とらふぐ茶屋 山福

As polite as the Japanese could be, I experienced a rather rude Chef and it definitely left a bad taste in my mouth. Let me explain. Just across the river, there is another restaurant by a similar name which serves Shabu Shabu. Sadly that is where our cab driver dropped us off. That is complet...ely our fault. I was mortified. Japanese are very punctual. We rushed over and by the time we got to the restaurant we were close to 30 minutes late. I translated to Japanese “we are very sorry, we were dropped off at a wrong spot and we completely understand if they need to turn us away and cancel” The hostess walked to the chef and explained this to him ( I assume). The chef looked at us and angrily pointed at his watch and hit the watch with his finger over and over. I have so much respect for the hard work and dedication Japanese place into their craft. I admire and feel for all the staff of any restaurant because I’ve worked in restaurant and service industry my whole life. I have visited small boutique restaurants and Michelin Star establishments on every continent. Sadly I’ve been late once or twice out of hundreds upon hundreds times that I’ve been to those restaurants. Once even the most famous restaurant in South America. No one has ever shown or given me such angry display. I happy to be charged for my mistakes, canceled on for my mistakes, but I ask for mild form of respect if you want me to stay and “enjoy” a meal at your establishment. His feelings were valid. His display of those feelings was rude. Now, onto the meal: There are several ways to order Fugu at this spot. You can order a set menu of various preparations of Fugu or a la carte. We opted for the set menu. The fish came straight from the aquarium as it was still moving when it arrived to the table. Every course had bones and every course was chewy. The only thing we didn’t have in our set menu was the sashimi. It’s possible that it’s the only part of the fish that doesn’t have bones, but other than the experience of eating Fugu, the meal itself was less than impressive. The one thing we enjoyed tremendously was the last course which was porridge. I wholeheartedly would have written a stellar review about the fish courses if we enjoyed it Mo matter how we were treated by the chef, but it simply didn’t impress. There are many Fugu restaurants to try in the area. Whether you go here or not, start with the sashimi, since that is usually without bones.

May 2025に訪問

The staff were very friendly and explained everything as best they could with my limited japanese skills. The waitress did have some English. The food was AMAZING. Worth every yen. I had a 6 course meal and it was an excellent experience, shabu shabu, fried, sashimi, etc.

April 2016に訪問