Sushi Ryujiro. Discriminatory Dinner Service – Not recommended for foreigners

I was considering not posting this review as a way to just move on, but I thought people should know about our experience at this joke of a restaurant for future reference.

With a Tabelog silver award, sushi Ryujiro was one of the omakase experience we looked forward to in our first trip to Japan. Prior to this, we dined at Sushi Namba and had reservations to sushi Sanshin in Osaka. Needless to say, Namba and Sanshin both provided exemplary service and delicious sushi – worth their awards and acclaim (Sushi Sanshin easily being the best with a significantly cheaper price point as well). After our omakase experiences, we couldn’t help but wonder how Ryujiro was so awful compared to these places while charging similar or higher prices.

We booked the main counter for dinner in late August. Once we got there, something already seemed off. We noticed all the foreigners were being seated at the very end of the counter, away from the Taisho. FYI, there were 3 Koreans (my girlfriend and I included) and 6 Japanese guests and all 3 of us were seated in the corner. We knew the seating arrangement was clearly planned and segregated, but we thought nothing of it as I’m aware that English is not commonly spoken so having Japanese speakers close to the Taisho made sense to us from an atmosphere point of view. However, what didn’t expect was the utter lack of communication and outright disrespect towards us from the Taisho and his staff.

While he was jovial, extremely friendly and talkative to his Japanese guests, he proceeded to completely ignore the three of us who were seated in the “gaijin corner”. He never acknowledged our presence; never even glanced or looked our way the entire time, only coming by to drop by his piece of sushi that we could tell was hastily made. The difference in attitude towards the two groups became so uncomfortable and jarring that the Korean gentleman sitting next to me proceeded to ignore the Taisho as well, going on his phone for the duration of the dinner.

While I can overlook Ryujiro’s lack of communication and acknowledgment towards us gaijin, here are the three events that really soured our experience:

1. When ordering a glass of sake I wanted, the sous chef said it was only available by the bottle at ¥11000. I thought it was strange so I just passed on it, but literally 2 mins after a Japanese guest asked for the same sake and they promptly and discreetly served him by the glass after seeking permission from the Taisho (without bringing out the bottle in case we caught on). When I asked the sous chef if I can order the same sake the Japanese guest just ordered, he rudely exclaimed “No!” with a disgusted look and no other explanation. This level of service shocked me so greatly as I never been discriminated like this at a restaurant before. Refusing to give sake to a paying customer while giving the same sake to someone else is something I can never understand and really pointed out that we were being discriminated against.

2. Ryujiro would always serve the smallest or most “unappealing” pieces of sushi to gaijins. As the whole counter can see the pieces of fish being cut up and served, this act of discrimination felt even more humiliating and purposeful. When he would get around to making the sushi for us, he would always seem distracted loudly talking and joking with the Japanese customers; not even looking at the sushi in his hands. One time a piece of tuna fell out and he quickly picked it up and placed it on top of the rice to serve it to us. The same thing happened to a Japanese customer, but that time he told the sous chef to eat the sushi while he made a new one from scratch for the customer. This really pissed me off.

3. The sushi was not even that good. Believe me when I say that we had better sushi at a standing sushi bar for a third of the price the next day. The quality of the sushi does not even come close to Namba or Sanshin while charging similar or higher prices. The service they provided was the worst we experienced in Japan and definitely stained what would be a perfect trip. This is what led us to determine that Sushi Ryujiro is really a joke of a place, charging premium prices to make foreigner customers feel unwanted and uncomfortable for mediocre sushi.

The only positive from this experience was the kind sous chef who we can tell tried his best to make conversation and acknowledge our presence. At times it felt that he knew that Ryujiro despises foreigners and he would try his best to accommodate us despite that.

In conclusion, this was the worst dining experience we had in Japan, and the only negative one. This was really disappointing as we expected a better level of service and quality being that this restaurant is positively reviewed on this sub and the fact that it’s a Tabelog silver restaurant.

We were confused about the treatment we received that day but later became angry as we dined in other omakase sushiyas and received better quality fish and service for a lesser price. Please tell me if there’s anything wrong with what I said or if I’m being too sensitive. FYI this is the first time I’m ever writing a negative review like this of a restaurant but I felt that people should know.

I ultimately believe that if I’m paying +$300/pp for a Michelin star experience, I at least want to be treated like I’m welcome at the establishment. But maybe that’s asking too much for a gaijin 🤷‍♂️