Sushi Sen Shibuya — Restaurant in Tokyo

As a party of 4, my friends and I had an...interesting (not in a good way) experience here. In short, don't skip the negative reviews--we didn't happen to see them at the time, but it seems many people had a similar if not exactly the same questionable experience.

When we booked, we had expected to get a standard omakase experience--e.g., sit in front of a chef while he prepares the sushi and explains what we are eating. Upon arriving, we found that was not the case for our reservation, and we were led into a small, relatively dark enclosed room to the side of the main seating area. Well, fine--I can see how it might be difficult to seat a party of four at the counter. The dining experience, however, continued to disappoint. The first waiter, bless his heart, seemed anxious and avoidant, and therefore lacked in service skills. We were seated with no words, and sat awkwardly for some time until someone opened the door again to bring us some utensils/starting plates; until that point we weren't even sure if we were supposed to call someone to acknowledge us or if they knew what menu we had reserved and were already preparing it. When more dishes were served, we were not given any sort of explanation (verbal or written) as to what we were eating for the majority of the courses; when we did get one (only after asking), the waiter had not placed the plates in front of us in the same order, leaving us confused.

As the dinner went on, we were served by an additional two servers. The second star I have awarded is for our second server, who at least tried to interact with us, fulfill our requests, and explain (once or twice, although he seemed to forget afterwards) what we were eating. However, none of the three servers seemed to coordinate with each other, and they would appear at awkward intervals, sometimes not for a while and then sometimes at the same time to serve the next dish, and could be seen peeking through the door holes (which are waist level)...we also had to request for water even though the waiters had definitely seen our empty cups more than once while placing our food down.

As for the food, there isn't much to say. It wasn't very remarkable--some dishes were nice, but others seemed a little off--fishy, even. It didn't help that we weren't quite sure what we were eating for a chunk of the time, and the quality wasn't quite in line with what I would have expected for the price point either (which, by the way, includes a service fee! And you can tell how we felt about the service.)

By the end of the dinner we were very unimpressed, and it did close well either as the bill simply appeared with a waiter, we paid, and then that was it--barely a greeting or thank you or any sort of acknowledgement as we were left to gather our things and leave.

Spend your...

TL;DR at the end.

We just left the restaurant, where do I even start?!? Never had a bad meal in Japan the few times we've visited. I booked this meal after reading the decent reviews from both Tabelog and Google. I reserved their most expensive omakase meal at ¥13,980 per person for my birthday. Maybe l was a little too excited for the meal, and maybe my expectations were high. I wasn't expecting Michelin level anything, but when your total bill is ¥30,750 for 2 persons, the meal should not be memorable for all the wrong reasons.

Food: 2 stars. We had a couple good bites of nigiri, chawanmushi was tasty, and I enjoyed the small serving of rice with ikura, but that's about it. The shot of clam soup was super briney and appetizer plates are all pre-plated sitting under plastic wrap. Presentation of nigiri felt like a slap it together and dump them on a plate situation. Irregular cuts between our plates and there was the odd rice grain that was undercooked. All nigiri is pre-seasoned, and I thought it was heavy handed for my taste. There was the tofu/yuba dish where my husband's was hot and mine was still cold in the middle. Just so underwhelming and disappointed.

Service: 1 star. They charge a 10% service charge, for what? Still not sure. We were early and they sort of greeted us and then ushered us into a private room. The first 3-4 courses came fast and furious, we had just taken off our jackets when the first course landed on the table. Just dropped and left, made it feel really rushed and they wanted us out. Maybe us showing up early threw off their service? The one staff that did speak English didn't say much, just confirmed which meal we reserved and asked for allergies. Didn't offer us any water or tea, didn't refill them either, had to keep asking. None of the staff told us what we were eating til the 3rd course. We could hear the room next door talking about what they were eating cause they didn't have a clue either. I get it, there is a language barrier, but hospitality with a couple please and thank yous, offering tea/water is pretty basic.

Atmosphere: 1 star. When we walked in the sushi bar was 90% full, looked open and bright. There were 2 empty seats and was hoping we would be sitting at the bar but we got a private room which is a small closet set up with bright halogen lights on top of the table and a small picture on the wall. Wouldn't of mattered how nice the restaurant was though because as soon as you walked in, it felt like a sauna. As we ate in our closet, the space got warmer and it was a little uncomfortable by the end of the meal.

TL;DR:...

I approached my first omakase restaurant experience with high expectations, only to be met with considerable disappointment.

Upon our arrival, which was slightly later than our host's, we were not greeted warmly by the staff. Instead of a welcoming introduction, we were merely pointed in the direction of our room, which I found unprofessional and uninviting.

The first course, described enticingly as miso, turned out to be a small amount of liquid in a mini cup. This left us confused about its presentation and intent.

One of the courses featured tofu with sea urchin. Given the soft texture of the tofu, it was difficult to consume with chopsticks. When we requested spoons, the staff displayed confusion and reluctance. Eventually, they provided the spoons, but in a dismissive manner, slapping them onto the table. In the context of a flu pandemic, attention to hygiene is paramount, and the staff's attitude left much to be desired.

Each nigiri dish was served without any introduction or explanation of the type of fish. A professional courtesy would have been to make us feel welcomed and informed about our meal.

Throughout the evening, we were not offered tea or water. When we finally requested these beverages, our request was quickly forgotten, prompting us to ask another waiter for assistance.

The ice in the water we received had visible dirt, raising concerns about hygiene and food safety in the kitchen, especially given the overall unprofessionalism exhibited by the staff.

Additionally, the salmon roe dish was placed on our table without any explanation of what it was or how to enjoy it with the rice. We were left to figure it out on our own.

In conclusion, I arrived with an open mind and enthusiasm, but the experience grew increasingly disappointing with each course. I hope the owners take this feedback to heart and work towards improving their service for...