Narukiyo — Restaurant in Tokyo

This was the most disappointing experience I have had at any restaurant in Japan. Do not waste you money here. There are WAY TOO MANY other amazing options around (I would have rather made a Lawson or 7/11 run). I was with my girlfriend who lives here in Japan and is Japanese still got treated like I am a dumb foreigner.

They overcharged us and would not provide an itemized receipt to show me what I was paying for. The total was 20,700yen. 6,000 a piece for an omakaze experience I highly discourage. The food was decent but I noticed the chef gave the better cuts of sashimi to other patrons (I saw him cut ours and the knife did not go through very cleanly on our tuna sashimi, and the fish was also not fresh). I had 3 beers and she had 2 sparkling waters. I had the server verbally tell me the price of each item that totaled to around 16,000 - the rest was tax (10%) and the remaining was a “service fee”.

They forgot about us and it took way too long between courses, especially considering how rude they were to my girlfriend on the phone when she made the reservation. Calling directly is the only way to make a reservation (and you need to speak Japanese or they will mess up), and they are very rude yelling at you that there is a 2hour time limit per guest. Cool, great, understandable . . . But they did not even start serving us until 6:15 with a 6:00 reservation and then forgot or took way too long between courses.

Pretty disappointed because there are SO MANY better places we could have gone to. I have no problem spending money on a great restaurant and usually won’t complain but this was pretty pathetic for Japanese standards.

Also, the sashimi, Wagyu katsu, and fried rice were all sub par (you could find better for less than 2,000 anywhere in Japan). The soup was good but got overshadowed by everything else, and they never brought me my own soup and only gave us one.

Hope this helps someone who visits for a short time and would be really upset with this experience!

I still love...

Love this place. First visited in 2015, then 4 more times between then and 2024. Exceptional Japanese soul food. The basashi (horse liver sashimi with green chilli, if in season), the tempura plate, the wagyu sirloin and the sashimi are my go-to’s. The blanched and chilled asparagus & tomatoes with kewpie and red miso is also an excellent way to start, particularly on a steamy 38 degree day. Fresh, umami, cold and crunchy.

The quality of the protein & vegetables is exceptional, and if you’re watching the chef cook and plate (eg if you’re sat at the bar) you can see the love and attention that goes into each dish

Note: it’s not ‘cheap’ but you can expect to pay roughly ¥10,000 per head, which has it at the higher end of the izakaya price scale, but far cheaper than the European-style options which many still consider a ‘superior’ cuisine. ¥10,000 per person (including drinks) still, in my opinion, represents exceptional value, considering the tiny space (there are roughly four customers per staff member, and only one chef). A meal at this level in Paris or Copenhagen would be twice the price (and in New York or LA, four times the price). If anythjng, considering the work and craft that goes into the food, most izakaya’s are generally underpriced and undervalued

Another note: Definitely not kid-friendly (unless your...

This is one of my favorite spots in Tokyo 💯. I squeezed in standing at the counter. If you make any attempt to speak even a little Japanese they will be very appreciative. Menu is beautifully written on a hand scroll, the calligraphy looks so amazing. I only wish I could properly read it. The server showed me dishes on instagram which really helped me as I was standing over looking the kitchen I could see the chef/cooks make the portions depending on your size/party size. I personally love this. I had so many dishes but they were all made a little smaller for me so I could try as much as possible. I will be going back for sure.

I had the sashimi, fried chicken, chicken Katsu, a vegetable plate, Wagyu beef, tempura and the chef special, a whole mackerel head. All of it was outstanding.

Get music and really cool vibes, very punk/rock and roll.

If you make an effort to be in another country and don’t expect everyone to speak English it will be return to you triple fold.

I had 7/8 dishes, 4/5 beers and 3 sake. Total around 80$usd. Not sure why people are moaning about the prices. Like 5.50$usd per item.

Ignore the 1* reviews. They would have probably been better going to any...