I will be going to Japan for five weeks in Mar-Apr. The main focus of my trip will be food and I’m currently working out a shortlist of restaurants I want to visit. Some will be higher end places and Michelin star joints. I am encountering a few issues:
1. Many restaurants don’t accept bookings for one person. Why is this? I’ve eaten at top end restaurants in dozens of countries as a solo diner with no issue. Is there an easy way to find out which restaurants won’t accept bookings for one person without going through the whole booking process? Will they ever make exceptions?
2. Are there any reasonable alternatives to Pocket Concierge and Tableall for solo diners? A lot of the time I will be getting lunch menus for ï¿¥10,000 rather than dinner for ï¿¥50,000 so having a booking fee that is 70% of the bill (rather than 5% on a table of four) makes it financially unviable.
What options do I have? This is a once in a lifetime trip for me and I’d hate to miss out on incredible food experiences simply before I’m travelling alone on this trip…
3 comments
Many of fine dining establishments in Japan, especially focusing on Japanese high-end cuisine do not accept booking for single guests, because they would be actively losing money since some of them only seat a few (in some cases under 10) people. Those establishments will not make exceptions.
This is not a ‘Japanese thing’. Certain high-end restaurants/experiences with very limited seating capacity in Europe also have such restrictions.
As far as booking options are concerned: other options include American Express concierge services or high-end (5 star) hotel concierges. Note that since western (especially US) visitors have a bad reputation for no-shows – the services may incur significant fees or holds.
It’s also worth noting that while Michelin requires all the restaurants to be accessible to public (as in you should be able in theory to book it if you can communicate in Japanese), many top-end restaurants are essentially private club dining establishments.
omakase.in is good for online reservations. Most high end restaurants with counter seating will accommodate solo diners. I know a few high end sushi shops that have clients on speed dial for last minute single seats that become available.
I’m also planning on going to Japan around those dates and since some bookings have opened up I decided to pay for omakase premium to be able to search which restaurants are taking bookings for single people. It was around $30 usd for Omakase premium and the reservation fee they charge is around $3 USD. I did find some restaurants that take single reservations so I’ll make a list of them for you ( keep in mind these are only the ones I know of)