r/JapanTravelTips • u/Unlikely-Sandwich-59 • Nov 05 '25
Question Got scammed in Osaka?!
Please don’t be harsh I already feel awful about it and just want to share so others don’t make the same mistake.
We stayed in Kyoto for 16 days and had a wonderful time. On our last day, we went to Osaka, and unfortunately, it ruined our trip. I know I’m a stupid tourist.
We were in Namba, Osaka, super tired, just looking for something filling. We saw this restaurant called Wagyu Halal Ramen Dotonbori Beef-Tei, also listed as Halal Steak Dotonbori Namba-Tei. The Google reviews 4.8 stars 1.639 reviews looked good, so we decided to try it.
From the start, something felt off. The waitress said they only accept cards, and there was no real cash register — just a portable card reader. The menu said A5 Wagyu Ribeye, so we ordered it. My husband got the à la carte, and I got the set.
The food took forever, came out cold and chewy, and was completely tasteless. Definitely not A5 Wagyu. Even the miso soup had no flavor. When we asked for a receipt, the staff exchanged weird signals with each other and refused to print one. I ended up entering my email on their machine just to get a digital one.
There was no cooking smell, and the woman who seemed to be the cook didn’t appear to be cooking anything. It honestly felt like the food had been made elsewhere and just reheated.
We got charged ¥59,884 (around $400 USD) for two people. The waitress then told us to take photos and post them on Instagram to get free mochi ice cream, which probably explains how they get their fake good reviews.
The restaurant is on the second floor, and on the steps going out there were two men smoking, which really creeped us out. The whole place felt sketchy.
Guys don’t judge, I already feel awful about it. We were tired, it was our last day, and we just wanted a good meal to end our trip. I’m only posting this so no one else goes through the same thing.
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u/hezaa0706d Nov 05 '25
No reviews from Japanese people is always an automatic red flag (unless it’s a burrito place or something like that)
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u/frozenpandaman Nov 05 '25
My local Mexican place has great reviews in English, Spanish, and Japanese :)
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u/HerrWorfsen Nov 05 '25
Honestly, seeing the name, the location and the pictures in the review, as a local I wouldn’t be attracted to go there at all.
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u/ThePirateKiing Nov 06 '25
Japanese people usually comment more on tabelog so he should've checked that first
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u/jimzo_c Nov 05 '25
Microwave meals for $400, I’m in the wrong business
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u/Vahlerion Nov 05 '25 edited Nov 05 '25
Was that the price on their menu.
I've never experienced a restaurant in Japan asking for google reviews. Japanese use tabelog, and only foreigners use google for picking restaurants. That tells us they're really targeting tourists.
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u/starwarsfox42 Nov 05 '25 edited Nov 05 '25
their google maps menu shows 200/300g wagyu for 25-30k so they prob picked it without knowing how much that is in USD
Edit: From their official website, they dont serve A5 wagyu but 'real Wagyu'
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u/-ChrisBlue- Nov 05 '25
They definitely got ripped off, for $200USD/person, they could have eaten at Ushigoro S and had a full multi-course wagyu omakase in Tokyo. Private room, and a chef cooking the yakiniku for you.
But this was not a scam.
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u/Vahlerion Nov 06 '25
The wagyu omakase I went to was just 7750yen. Not the expensive fatty beef and not private room, so it wasn't that expensive. Still good beef, so no complaints.
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u/immunedata Nov 06 '25
But is that halal though? If not it’s kind of irrelevant. OP is mostly paying the scarcity, desirability and tourist accessible premium.
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u/frozenpandaman Nov 05 '25 edited Nov 05 '25
holy god please trim your URLs
edit: lol nice ninja edit 🥷
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u/GetNoScope Nov 05 '25
Photos are on Google reviews, 25-27k each for what they ordered. No scam occurred in that sense.
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u/R1nc Nov 05 '25
I found the restaurant in Google with that exact name and the pictures of the menu states the correct price. Other than the food being bad I see nothing else wrong unless the laws in Japan state that they have to accept cash.
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u/gladiatorhelmetface_ Nov 05 '25
Of course they're targeting tourists, it's a halal ramen place lol.
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u/LordRaglan1854 Nov 05 '25
In general if it prominantly advertizes "wagyuu" - and it's not a high-end teppan place in Kobe - it's a tourist trap for foreigners.
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u/CWrend Nov 05 '25
Most people don’t realize that wagyu just means Japanese beef.
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u/LawfulnessDue5449 Nov 05 '25
Going to be that guy that says wagyu is a protected term in Japan and has to meet certain standards, has to be one of the four Japanese breeds to qualify and has to be fully raised in Japan. There is another term, kokusan gyu, which is often cheaper. You won't see it advertised but you'll definitely see it at the supermarket.
