Tonkatsu Daikichi — Restaurant in Tokyo

As a foreigner, I was shocked and uncomfortable by how blatantly we were treated differently from local Japanese customers.

I've never been to a restaurant that doesn't serve water—especially in Japan, where service is typically excellent. I understand that some places have different systems, like self-service water or asking a waiter for a kettle, but there were no cups, plates, or any basic setup on the table. Strange, but we decided to order and hoped the drinks would come with the food.

What happened next was just plain rude. Multiple staff members walked around our table, and despite our clear attempts to get their attention, they never once looked our way. One waitress, who had seated us, even came to clean the table right next to ours. We tried to get her attention by raising a hand and saying 'ano' (a polite way to say 'excuse me'), but she blatantly ignored us and walked away. We sat there for 10-15 minutes at an empty table with no water, utensils, or wet towels while they all acted like we didn’t exist.

This restaurant wasn't busy, with at least a third of the tables empty. So what on earth were the staff so busy with?

When the food was finally served—again, without any water or tea—we assumed they must be charging for water, which is ridiculous.

Fine, we decided to order some Coke. And yet again, it was like the staff had vanished. Even when they walked by, they completely ignored us. On top of it all, the tonkatsu was greasy, and we desperately needed something to cleanse our palate, but no chance.

We ordered two cups of Coke from a waitress who wasn't the one assigned to take our order. When the drinks arrived, the original waitress gave the serving waitress a disapproving look and took back the receipt that had already been placed on the table. I think she may have been upset with the other waitress for creating more work for her, or with us for ordering more after the bill had already been calculated.

Here’s the part that made it crystal clear how differently we were being treated: just as we were about to leave, an elderly Japanese woman and a young girl sat across from us. Immediately, they were served menus and steaming cups of hot tea—before they even had time to open the menu. Meanwhile, we never got a single cup of water or tea throughout our entire meal, something that is incredibly basic and standard in Japan.

This place has shockingly poor service and clear discrimination. I wouldn’t recommend...

「雖然這個特色對豬排來說不知道該說好還是不好，但這真的是我吃過最不油的豬排。」

隨著「為你而炸 嘻嘻豚 總本店」豬排店在池袋區役所附近重新開幕，池袋的豬排店又回到四強鼎立的場面。池袋前四名的豬排飯在Tabelog上有很微妙的一致，像是約好了一樣，分數都落在3.45~3.50之間。這個微妙的分數其實也讓人知道池袋的豬排飯都是一般水準。

然而一般水準就沒有特色嗎？倒也不一定，像是「豬排像飲料」就是份量多、「為你而炸 嘻嘻豚...

Good food with refills on cabbage, rice and soup. We had lots of bags and staff helped out. Utensils were available for my daughter rather than chopsticks. Ate waaaay too...