Nozawa Bar — Restaurant in Beverly Hills

This review is merely for the customer service, not for the food itself. I made a reservation to dine in this restaurant about 2 months ahead of time knowing that this is a hard-to-book restaurant as they were recently awarded with 1 Michelin Star. I was excited as I was able to hold a spot to celebrate my boyfriend's birthday in December 2021. To be honest, the whole Omakase experience was great and filled with quality and fresh ingredients. We enjoyed it. After the dinner, we paid our bill with a credit card as we ordered a bottle of sake. The Omakase dinner was paid upfront when made the reservation. The next day when I was about to use the same credit card, I noticed that another guest's card was being returned to me instead. I was not aware that the card being returned to me was not mine until then. I usually just take my credit card and slide back to my wallet when the host returned to me. Plus, I then notice the transaction being charged was incorrect too. In short, the host has charged my card with a wrong amount and also mixed up my credit card. I know should be more cautious but who would expect this to happened in a 1 Michelin Star restaurant.. I immediately texted the host about the issue and she did response to me hours later saying she would sort things out. As a compensation, they agreed to credit us the sake and will reverse the charges. In the process, we kept on going back and forth, I will need to keep following up with them myself, if not they will not initiate to contact me. Our conversation started on 12/28/2021 and up till this point, I did not receive the credit on my cc still. Today I have decided to call the bank to dispute the charges as i do not want to keep waiting and expect anything to be done from their end anymore. l am just disappointed and frustrated that this issue is not taken care of as promised. The host promised me that this would be prioritized but i dont see how this is prioritized as the issue is still not solved after a month time.. I am not saying that I do not recommend my friends to come here, but I would also let them know my experience here so that they could decide themselves. To me, no matter how top notch your dishes are but if your service is not up to par, I don't think this is a place I would want to visit again. Again, this review is for the service, not the...

Everything was fantastic.

The vibe was very casual which is very California. Some may prefer a more formal affair but it very much suited my sensibilities. Everything was similar in quality to what I've had in Tokyo but obviously much more expensive.

Price-wise.... It's about the best you can expect in LA. Most everything more expensive has been disappointing, anything cheaper is missing something critical to the omakase experience. Frankly I'm surprised by how many high end sushi restaurants don't even use real wasabi or serve the very same omakase menu all the time. I'm probably not going to be eating sushi much anymore except in Korea or Japan in the future, the gap between cost and what you get in America is too wide these days. But I'd make an exception for Nozowa Bar. I'd like to experience it at least a few more times before he retires.

Honestly with all the LA favorites shutting down I'm curious how this is profitable. $2250 twice a night 6 days a week is $1.4m a year. Which sounds like a lot but given a staff of 4-5 plus prices for ingredients, I feel like I've seen places that should be pulling in twice as much go out of business. It's possible they're leveraging sugarfish to make the books work, but it's also a pace that can wear a man to his bones, so if I were you I'd enjoy this experience at least once considering how fast the food scene in LA changes so much.

Minor complains, the design of the restaurant puts the omakase room unfortunately close to the restrooms but the soundproofing is decent. Having complained about ostentatious omakase extensively in the past it's a bit hypocritical to suggest the fare at Nozowa Bar could stand to be more creative, but I wouldn't sacrifice anything of what they've currently cultivated just for the...

I will put this in the beginning so people can read this, my wife had terrible diarrhea the next morning and I woke up vomiting

Worst dining experience of my life. The wife and i are not rich people by any means and this was something we had saved for and had genuinely been super excited for. This was our 5 year anniversary dinner, had it been any other day I would have walked out. Biggest waste of money.

The chefs fragile ego caused him to have a melt down just as the dinner had started because I was smelling my food and sauces ( I'm weird and I smell everything I eat). He threatened me multiple times saying he will "kick me out" and caused a scene. I've been smelling food since I was a baby and it is part of who I am. I shouldn't have to explain to anyone why or how I do things ( I could be on the spectrum and publicly shaming someone is pathetic and truly an embarrassment to the culinary arts)

the fish was all one note. Most of the fish was cured incorrectly. The engawa was like chewing rubber. The tuna was so over cured that it had the texture of plastic. The ankimo looks, smells and tasted like cat food and was way overpowered by the ungodly amount of sauce. (I love ankimo and this was the worst I've ever had) the rest of the meal was forgettable and very mediocre at best.

The chef did not explain a single dish and the rest of the chefs were all on edge and very tense. It was like the whole staff was walking on egg shells. Thus drastically changing the entire experience. It was so uninviting and lacking energy and authenticity.

The chef has lost his connection with the food he prepares and the people he serves. His fragile ego has created the worst "omakase" experience in all of LA. Don't...