Sushi Ishiyama — Restaurant in Tokyo

The food itself was within expectations of an omakase. However, the attitude of the chefs significantly soured the experience for us. Throughout the meal, we couldn't help but feel somewhat shunned.

I couldn't shake the feeling that it might have been due to us being foreigners, especially after observing the clear difference in how other guests were treated. For instance, we received no explanations about the dishes or sushi served while others did. Furthermore, there was no announcement or indication when the meal was over or that we were being served the final piece, which left us sitting there confused for a while.

A particularly uncomfortable moment occurred when a chef asked me to silence my phone in a manner that felt condescending, despite it already being silenced and me using it as discreetly as possible. It felt as if this was my first time in a Japanese restaurant, which was not the case.

The host who greeted and escorted us to the elevator was polite, which was one of the few redeeming aspects of our visit.

In contrast, we had a much more pleasant omakase experience in Osaka - both in terms of hospitality...

The food was terrible. Most of the ingredients tasted extremely fishy and unpleasant. Despite informing the restaurant in advance about the ingredients I cannot eat, they still served them. Because I refused certain items and found some dishes really unpalatable, the chef decided not to serve us the rest of the sushi.

Many of the fish slices were also not freshly prepared in front of customers, but instead brought directly from the kitchen, which made the experience feel even less authentic and disappointing.

When I pointed out that I wanted to have the sea urchin, which I like, the chef responded with a very bad attitude and was only willing to give me one piece. After I requested that we be served the normal portion like everyone else, the chef ignored me and was very rude.

We paid the same price as all the other customers, yet many of the items I said I could not eat were not replaced with alternatives. Instead, the chef took out his frustration on us, which was incredibly disrespectful. This was by far the worst dining experience I...

Sublime omakase in the heart of Ginza a building next to Muji Hotel. Owner chef Takao Ishiyama apprenticed at two of the most famous sushi-ya in Ginza before opening his own restaurant.

This is one of the more difficult places to get reservations for. Fortunately, my local foodie friend managed to get us a lunch time slot.

You have three options; 12 or 18 sushi pieces lunch set or a dinner course. Lunch provides a nice gateway at a relatively reasonable price.

One of the signature pieces is the ikura sushi where the chef layered a paste made of pureed ikura.

I'm usually not a big fan of ika (squid) sushi unless the chef takes out top and bottom sheet and slices the tender middle layers into noodles. Just makes it much easier to eat and softer since you get the best part. The video here shows him doing just that.

While the style follows a mostly traditional edo there are enough subtle touch to put his signature on it. Highly...