Rize Mize Italian Bar | Pizza & Pasta in Shinjuku — Restaurant in Tokyo

The food was very nice, and whilst the portion sizes were smaller in comparison to what you would normally get served in Sydney, the price was reasonable, and we didn't have a bad dish.

For 4 people, we ordered an appetizer that was based on the chef's selection (terrine, pickled roasted vegetables and smoked salmon carpaccio), baked lasagne, spanner crab and prawn pasta, Margherita pizza, pork sausage pizza, and for dessert: chocolate fondant, tiramisu, gelato and affogato. Including drinks (note each person needs to buy one drink each), our bill came to ¥13700 (AUD$150).

Being a small bar / restaurant that's made up of one waiter/bartender and the cook, we didn't have to wait too long for our food to come out from the kitchen. Everything was fresh and made to order, and you can tell. The only wait we had was for the chocolate fondant dessert, which took 15 minutes to bake, and the chef kindly gave us the head's up.

After reading the reviews, we made sure we made an online reservation before coming, and we are glad that we did as we saw so many people get turned away as they were booked out. We found the online booking system straightforward, but you will need a mobile number as the restaurant will send you a text to confirm...

Food: We ordered a carbonara pasta, pepperoni + jalapeno pizza and a caesar salad. The carbonara tasted like frozen food, the pizza was alright and the caesar salad was dripping with dressing. Overall I think the food was alright given the price, but after ordering the food I was told that we "have to order drinks otherwise we'll be asked to leave". Yes, this place kicks you out if you don't order any drinks.

Service: If you have any self respect, don't dine at this place. The waiter is as rude as any Japanese person you'll ever find. My wife and I ordered in Japanese as my wife is Japanese. He was extremely condescending, rude and had an expression that was so cold that you'd think we did something to his family. My wife and I have never met anyone as rude and unpleasant as a waiter. Maybe he should quit his job cause he seemed so miserable.

Atmosphere: small tables but the music was fine. Would have enjoyed it if the waiter wasn't so miserable.

Would not recommend. You can find places that treat you with respect and serve better food than this place. If you are coming from abroad, spend your precious money elsewhere than at...

Pizza was decent, although a bit oily. I bet you could find pizza just as good elsewhere in Shinjuku. Main problem was the service: I walked in a few minutes after it opened and the place was mostly empty but with reserved signs on all tables. The guy behind the bar confirmed they were full, but begrudgingly agreed to do a takeaway order—I was surprised how grumpy he was, most everyone in Japan in the service industry has been exceedingly friendly and kind. Since it was raining hard, I didn't want to walk all the way back to my apartment just to return in 40 min, so I asked if I could wait there until it was ready but he refused. I was initially fine with this because I figured the tables would be filling up soon (it's not a big place). But when I returned a short time later, the place was even emptier than before! It was obvious almost no one had come while I was gone. Maybe I'm missing a cultural point here, but I don't understand why I wasn't allowed to at least sit at the bar and order a drink while I waited. Overall, I was treated as if I were doing the restaurant a favor by asking for a takeout order. I...