New York Grill

I've visited New York Grill on several occasions and often recommend it to VIP's visiting from the US. Each time has been rather nice; pimarily for the atmosphere. The cuisine is acceptable, but Chef Heerdt and his team are certainly no longer validating their Michelin star. At some point though, they must have been and I regret that I missed that period. On two of the most recent occasions I was particularly excited about the steak, but dissappointed in both cases. In the first experience, the steak was to be prepared medium, but was instead cooked well and somehow over-zealously fragrant of fish. On my second visit, I decided to give the steak another try. Even the most respectable chef can have an off day. However, this time the steak was in fact medium but also abundant with oil and what appeared to be overly seared, most likely due to too high temperature in a attempt to rush the food out. The result was a small steak blackened on the outside, pink, chewy and dry on the inside. But perhaps steak is their weak point. I decided to be optimistic and make yet a another dinner reservation. This time to celebrate the birthday of an American diplomat friend of mine to happened to be visiting Tokyo on work. I set the reservation early and then began making preparations. I called the restaurant back the following day to see if it's possible to bring in a quite small, but specially prepared cake for this unique occasion. As a true show of selfishness and failure to serve the customer, this simple and harmless request was declined by one of the hostesses over the phone. Obviuosly, I immediately cancelled my reservation. The visiting guest is more valuable than this restaurant as a whole and I needed to immediately call for emergency planning. On a personal level, this was the last straw for me. A Michelin star is not only representative of quality food, but of quality service, which means nothing if both are not equally met.

I will never again allow myself to grace those grounds. I have removed it from the list of recommended elegant dining locations at the US Embassy and will no longer recommend it to any of the visiting VIP's that I cater to in the future. This restaurant has become a selfish and disgraceful establishment. If your searching for a restaurant concerned more about their own interests and how much you'll be spending, than about customer experience, courtesy, and respect, then this is the place for you and I truly wish you a beautiful dining experience. I'm sure you'll find the view enchanting. For the rest of us who cherish the quality of service recieved, I recommend an establishment with a higher sense of consideration for their customers, such as Hooters in Shinjuku.

Furthermore, here are a list of high quality luxury dining locations in Tokyo that allow you to bring a cake if your also looking to celebrate a birthday.

Kozue Il Ristorante - Luca Fantin Narisawa Aronia de Takazawa Arva by Aman Tokyo Arakawa Yukimura Joël Robuchon Quintessence

And for restaurants that do not...

New York Grill Subway