Tokyo Cowboy — Restaurant in San Antonio

“Asian fusion” isn’t a new a or novel concept at this point to most people. While Tokyo Cowboy may get a pass here in San Antonio (especially on the river walk with tourists) as something new and novel, it’s simply an attempted retread of flavor combinations many of us have experienced over the last 20 years elsewhere. It’s a well placed tourist trap but is not deserving of its 4.5 stars- a score that feels more based on a case of the Emperor’s New Clothes than actual merit.

The small restaurant is welcoming although sparsely stylized with minimal decor. The charm of the older building comes through with heavy paint on metal structural supports and old window frames.

The open kitchen is completely lost behind a large wall that splits the restaurant in two and limits seating. As if someone thought an open kitchen would be a great feature then got cold feet at the last second.

The wait staff was largely by committee but they were attentive and friendly. We were informed that: 1. Food was family style. 2. Plates came out as they were ready. While this is perfectly acceptable at a Tapas restaurant, it is less so desirable at a place like this where there are clearly entrees and appetizers. One would expect the chef to pick and choose the items you ordered to flow into the next….but no.

Rather than go into each dish separately: All I will say is that the chef seemed to have absolutely 0 respect for new southern food. The only “fusion” really taking place here is the use of a fryer (which is not that uncommon in street food in Asia so the term “fusion” is very loose here). Yes- I did try the abomination of heavy on heavy that was the corn waffle and a brisket egg roll (with a dill ranch sauce) ultimately it feels like the chef understands southern food about as well as a 16 year old boy understands sex- based on what they’ve seen in movies and on the internet…followed by ruining someone’s night as they proudly pound away in an uneven and clumsy way.

The food lacks balance and brightness. Flavors are muddled and lack spice, boldness, or creativity. Any brightness or interesting note is almost immediately destroyed by more fried food or mayonnaise-esque sauce. Even the kimchi salad (ordered mid-meal out of desperation to find some freshness or brightness) was over dressed and heavy. The under-pickled pickles were also no match for the brown fried foods that kept coming.

I think the most telling moment came at the end. The chef chose to save the rice dumpling macaroni and cheese as the last course. No forethought into the flow of the meal or what the individual had ordered. Just shoving food out at their own pace.

More importantly this dish sums up the chef’s understanding of these very complex food styles- A very basic, but decently made, American cheese sauce (must be southern because it’s bland and heavy) covering rice dumplings (rice dumplings are from Asia!) with some pork belly on top (it’s elevated so I can charge more for it).

The wait staff is well trained. The chef and kitchen has skill to execute. What they’re executing just...

We had been to Tokyo Cowboy previously and wanted to share the delicious food and experience we had with some family that were in town from being stationed overseas.

The food and drinks were phenomenal. The waitress we had, Grace, was probably the best server we have ever experienced - she was personable, offered suggestions and was absolutely on top of everything.

We spent more than $300 on our meals and drinks for 5 people and would happily do it again.

In transparency, Grace 100% saved our experience and is the only reason we would ever consider going back or recommending to anyone. It started off very rough.

We made reservations for 4 people. When we arrived, they had us sitting all in a line at the bar - which is not conducive for a group of people to be able to talk and enjoy the meal together. However, there were 2 empty seats next to us at the bar, and we needed to add 1 more person to the reservation so we figured it would be fine.

But it was not fine, according to the appalling, rude, demeaning and aggressive behavior of the host Allen-Harold. I have never been treated or spoken to in that way at any establishment.

Not only was he belligerently unwilling to add the additional person to our reservation, he snarkily told a member of our party they can sit by themselves at the "singles area" and then proceeded to seat the 2 people who came in behind us without a reservation at the 2 empty seats next to us WHILE PHYSICALLY SHOULDER BUMPING ME OUT OF THE WAY.

No apology, no acknowledgement, he simply ignored me, smirked and walked away.

It should go without mentioning that I am a 130 pound woman. I am not intimidating, nor do I expect or condone being physically shoved in general, let alone as a patron at any establishment.

He was outrageously combative and told us to leave if we didn't like it.

We asked if we could sit on the patio, so our entire party could sit together - and not have one person alone at the singles area. He said no because it might rain and moving tables to accommodate the party - on the completely empty patio - was not allowed.

Finally, we were able to get seated on the patio, where a manager (I'm assuming) overheard us talking about how blown away we were at the aggressive, condescending rudeness from Allen-Harold. He told us it was a busy night and offered to comp our first round of drinks.

Then, swooped in our amazing server Grace and the night was saved.

*Friendly Suggestion: The host is the first interaction every customer has with this establishment. Allen-Harold was the host when we went previously and left us with a similar bad taste, but we dismissed it, thinking maybe he was having a bad day.

Having a second, somehow even worse, experience with him leads me to believe this particular person should either be in a completely different profession where he does not interact with people or undergo extensive hospitality training. I would be mortified if he was the face of my business.

I offer this suggestion because we DO want to return to the establishment, but with this persons presence, it would not...

DISCLAIMER: they were open for 3 weeks at the time of this review and may be still working out the kinks.

The Good: :: it’s a local business :: fun location :: easy to make reservations via Resy :: chill vibe for ambiance…good for friends getting together as well as intimate outings :: service was very friendly and helpful :: interesting menu—diverse offerings covering Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese and other cuisines :: house pickle plate consisted of pickled vegetables that were very refreshing and tasty :: crispy eggs were tasty and had a nice crispy exterior and flavor with each bite :: crispy pork chop was good, leaning more on the slightly sweeter side :: good cocktails that were tasty and not overpowering

The Bad: :: service was inconsistent—we didn’t get checked on enough and had to flag down for a water refill and for a few other requests (e.g., limes, drinks, etc) :: from the sushi handhelds menu, the krab and crab butter ponzu was a bit overpowering in taste…was not a fan of the flavors against the crab :: very limited bar counter seating

The Ugly: :: several dishes were salty to the point they distracted from the experience: (1) shredded vegetable salad with poached shrimp (based on the recipe for Vietnamese Goi) was promising—great core ingredients and flavor of peanuts, cabbage, etc but was extremely salty. the poached shrimp was fine and not the problem. we asked for limes to try to offset the saltiness and it helped but was still quite salty (2) hot chicken chili dumplings…the chili oil sauce itself was delicious, but the inside of the dumplings was extremely salty. came in an order of 3, and i ate the interior of my 2nd one to verify it was just the filling and it was. very salty. (3) viet-cajun bbq prawns…we were so excited by this one and it came out so very salty! we tried to salvage it by ordering sides of jasmine rice to help offset some of the saltiness. (4) spam musubi roll was a bit salty, although not anywhere near as salty as the other dishes mentioned above

Would I go back? Sure, happy to try them again with some months between this review and the next visit, to give them more time to adjust their recipes and get the kinks out. We ate all the food we ordered because we hate wasting food, but I hope that the establishment doesn’t misconstrue that gesture to mean the food was delectable—when you’re starving and you hate wasting food, you end up putting down what is in front of you unless it’s got a roach or hair in it. :) I hope they consider making the prawns a main and adding rice to the dish instead of keeping it an appetizer, given that the sauce would be a shame to waste without rice accompanying it to be savored (assuming they address the saltiness challenge). Once they adjust the levels of salt in their offerings, I’d be more than happy to go back and strongly recommend to family and friends.

This place is (very...