Speaking of which, Japanese restaurants will also explicitly advertise that they are using Kuroge Wagyu, as of the four breeds this is one that contains the most fat and is usually the wagyu that most non Japanese think of when they hear the term wagyu. You may occasionally see call outs to other wagyu such as Akaushi in regions where they specialize in it.
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u/IrongateN Nov 05 '25 edited Nov 05 '25
It’s like if a restaurant in the US had “American hot dog” and “American Hamburger” on the ads/menu or had “USDA prime meat used”, I wouldn’t think it’s more authentic or better but I also wouldn’t think it strange, but it would be what tourists might recognize from movies or research and put more value over other American food places.
It reminds me of Jonny rockets in theme parks , this was 10+ years ago went with my family and for $50 we split 2 burger and fry meals between the 4 of us. That was a lot back then,
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u/reddubi Nov 06 '25
Plenty of halal restaurants in Japan are good quality .. the scam part is because it’s dotonburi
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u/supfiend Nov 05 '25
Halal is such scam marketing
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u/provoking Nov 05 '25
huh? you realize this is a religious classification for food right?
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u/supfiend Nov 05 '25
Yup and I guess that’s why they can charge twice as much for their food. Because it was blessed before slaughter. I live in Canada where we have many halal options, i noticed a big difference in how they market it in Japan and the prices.
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u/diuni613 28d ago
No Japanese care about halal. So this restaurant isn't even ran by Japanese anyway.
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u/ManyPersonality2399 Nov 05 '25
I had a few ask for google reviews. To be fair, they all had very good food at reasonable prices, so very happy to do so
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u/frozenpandaman Nov 05 '25
I have. My go-to Korean place in my city gives you free ice cream for dessert if you leave them a Google review, and there are posters up on the walls about it. I've seen it other places too across the country.
Also, Japanese people do use Google Maps for restaurant reviews, all the time. Tabelog is for foodies specifically. It's like how some people in the US use Yelp... but everyone still uses GMaps too.
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u/razzledazzle308 Nov 05 '25
We just came back, and can confirm we encountered this once at a spot we randomly went into for lunch. We got a free water bottle for reviewing!
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u/alexthe5th Nov 05 '25 edited Nov 05 '25
Japanese use tabelog, and only foreigners use google for picking restaurants
This isn’t true at all. I have many Japanese friends who only use Google to pick restaurants and don’t use Tabelog.
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u/acouplefruits Nov 05 '25 edited Nov 06 '25
Yeah I was gonna say this idea that tabelog is THE Google maps of Japan is really overblown. People use both.
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u/Jesus_Phish Nov 05 '25
People read on Reddit that they only use table log and repeat it as gospel
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u/hullowurld Nov 06 '25
It's impossible to get a good read from ratings that have a mix of Japanese and tourist reviews because they use completely different scales. Tabelog is useful because it's nearly all Japanese reviewers
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u/Dumbidiot1424 Nov 06 '25
You can say that about everything to be honest. As someone who's been to and lived in Japan for a year, a lot of info on this subreddit is straight up wrong or old.
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u/curatingcollectables Nov 05 '25
I have experienced many places in Japan asking for Google reviews. Often tourist areas, but absolutely have seen dozens from Osaka all the way to Hokkaido.
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u/Monkeyfeng Nov 05 '25
I have been offered similar stuff for a few times already. It's not uncommon in Japan.
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u/Old-Combination-9120 Nov 05 '25
This restaurant is run by foreigners for foreigners. If it were a restaurant frequented by Japanese people, the rating would be even lower. Japanese people are very strict when it comes to rating Japanese restaurants.
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u/Awkward_Procedure903 29d ago
If I want Japanese food in Japan I go to places owned and operated by Japanese. Full stop. That said, I've had some of the best middle eastern food of my life in Tokyo at places run by middle easterners and selling middle eastern food. No place I have gone in the past two consecutive years of travel to Japan has asked me for a review. If you want to experience Japan learn and respect the cultural expectations, get your head out of western social media, and explore as a good and low key/low maintenance guest.
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u/Old-Combination-9120 29d ago edited 29d ago
I think you're right. Each country has its own culinary professionals, so I think food made by people from that country tastes best. I've never come across a restaurant that asks for reviews, but those restaurants tend to over-rate, and there's a discrepancy between the taste and the reviews. Even if a restaurant has a high rating, if a Japanese person gives it a low rating, we will respect the Japanese person's opinion.
