The story of how I couldn't answer well when asked 'How was it?' after a 30,000 yen dinner

The story of how I couldn't answer well when asked 'How was it?' after a 30,000 yen dinner

The other day, I went to a restaurant in Ginza with an acquaintance.
The course was a little over 30,000 yen.
The atmosphere was good, and a few of the dishes were certainly memorable.

While walking to the station after leaving the restaurant, a friend messaged me on LINE asking, 'How was it?', and I realized that I couldn't explain the restaurant well.

I replied, 'It was delicious.'
But this doesn't provide any useful information for the other person to make a judgment.

30,000 yen is not an amount you can just brush off with 'it was delicious.'
Thinking that, I decided to start this account.

Tokyo 30,000 Yen Committee, starting now

This is a personal project where I will anonymously and properly put into words my experiences at high-end dinners in Tokyo.

Writing 'anonymous' sounds mysterious, but in reality, I am just an office worker.
I love lunch and eat out almost every day, and I splurge on a night out two or three times a month.
I am starting this out of a personal motivation to properly articulate the experiences I gain there.

Why anonymous?

This is something I have felt for a long time: I think there is a structure in gourmet-related content where the more you show your face and build relationships with restaurants, the harder it becomes to write about it if it was a 'miss'.

On a night when you pay 30,000 yen and feel disappointed, if someone asks you, 'Do you know any good restaurants?', you end up relying only on reviews that are biased, and you end up paying another 30,000 yen.
This isn't fair to the person paying the money.

If that's the case, there should be a role for someone who has no ties to the restaurant to go at their own expense and write honestly.
That is why I chose this stance.

100 points based on 5 axes

I didn't want my evaluations to fluctuate every time I wrote, so I decided on my own axes from the beginning.

I will add a little more detail to each of these.

Quality of Cuisine (30 points)

Quality of ingredients, culinary skill, and the flow of the entire course.
In short, I look at whether it is 'properly delicious'.

The reason this has the highest point allocation is, naturally, because the main focus is the food.
However, even if this part is high, if everything else falls apart, I would question if it is worth the price overall, so I limited it to 30 points.

Uniqueness (20 points)

Personally, I think this is the most important criterion.

There are countless 'delicious restaurants' in Tokyo where you can eat for 30,000 yen.
Beyond that, I believe only restaurants that serve things you 'can't eat anywhere else' are worth 30,000 yen.

Even if the technique is high, if it's a dish you could eat at other restaurants, the score here won't go up.
Conversely, even if the technique is just average, restaurants that compete with a unique worldview get high scores.

Atmosphere and Service (20 points)

The distance between seats, the timing of the staff, the sound, light, and temperature of the restaurant.
It's a story that is obvious, if you think about it, that the dining experience isn't just about what's on the plate.

However, especially for business entertainment or anniversaries, I feel that when the food is tied, the atmosphere and service almost always decide the winner.

Cost Performance (20 points)

For the 30,000 yen paid, what was worth it and what was lacking?
And what other options were there for the same 30,000 yen?

I believe that being able to make this 'comparison' is the greatest strength of someone who eats out anonymously.

Desire to Return (10 points)

The final criterion is the most subjective, so I have limited the points to 10.

Would I book it again with my own money?
Would I want to take someone important there?

If both of these are a yes, then I think it's a truly great restaurant.

Score Guide

I expect that scores of 90 or higher will only be given to a few restaurants a year.
And I will write about those under 50 points without hiding anything.
Because in the end, that should be more useful to someone.

What I will write from now on

I will be posting the following on these three channels: this Note, X (@tokyo30k_review), and Instagram (@tokyo_30k_review).

I hope to become a place you can casually refer to when you 'don't want to mess up' for business entertainment or anniversaries.

In conclusion

This account is not a place to praise restaurants.
It is a place to properly judge for myself whether the experience was worth the amount paid.

Sometimes, I will be harsh.
Because I believe that is the point of writing anonymously.

──Tokyo 30,000 Yen Committee

▶ X: @tokyo30k_review
▶ Instagram: @tokyo_30k_review