Sukiyabashi Jiro — Restaurant in Tokyo

We planned our anniversary around this reservation that can only made through a 5 star hotel. Don’t trust the documentary! We were completely DISAPPOINTED after paying over $110,000Yen for the both of us.

First, lower your service expectations. The documentary shows us good customer service and the art of sushi, but none of that will be demonstrated. Jiro is in the Ginza subway station with no English signs for your foreign clientele? I would recommend you go at least 20 minutes earlier. Jiro will expect you to be early. Here is a picture of the outside unlabeled doors leading to the restaurant to help you.

Interesting that locals we spoke to have not heard of this restaurant. You would think that such a famous restaurant would have local popularity?

Second, Jiro has a very STRICT dress code. We have been to other high end and Michelin star restaurants without such a dress code. Unfortunately, my hotel concierge did not warn me about the (inappropriate) dress shorts and sandals. I understand he is 90 years old, but at temperatures of 34°C with nearly 100% humidity, is it reasonable to force your foreign tourists to wear long pants with closed-toe shoes? I was told I had to go buy 100,000Y pants upstairs to make my RSVP in time. Shocking.

Third, you MUST finish your entire meal within a 30 minute limit. Crazy! There was a military production line with Jiro and his son making the sushi and 2 sous chefs serving. The sous chef scolded me that I must eat each piece with only one bite. I obliged. It was difficult with larger and chewier pieces. My wife was allowed to eat her pieces with 2 bites. The meal was run like the Seinfeld “soup nazi” (google if you don’t know it). You get about 18 pieces of sushi to be finished within a 30 minute time limit. Part of why we enjoy food, is to take time to enjoy the art in which the food is prepared, and enjoy the taste of each bite. Jiro whispers orders to his sous chef, who then comes around the counter to tell me “sir, please eat faster!“. I could barely finish one piece before they were rushing me to eat the next bite. Unbelievable. Given the speed of the food, we had force down the last few bites. The quality of the sushi was good, but there was no time to enjoy it.

Other rules? You must remain completely silent. I asked a question to Jiro and it was ignored. The sous chefs glanced at Jiro and then me as if I committed a crime and awaiting punishment. I used the soya sauce once, and then I was scolded not to use any more soya sauce as they have already applied it. I obliged and left the soya sauce dish untouched. Why would they provide it if they don’t want us using it? You must eat sushi with your fingers, not your chopsticks. I used the chopsticks only for the ginger. I placed the chopsticks in a vertical orientation and was scolded that it must be in a horizontal position at all times. Given the military-like environment, I decided not to question.

I hope this helps temper expectations for future clients. And if you’re expecting amazing sushi here, you will get it, yet at the cost of poor customer service. Compared to the other good sushi places, it’s only about 5% better. Not worth the extra money.

As an owner of a business with high volumes and high demand, I have some humble suggestions for Jiro management: your business thrives on the coat tails of the documentary. It will pay dividends if you could be a bit more customer-friendly to your patrons. It will cost you no more time. Engage and talk. Most of your clients are foreign visitors and are accustomed to good customer service with high priced meals. Drop the 30 minute limit and give them even just 15 minutes more so they can enjoy each bite. Word of mouth to support your documentary will be propel your legendary status. The Japanese Zen culture is to take time to enjoy even the smallest things in life, as opposed to madly rush through beautiful things. I suspect that if you do these things, your business will be unstoppable, likely making the family transition from Jiro to son to be...

This was a wonderful experience.

The sushi was the highest quality and the flavors were distinct and amazing.

For the negative reviews...here is what I want to share:

Go here if you want to experience the art of sushi. If you are used to the experience of going out to dinner for sushi, this is not that. This is purely about the sushi, nothing else.

Their website (www.sushi-jiro.jp/en/tips) clearly sets the expectations for pace, amount of sushi and experience. It IS intense to eat 20 pieces of sushi in 30 minutes and even though I knew that was going to happen and didn't eat lunch I was still so very full by the end! The japanese couple next to me seemed to be regulars and were able to order additional pieces and seemed unphased! I declined because I just couldn't do it. I think those with experience in enjoying the art of sushi can handle it so if youre inexperienced (like me) to the traditional methods just know this is not a typical dinner and keep an open mind (and stomach). Their website states it, the hotel concierge warned me and these reviews told me. I think somehow previous reviewers maybe didn't research or thought the warnings were exaggerated. The expectations are communicated clearly. It was a lot of food but it's still a unique experience and there wasn't any piece I didn't find delicious.

