Kougai Ken — Restaurant in Tokyo

There's often a line here. There are even stanchions in the the garage area beneath the place, like they're preparing for a theme park length crowd. I think it's one of those Tik Tok famous places that are all over Japan. But it was dead when I walked in on the Monday night after the neighborhood's summer festival, about 40 minutes before they closed.

There was strange Western style music playing, some sort of odd accordion folk tunes, like the kind of thing you hear in a faux Tuscan place in the US. They seems to be aiming for a kind of European elegance ambience, but the lighting is so bright that it comes off a little more like casual American diner or family restaurant.

I ordered the omelet with hamburger steak and tomato rice. That seems to be the specialty dish. First, they brought me a tiny little skillet full of demi glace served with a steak knife. Then, about five minutes later, they brought my food.

I get why this place is popular. The combination of egg, hamburger steak, tomato rice, and demi glace is classic for a reason. The tomato rice tastes like ketchup risotto, which compliments both the omelet and the hamburger patty. Plus, you're getting three different takes on the same soft lumpy texture. They are similar in form, but also distinct. It doesn't blow your mind, and I can think of ways it could be better (add some gorgonzola to the bechamel, some spicy smoked paprika to the rice, some fresh herbs to the burger) but it's good as it is.

Sometimes, in Japan, when they call it "Western food" it's hard to understand what they mean. Especially since I've never seen anything like it, despite living my whole life in the West. But this omirice, even though it's utterly foreign to me, tasted familiar. It's a quintessentially Japanese take on Western flavor combinations.

Not the best meal I've ever had, but perfectly acceptable...

WORST EXPERIENCE IN JAPAN EVER. Came here based on the Googlemap ratings, but the experience was very, very horrible.

Let’s talk about the food first. The brown soup has a bitter taste, and the burger meat is also very bland and greasy. Overall, this omelette was terrible, not to mention queuing up to eat it. It was definitely not worth it.

The most outrageous thing is the service attitude. The service attitude of one waitress in the restaurant is very, very bad and impolite, and even lacks basic courtesy to act like a normal human: She didn't bring us menu or serve us water for a very long time after we sat down at the table. After I proactively asked her to give me the menu, she also deliberately gave me the Japanese menu instead of the English menu I politely asked the waitress if she could provide us hot water instead of cold water, but she refused directly and coldly. Instead, after I conmmunicate with the chef, the chef provided it friendly and absolutely. 【The most important thing is that when the waitress put the water on the table, she deliberately bumped and dropped the cup on the table. which make the sound very loud and harsh. I was very angery about this, which disturbed our mood for dinner. Not to mention the waitress even rolled her eyes to us. We customer are here to consume, not to beg your mercy to show your happy attitude】. After this happened, I complained to the waitress and asked her to let her manager come over to solve the problem, but she just pretended not understanding English and ignored all my attempts to call the service later. I complained to the chef by myself, and asked for another waitress to serve us, but the first annoying waitress still didn't apologize to me. Such people don't deserve a job, or don't even deserve to be a human without the basic courtesy.

My sincere suggestion is that you should not come to this restaurant in the future. Because there is no delicious food and no pleasant mood. WORST EXPERIENCE IN JAPAN EVER

日本での最悪の経験。 Googlemapの評価に基づいてここに来ましたが、その経験は非常にひどいものでした。

まずは食べ物について話しましょう。茶色のスープは苦味があり、ハンバーグの肉も非常に淡白で脂っこいです。 全体として、このオムレツはひどいもので、それを食べるために並んでいることは言うまでもありません。それは間違いなく価値がありませんでした。 最もひどいのはサービス態度です。レストランのあるウェイトレスのサービス態度は非常に悪く、普通の人間のように振る舞うための基本的な礼儀さえ欠如しています。 私たちがテーブルに座った後、彼女は長い間メニューを持ってきたり、水を出したりしませんでした。私が積極的に「メニューをください」とお願いしたら、彼女もわざわざ英語のメニューではなく日本語のメニューをくれました。 私はウェイトレスに、冷水の代わりにお湯を提供してもらえるか丁寧に尋ねましたが、彼女は直接的かつ冷たく拒否しました。代わりに、私がシェフとコミュニケーションを取った後、シェフはフレンドリーで絶対にそれを提供してくれました。 【最も重要なことは、ウェイトレスがテーブルに水を置くとき、彼女は故意にテーブルにカップをぶつけて落としたということです。そのため、音が非常に大きくて耳障りになります。私はこのことにとても腹を立て、夕食の雰囲気を乱してしまいました。 ...

I had a very disappointing experience at this omurice restaurant in Nakameguro. When we arrived, there were only two groups ahead of us, and we were the third. The first two groups were let in quickly, but we were left waiting outside for nearly 30 minutes. When we tried to ask the staff about the wait, they responded rudely, simply telling us to “wait outside,” with no explanation at all.

What made it worse was seeing a group of local Japanese customers arrive later than us and being let in immediately. This felt very unfair and frankly offensive. Even if they had a reservation, the staff should have informed us clearly, rather than leaving us confused and standing outside.

I’ve been to many popular restaurants in Japan, and have never encountered such poor service. It left a very bad impression, and I was honestly quite upset. I hope those considering a visit take this...