SG LOW — Restaurant in Tokyo

I wanted to love this place, but it was a massive disappointment. This was without a doubt the worst evening we had in Japan, but, there is all the potential for this place to be great (because the food was excellent), but they seem to have confused good service with excessive presence and rushing the people who are there to enjoy the food.

As a foodie, who researches a lot of restaurant and bars, this was the only “foreign friendly”/ fusion restaurant we visited in Japan during this trip.

Pros: location is good. Ambiance is cozy. Bone Marrow noodles.

Cons: everything else.

Drinks: Beers are small and delicate, cocktails are fine (not revolutionary) but pricey. I would go to the Bellwood for cocktails instead.

Recap of our ordering situation: The two hour “reservation” time is taking insanely literally, so when we arrive 21:45 (on time) we were told the kitchen would take last order at 22. Since the restaurant serves small plates, it is tricky to know how many to order when you visit for the first time. Also, it is just disagreeable to be rushed to order as you have barely sat down. Then, when we went to order, our waiter (despite what may have been good intentions) was unable to clearly explain the portion sizes— first this plate has 2 pieces of chicken, then 3 minutes later it was 5 pieces. Maybe it would be good to just clarify it on the menu — plates for sharing vs. individual single pieces. This was only obvious for hand rolls. Our group of seven had received half our food around 22:30, half still to come, and they asked for last call for drinks. The bill arrived immediately. To be clear: we hadn’t even finished one drink and half the food hadn’t been served before they gave us our bill and started to make us feel like we should leave. We basically pushed out the door at 23:00 (everyone else had been too).

Takeaway: It just feels like they missed the point of hospitality and should take fewer reservations and let those people actually enjoy the restaurant. We actually had to ask our waiter to please be respectful and let us eat before shoving the bill in our face. If you schedule 21:45 seating, you need to assume that last seating will stay until 22:30-24. This is common practice — it’s not like it was an “all you can drink” situation. Only a 3 because the noodles with bone marrow are incredible, I will not return though.

Hesitated to write such an honest review, but I hope it will help the management to see since they have an important foreign clientele (they said 80%), that they should consider a...

Saiko, honto ni saiko! The best, for real the best!!! Legit, I have never had a better experience in izakaya or modern izakaya than here. What the SG group did to level up izakayas is downright genius. Making it almost like a speakeasy where there are no signs at all just an old rickety door and a bare floor mat. I feel bad for the neighboring business…I’m sure they’ve had their fair share of patrons walking in thinking it was SG Low. Anyways, once we opened the door, we were welcomed with the best IRASSHAIMASE I’ve ever heard. The totally said it with their chest! Today they had a special that I pray and hope goes on their menu forever, soft shell crab tacos. Pure bliss in your mouth is the only way to describe it. We also ordered the iberico natto mochi, which was awesome because I’m head over heels for natto. The game sausage because it’s hard to find really good sausage out here and this was fabulous. But we were also impressed with the Dan Dan style bolognese. Then there were the drinks. You can never go wrong with cocktails from Sip and Guzzle so order anything and it will tickle your fancy. I truly wish I had a third stomach and liver because we could have stayed here for another two hours enjoying the other customers, staff, food, drinks and atmosphere. Best izakaya speakeasy in the...

The best izakaya I've been to in Japan! It's location is a bit hidden. You have to take the red elevator to the 2nd floor and it's behind the old looking door on the right after you get out. The door is a bit heavy!

The vibes for this place are fantastic and the staff members are so friendly! My friend has a gluten allergy and the chef personally came out to ensure him that he was in good hands and even showed the gluten-free soy sauce he would be using for him.

They are known for their lemon sours here with 20 different ones! Generally they will try to tell you which to get and you can't go wrong with their recommendations. While other reviews mentioned they kept trying to upsell you dishes or drinks, I think their recommendations just improved our night. I really liked their twists on a lot of classic dishes.

At the end of the night, they recommend the Miracle lemon sour which we did. It consists of the most sour lemon sour. After drinking it, they give you the miracle berry which makes all sour tastes change to sweet. It's very fun to see your drink change flavor!

Afterwards, they gave us a coin and walked us to their sister bar in the neighborhood. That coin gave us free drinks in that bar. We had a memorable night and it was one of the highlights...