銀座 いわ

We got reservations at the first time slot which I believe was 6pm. We walked into a small, clean area with a wooden bar where we were seated. The first red flag -- there was no one else there. We were the only two people in the place the time we were there, which would have been for the entire fir...st time slot. We tried to chat with the person who showed us to our seats as well as with the chef, but immediately it was obvious that this place is not at all foreigner friendly (despite what other reviews say) and the sushi chef as well as his sous-chef were not fluent enough to hold even basic conversation. They had a book of fish in English laid out for us, and would silently open the book to the page of the fish we were eating. There was no music playing, and the chefs were completely silent and not even being playful through gestures or interacting with us. It was actually crazy reading reviews after for this place and feeling gaslit about the chef being fun and the place being foreigner friendly. The ambiance was kinda terrible and awkward. The food came out in huge servings. Early on, we got large pieces of squid which, while fairly yummy, were huge and oily and heavy, and I couldn't finish it. This meant that halfway into the meal, I really couldn't eat anything anymore and asked him to stop. I asked for less rice, and he couldn't even understand that, which really goes to show how not foreigner friendly this place was. What's embarrassing for them is that while we got to try a lot of interesting fish we've never tasted before, we'd look in the book for the type of fish we were eating, and it would be labelled 'inexpensive' and it wouldn't even taste very good. We also felt super rushed the entire time. Almost always, several plates would be out in front of us at the same time, making us feel like we had to keep eating with no breaks. Usually, omakase places will pace the fish they put in front of you, but we were getting several courses all at once, one after another, before we even finished eating. I think we were out of there in 30 minutes when it should have been a 1 hour 30 minute experience. BE WARNED, the rice was super vinegared and I couldn't even taste the fish in multiple courses. It might be a taste thing, but we've been to dozens of omakases both in Japan and in America, and I've never had rice so heavily vinegared, not even close. The price tag of this place is also really really high. (>$300pp). And for what we got, I walked out of that place thinking we must have gotten scammed, and that this couldn't possibly be a real place with real positive reviews and real pricing. The whole thing felt so oddly antagonistic. We were in disbelief when we looked at the yelp reviews after. Really couldn't have had a worse time and at such a high price tag too. I've had way better sushi in Japan just standing up at some revolving sushi place. If you're thinking about this place because some reddit reviews say it's an easy place to book that's also quite good, please think again after reading this review. That's how we got fooled, and I really only post reviews to help others learn from my folly.

March 2025に訪問

Been visiting sushi iwa for years. Good quality sushi in Mitsukoshi basement Ginza. Only 6 seats so good luck getting a seat

May 2024に訪問

Very delicious sushi course for lunch served by super friendly つかさ さん and Alfonso. They speak English, very accommodating and made the whole experience very seamless, fun and enjoyable. The atmosphere was relaxed and full of laughter. The さわら nigiri was the highlight, very unique smoky flavour on to...p of warm rice. The small shrimp sushi was also interesting. Highly recommended.

September 2023に訪問

I should have done a little more research and read through the reviews of the place. I came for lunch which started at 16k yen and I hate to say it, but it was so not worth it. I ate in the basement level - not sure if there's more than one level but other reviews reference another level. Where I a...te sat 6 people max. I also wasn't served by Chef Iwa - perhaps because I came for lunch? But it was a little disappointing. Based on its website, I'm not sure Chef Iwa still mans the counter at Ginza Iwa. The lunch was about 2 hours long, and because the chef didn't speak much English it was A LOT of silence. Just watching him prepare the sushi, place it in front of you, then watch him serve the other customers, then meticulously prepare the next dish. So much silence which didn't make it a very engaging experience. The quality of the dishes seemed fine, but the majority tasted bland and flat. Not sure what was missing. Overall, I felt deeply disappointed - the experience was simply not commensurate with the time and money spent here. It was the only high-end sushi meal I planned for my trip, and I was left wanting much more.

April 2023に訪問

We knew we wanted to splurge once on a high end sushi meal during our trip to Tokyo, and I'm so glad we chose Ginza Iwa. We made a reservation for lunch for right when they open at noon and we ended up having the counter all to ourselves for the majority of our meal. The chef speaks excellent Englis...h and chatted with us as he prepared each course. We learned a lot about his process and ingredients and I'm glad he convinced us to add the Tsukiji outer market to our itinerary for the trip. Everything was incredibly fresh and delicate. Compared to the cost of the other world-class sushi restaurants in the area, Ginza Iwa felt like a steal for such a great experience. As always in Japan, you're going to get the best value if you do lunch instead of dinner, but I'd come back to Ginza Iwa any time of day.

January 2023に訪問