Zauo — Restaurant in Yokohama

Zauo is a live fishing restaurant. I absolutely loved my experience here being a keen fisherman myself. It is advisable to make a reservation ahead of time as this place is very popular. If you dont know any Japanese but are staying in a hotel, ask your front desk to make your reservation for you, as the staff at the restaurant speak very little English although they are incredibly welcoming and hospitable! There is limited seating in the "boat" in the middle of the fishing pond, I would recommend booking at least 3 days in advance and ask the person making the reservation to ask for it specifically. If you are a smoker, half of the restaurant is smoking friendly so you are able to request seating here if desired. Once you arrive you will be shown to your table and given a menu. There is a very large tasting menu available, there is also a children's menu. If you're not really into eating fish, as one of our party wasnt, I recommend the chicken wings and fries, both are sensational. Once you have ordered drinks you will be shown where to fish. Basically any of the fish in the containers closest to the downstairs tables have a set price clearly shown. You use a small rod with several hooks for these and they are simple to catch. If you want to try your luck at the more tricky fish, the low end ones are at the front right, nearest to the kitchen and the more expensive ones are at the back of the restaurant nearest the bridge. (Front 2900 yen Back 4900 yen) the fishing rod rent is 100 yen each but all bait is free. You bait your hook and drop it into the water and wait for your fish to bite, then use a small hand net. Once in the net, alert a server and they will come over and ask how you want your fish prepared. It is best to point to it on the menu if you dont speak Japanese. You can have your fish one way or two separate ways. I chose to have mine half sashimi and half deep fried. The other two options are tempura and boiled. It is delivered to your table head and tail on for decorative purposes so be prepared to look it in the eye! We had an absolutely fantastic experience in this restaurant and will definitely go again....

I recommend this place for travelers. It's overpriced, but it's definitely an experience.

You get to fish (yes fishing pole and net) and they will prep the food the way you want. They even hit the taiko drums and celebrate when you catch one.

Ask the chef in the back how they recommend a certain fish to be prepped. There was a fish where it was so fresh that it was still moving when it arrived.

Unfortunately, this place hasn't aged well. It looks really dated/dirty and they hired some clueless workers that rip the hook out of the fish's mouth, forget requests, and don't know much about how the fish should be prepped.

The food you get is OVERPRICED. You are definitely paying for the experience. The "tai" fish was roughly 3500 yen. I went to a grocery store and the same fish 2-3x the size was 1000 yen.

I would never go back, but I STILL recommend it for travelers looking for an experience and kids. You won't forget this place.

The location is quite a walk from the train station. Taxi from the station was about 5-10 mins and...

This was one of the restaurants we definitely wanted to visit while our stay in japan, which turned out to be a fantastic place to enjoy unlimited drinks, a seafood set menu, and most importantly, fishing! The food is fresh and delicious, and they cooked or filleted the fish we caught according to our preferences. Our server, Momoka, was incredibly attentive, kind, and patient with us tourists. She even helped me catch some fish! All the staff were friendly and welcoming with big smiles. We are looking forward to returning on our next...