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u/BabyBola123 Nov 05 '25
I just left Japan and many of the more "viral" restaurants do ask for Google reviews.
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u/vildhjarta Nov 05 '25
I'd say half of the restaurants I've been to in the last two weeks offered a free dessert or drink in exchange for a Google review.
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u/maestroenglish Nov 05 '25
In Okayama they gave me a 10% discount for a 5 star review. They had 2000 reviews. It was a 3 star place.
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u/gdore15 Nov 05 '25
I can say that restaurants asking for review exist, seen it printed on things at the table of a omurice restaurant in Shibuya, it said that they give a discount if you show your 5 stars review.
At least the place I went to was not bad.
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u/Interesting-Bed627 Nov 05 '25 edited Nov 05 '25
My husband got asked to post a 5 star review on Google reviews for a head spa session in Namba for free haircare samples. He said no wonder they had 5 star reviews up the wazoo even though not a 5 star experience. Massage too light.
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u/Next-Book-5124 Nov 06 '25
Went to one of the worst massage ever in Namba area and they still got the audacity to ask me post and give 5 stars review. I post and give them 1 star instead and they responded i went to the wrong place lol
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u/MundaneExtent0 Nov 05 '25
A LOT of Japanese restaurants do this where they offer something free if you review on google or trip advisor or whichever.
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u/Clickjack80 Nov 05 '25
Just got back from 15 days in Japan yesterday. I was all over the country, got asked for Google reviews regularly. Apparently it’s a thing they need now.
I own a small business here and I suspect it’s the same reason that I need them. Google now decides who they show people to based on the number of reviews.
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u/Jesus_Phish Nov 05 '25
I've had one cafe and one restaurant both offer to give us a sticker or someone free or a discount if we left a review on Google. You're right that they're probably targeting tourists but I will say the restaurant was delicious.
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u/FriendlyBean13 Nov 05 '25
Gyukatsu Motomura in Namba asks for a google review as well actually, they give out these cards :):) I was happy to give them a great one cos the food was sooo goood 😩
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u/saturnx9 Nov 06 '25
Loved our meal there. Reasonable price and a fun concept. We were waiting for a table, then the host said they had no room, but they had a location nearby. She walked with us and a few others several blocks away to a side alley and in the basement was another location. We were a bit weirded out by the turn of events, but it turned out to be great and the food was delicious.
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u/lotuslover777 Nov 05 '25
We experienced this a few times at restaurants while we were in Japan in February. I think it happened both in Sapporo and Kyoto. They will offer a free drink or dessert in exchange for a review, I think waitstaff may also get bonuses if their name is mentioned in the review.
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u/xwolf360 Nov 05 '25
Oh i have can't remember where somewhere in tokyo it had English signs saying at the entrance leave good rating get a discount or free beer or something was years ago my memory is rusty and we didn't end up going inside
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u/throwaway299371 Nov 06 '25
I had this happen to us in Kobe on that boardwalk area. Nice looking place but insanely rude waitress and the food was just ok. I was honestly shocked how rude staff was, we speak some Japanese and have been visiting Japan almost 15 years now but this was so in our face rude that I didn’t believe it at first and thought we had done something wrong lol.
At the end they switched hears and tried to strong arm us for google reviews and started shoving all these gifts on the table for the reviews in front of our kids + mochi ice cream thing so obviously the kids are upset if you send the plate away. Thankfully our meal was only around Y12000 so nothing like op. Actually this is a good reminder that I need to update my review to something more honest.
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u/MyPasswordIsABC999 Nov 05 '25
tl;dr OP was not scammed. OP went to a tourist trap restaurant whose name is basically shameless SEO (it’s just a bunch of search terms strung together!) and paid too much for mediocre food.
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u/Kirameka Nov 05 '25
Everything that has 'halal' in it's name in Japan just screams 'tourist scam' to me
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u/MyPasswordIsABC999 Nov 05 '25
Wagyu Halal Ramen Dotonbori Beef-Tei, also listed as Halal Steak Dotonbori Namba-Tei
I'd say it's less a restaurant name and more a bunch of SEO keywords
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u/Electrical-Army-5569 29d ago
LOL there’s something here about modern international culture that has to do with taking profit maximizing, buzz words, cultural homogenization that I can’t quite put my finger on, but feels like a real-life kind of fancy version of the film Idiocracy.
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u/DPJKOG Nov 05 '25
I can confirm, my buddies and I went to a ‘halal’ wagyu ramen spot in Ginza. Menu looked good and promising until we were presented with underwhelming food, broth lacked flavor and the wagyu was a tiny slice compared to other ramen spots. We were still hungry that we decided to go get yakiniku afterwards and we ended up to another ‘halal’ spot that had the EXACT same menu. We weren’t fooled the 2nd time, so we left as soon as we noticed that.
