New York Grill — Restaurant in Tokyo

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...

For those that prefer a summary, passive mistreatment and neglect is the service and atmosphere my wife and I feel we experienced at this bar. Having explored Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo’s ins and outs for the past couple of weeks, we firmly believe that this bar does not at all represent the experience, culture or hospitality that one would consider the “norm” in upper class Japan.

We were staying at the Kimpton just nearby and were recommended the bar as a “Must See” for the night city views of Tokyo. We waited the 30-45 mins and paid the fees of approx 2500 Yen per person for non Park Hyatt guests (feel free to do the conversion in your native currency to see how ridiculous that is). To the bar’s credit, the views of Tokyo at that altitude are good.

However what followed after the wait was our placement in a corner “hidden” table, with what my wife and I believed was an obvious preference to guests that were deemed more “respectable” for various reasons. When there was a slight confusion in our order, we were provided with a waiter that appeared to be from our ancestral country despite us being citizens of Canada that only spoke English in our native tongue. We noted that guests seated after us, again, possibly deemed more “respectable” in appearance, were given preferential treatment in being seated closer to the live music or windows, despite our request for similar views. They also appeared to be treated with far less disdain than we were during service.

We decided to leave the overpriced truffle fries untouched, paid the approx $170 bill, and provided the feedback to the staff. We refused the staff’s offer to speak with their management, even as they attempted to convince us with what we believe were corporate recommended phrases while they followed us back down to the 41st floor (part of the convoluted and frankly asinine way to exit the bar and hotel). The damage was already done to our day at this point.

My wife and I do not wish for anything in return for this awful experience here. We admit that the drinks were well made and the views and live music were good (we have seen far better for far less $$, and with much better hospitality).

I decided to post this as one of my first reviews because the passive mistreatment I believe I observed, was hard to ignore. My wife and I feel that this bar does not at all represent the experience of Japan. Japan is beautiful, kind, hospitable, and largely indiscriminate or when so, is extremely polite and respectful about it. We have had welcoming experiences everywhere but this bar. Please continue to support other businesses in this country that we feel are far more deserving of...

Like many others before us, it was on our bucket list to visit the bar from Lost in Translation. We went on a Sunday evening around 11PM, just as the jazz band was leaving, meaning we did not have to pay the cover charge (though we would have been more than happy to pay the cover charge and watch some live jazz).

We were seated right away however there were no seats by the window until after our first drink (at which point I noticed one free table and the server obliged my request to be moved). There's no doubt about it, the view of the city with all of its sparkling lights is truly breathtaking.

The rest of our experience wasn't bad, but it wasn't particularly amazing either. The service was decent and everyone spoke English well. The drinks were fine as well (Lagavulin scotch and Moscow mule made with homemade ginger syrup). We had read previous reviews so we were aware of the exorbitant prices and the bill did not come as a shock to us (9,700 yen for 2 scotches and 2 Moscow mules).

The two main negatives were that smoking was allowed, and that people were generally being pretty annoying with their picture-taking. We were luckily there on an evening where not too many people were smoking, but there was a chain smoker right next to us which took away from the experience. When we were seated next to the window, several other customers were coming right up to our table and taking pictures of the view without even considering our presence (or the fact that they were then blocking our view) which we found to be a little rude (especially since on the bar's website, they mention that they reserve the right to tell you to put your phone away if you're disturbing other guests by taking pictures). There were windows by the elevators where there were no tables which also provided an excellent view of the city, and would have made for a much more appropriate spot for taking pictures.

A few reviewers mentioned that it was difficult to find the bar, however we had no issue at all. They provided a clear map on the ground floor that if you take the time to consult, will give you everything you need to know (take the elevator to the 41st, turn the corner on the right and continue down the hall until reaching the elevator that will take you to the 52nd).

Overall, we do not regret going since the view was spectacular and we lived our Lost in Translation dream, but it was not as magical as the movie made it out to be mostly because of the guests around us. I'd recommend going to the Peak Bar on the 41st floor which was virtually deserted and provides equally as...