It was great watching Chef Yoshikazu Ono. For those saying he ignored them, or they felt any rudeness - it's purely a cultural difference and language barrier. He seemed more relaxed briefly communicating with the Japanese couple who looked like regulars and that's OK! But even they were silent for the most part because the Chef was focused on the sushi and that's the primary part of the experience. I was pretty relaxed eating silence and didn't feel uncomfortable or unwelcome. He was very kind, came outside to take a photo with me and smiled, said goodbye and to come again soon in english. If he doesn't always do this, it might just be a busy night or logistics, so dont focus too much on that. It's easy to project negative perceptions when you aren't open to cultural differences or understanding of language barriers. They are probably trying to figure you out as well! They have so many international customers. Some come from heavily social cultures while others come from conservative ones. Dont let misconceptions prevent you from enjoying a unique experience.

Follow the rules. No one actively came out to smell me (and if they did, they were very discrete about it), only to check the reservation name and let me know the next steps. The hostess and some of the assistant chefs speak english and were all very nice and took time to explain each step. They do not "confiscate" your belongings, lol. It's just being checked in because it's literally a counter space, and its more convenient for the customer to not have to figure out where to keep all their belongings. Lots of restaurants do this all over the world. They let a customer keep her phone on her, so they simply expect you to respect the no photo inside policy. In larger seating groups, they might not allow phones because of counter spacing (we only had 4 people in my dinner slot so maybe thats why). The effort is there; any misunderstandings in previous reviews are again probably cultural differences or just logistics for the seating group size and time.

Keep an open mind, make sure you have stomach capacity or experience to eat at this pace (you've been warned), respect the traditional art of sushi (and the culture of the country if you are visiting) and you'll have...

A few of us had the pleasure of visiting Sukiyabashi Jiro at Roppongi Hills, Tokyo during our visit to Japan last week. This is not the main restaurant by the 85 year old father located in Ginza, but instead it's a mirror restaurant owned by his younger son (Ono Takashi). Both are featured in the documentary 'Jiro Dreams of Sushi'. If you enjoy sushi, I'm pretty sure you've watched, or at least heard about this documentary. (If you haven't, it's available in Netflix)

We tried so hard to get a reservation at the main location in Ginza, but we weren't able to get reservations. We weren't even able to call in. I asked my coworker in Tokyo to help us make a reservation, but the phone call never went through. This was months before our trip. Roppongi Hills it is then.

We came in with high expectations. We were also afraid that the place might just be another tourist trap. There's also the question if we will be disappointed by not going to the main location in Ginza. The food is not cheap, with pricing ranging around $200-300 per sitting.

I don't want this to be a long review, but I must say food and experience is really worth the price of admission. You don't just pay for the item/food, but you're also buying the experience. Takashi's English is pretty good, so he took his time explaining every single sushi he served us. He really paid attention to details as well. What I noticed is that for the shrimp, he left the tails for all the guys, but cut it for the one served to one of my female friends. Same thing for the tamago served at the end. It was left as a whole for the guys, cut in half for the girls. The food itself was amazing. I don't have a very sensitive tongue, and although I enjoy sushi very much, I'm usually quite indifferent.

This one is not case. I can see that the sushi he served us is on a much different level. Everything is fresh, and they all taste delicious, unlike anything I've tasted before. Even the wasabi was freshly grated. The uni was really soft and sweet. He gave us some fish that I've never eaten before. Or even heard of. This was also the first time I didn't feel the need of dipping my sushi into the soy sauce, since I'm afraid it will spoil the taste of the fish (I poured some, but didn't use it). He asked us to chew the octopus slowly and feel the taste changes as we chew. Yes, this is the octopus that was massaged for 40 minutes before being served. The texture is very different to the octopus I've ever had before.

I wore my +Google Glass and asked for permission to take photos and videos (he was quite fascinated by it). He said it's alright as long as it doesn't show other customers. You can see from the albums a few videos I took when he was making some of the sushi. It's quite an art I'd say, the amount of precision involved during the process.

So is it worth it? The total damage for my meal is 26500 Yen, which is equivalent to about $265. And I think it's worth every single Yen. The problem is now I'm spoiled. I'm not sure I will be able to find a better sushi anywhere else...