Hyperlocal Tokyo

We stopped by for an early dinner before attending a public recording. It was my first time visiting, and as soon as we stepped off the elevator and into the restaurant, a male staff member greeted us. He patiently explained how to use the ticket machine and guided us to our table. I had read some concerning reviews online, but the staff was incredibly kind. Once seated, we were given a single serving of fried potatoes. Apparently, depending on the course you order, you'll receive freshly fried potatoes upon being seated, even if you don't order them separately. We sampled a few before heading to the buffet to grab some cake, pasta, and drinks. There was a wide variety of cakes, though the slices were small, allowing you to try many different flavors. Even if you don't like a particular cake, the bite-sized portions make it perfect for sampling. There were only two pasta options available, which was a bit disappointing. The soup, however, was delicious. My child had the curry on a previous visit and loved it so much they had seconds. If you want a lot of curry, you can get a curry plate, or a soup cup if you prefer a smaller portion. The salad was also fresh and crisp. The only downside is that the restaurant is quite narrow, with only a few inches between tables. If you're tall, getting to the back tables might be a bit of a squeeze. Overall, considering the price and the quality of the food, I would definitely go back!

I make a reservation and visit every year as it's a local tradition. The fruit course costs 3,500 yen, with mango, peach, and melon... It's expensive, but I think it's reasonable. The mango is only served once... It was significantly smaller than last year. The potatoes are refillable, but... I asked for more, but they never came. I had to ask again, and it took 40-50 minutes... I said, "What if it's past the last order?" twice, but they still didn't come. They finally arrived 6 minutes before closing time... I understand they might be busy, but I saw the floor staff repeatedly taking orders to other tables and saying, "This is wrong." When I pointed it out, they came over... Maybe the food meant for me was accidentally taken somewhere else...

I visited in the evening. Most of the customers were women. There are terrace seats available. Since I was there, I chose the full-course menu with all-you-can-eat Shine Muscat grapes for 3,200 yen. Course customers are distinguished by a sticker. A few years ago, it was 1,980 yen, so it has gone up quite a bit. Even with a 145-point reservation through a points site, a 450-point Hot Pepper campaign, and a 200 yen birthday coupon, there's still a difference. They were having a Nintama collaboration event. The collaboration menu was an extra charge. At 8 pm, the food was taken away, but there were still a few customers coming in late, probably because of the collaboration. The full-course menu includes a freshly squeezed Mont Blanc dessert. However, as advertised, it wasn't squeezed in front of the customers. They also served potato fries initially, which seemed to be orderable for refills. I was told the last order was at 7:30 pm, and I was confused, so it would have been helpful if they had explained that. The Shine Muscat grapes can be enjoyed in three ways: plain, Muscat mochi, and Muscat cake. There were also apples, pears, melons, and mangoes, but they were just a small addition. They didn't seem to be closely monitoring the stickers. There were 10 flavors of Haagen-Dazs, but many of the containers were nearly empty, which was disappointing compared to the Premium Kalbi I visited recently. The food options included spaghetti (6 sauces), 3 types of salad pasta, udon, 2 types of curry, and some side dishes. Since it was mainly focused on sweets, I got full quickly.

This was my second time visiting. My friend had a bad experience at another location in the past and wasn't very enthusiastic about coming, but after trying the food here, they said it was actually quite good. The place offers a wide variety of colorful cakes, and even the cheapest plan (¥1490, tax included) comes with pasta (with about 8-9 sauce options), curry (2 options), soup (2 options), and a drink bar (with fruit water, carbonated drinks, tea, coffee, etc.). While there's a time limit and you can't linger, it's still a decent experience. (The pasta was the best and highly recommended. The curry would be better with more ingredients. The soup was too salty for my taste.) Last time, I went for the ¥200 more expensive plan (with an 80-minute time limit), which included a salad bar, potato fries, and ice cream, all of which were delicious. However, if you're a light eater like me, it might be overkill. The interior is fairly clean and spacious, but for some reason, even though there were plenty of empty seats, it took a long time to be seated. As others have mentioned, the service here is not great. The male staff member at the front was unfriendly, and when I realized I had been charged for the wrong plan after paying with a credit card, he insisted on keeping the original charge and tried to convince me to pay again. I was shocked. In Taiwan, they would have happily fixed it. The way they write down the dining time is also sloppy. They wrote it down before we even sat down, and when I pointed out that it wouldn't be 70 minutes, they reluctantly changed it. The food is good, so I'll probably come back occasionally, but they really need to improve the service quality.