 minute walk from Ryogoku station, a very nice place to go with family, friends, and your business partners. Very nice food, the dishes come up pretty fast. The chanko-nabe (ちゃんこ鍋) is famous as one of the ex-sumo wrestlers founded the restaurant.:) Every dish was delicious!! The staff are friendly and helpful. The fish is straight from the fish market so it’s very fresh! Not over priced.

There are occasional performances happening in the center and when I went, there was a 15-20min performance;)

Saw some foreigners around as well! A great cultural experience and also a very different experience from a normal restaurant as...