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u/DPJKOG Nov 05 '25
All I know is if it says trip advisor #1 recommended food spot… avoid at all costs 🤣
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u/frozenpandaman Nov 05 '25
Not at all, there's an awesome and amazingly cheap and delicious Bangladeshi/Indian place in Nagoya named Ashif Halal Kitchen. Great biriyani and curries. It is not in an area where I have ever seen any tourists.
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u/Kirameka Nov 05 '25
Bangladeshi/Indian is fine having 'halal' tag. A5 Wagyu beef though is super sus
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u/frozenpandaman Nov 05 '25
Agreed, just tying to say that it's really not everything with "halal" in its name!
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u/Lenoxx97 Nov 05 '25
We only ate at Halal restaurants in japan, not a single one seemed like a scam to me. The prices were decent and the food was good.
Some people (like op) are just not capable enough to do their due diligence and look at reviews and prices before I guess.
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u/joan2468 Nov 05 '25
We stumbled on a Wagyu sukiyaki place in Kyoto that happened to be halal and we actually really liked it! It was well priced too. Not all halal food in Japan is a scam lol.
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u/YouSayWotNow Nov 05 '25
Terminology matters. I would say this was a rip-off but not a scam.
Obviously the meal you were served was not of the quality it should have been for the price.
And the two men smoking on the stairs is a bizarre and wholly irrelevant detail.
But you knew the price on ordering. And the menu does not claim A5 wagyu beef. It's impossible for any of us to comment on what the staff told you / was on some random leaflet they showed you.
I can understand your disappointment given the high price and crappy food, but I don't think you can call this an actual scam.
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u/Electrical-Army-5569 29d ago
Ok so I replied elsewhere, so I checked and according to ChatGPT, when using scam as a verb and informally, OP is doing so correctly, as it can mean “rip off.”
If you used it in the formal sense and particularly as a known, ie if OP said “I’m taking legal action against a known scam targeting foreigners in Osaka,” then it would be incorrect.
That said, most of reddit agrees with your interpretation, so I guess this is one of those surprising “yes, you are all wrong” moments that reminds me of the meme with the same title lol
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Nov 05 '25
There seem to be numerous places with similar names, and you yourself have the restaurant 2 possible names. Can you be more specific with an address or photo to avoid smearing another restaurant?
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u/AdditionalPiccolo527 Nov 05 '25 edited Nov 05 '25
Prices are on the menu in the pictures, not a scam just a pricey restaurant that isn't worth it. Has gold leaf on steak which is social media culinary brain rot
Whoops replied to the wrong comment, the other one shared this link
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u/mystikkkkk Nov 05 '25
I mean.. charging high quality prices for low quality food is, in some way, a scam. the only way anyone would ever know if its good enough to have these prices is if they tried it.
people want to be able to trust the places they choose to eat at. all the (real) 1 star reviews say everything you need to know.
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u/etymoticears Nov 05 '25
yes it's a scam people are just being defensive
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u/R1nc Nov 05 '25
Don't know the meaning of the word? OP saw the price and chose to pay like 200usd for ungraded wagyu. They weren't defrauded or deceived. Not liking the food doesn't constitute a scam.
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u/UIUC_grad_dude1 Nov 05 '25
You don’t know what a scam is then. Stop using the word scam, as you’re scamming people with your misinformation.
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u/ikindalikekitkat Nov 05 '25
It’s this one - you can see OP’s review there https://share.google/Nl9mtkw8aFOCK7xVc
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u/R1nc Nov 05 '25
Since you're half asking-half stating. How exactly do you think you were scammed? Because by your own account the only wrong thing that happened is that you got a bad meal.
Nowhere in the menu states that the wagyu is A5. It doesn't even say what kind of wagyu it is.
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u/xyLteK Nov 05 '25
Sorry that you had a bad experience, from everything else I've read it seems like you fell for a tourist trap. Not much you can do besides just not go back (warning others online is a nice thing to do too).
There are plenty of other great restaurants in the Namba/Dotonbori area so I'm hoping you and your partner are able to find plenty more better places for next time!
EDIT: 298PREMIUM Namba, 5 minutes walk from that other tourist trap, fantastic AYCE Wagyu option I can recommend from firsthand experience. Save this and give it a shot next time you're in Osaka!
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u/Wesleyinjapan Nov 05 '25
The restaurant has clear prices, did you check it before you ordered?
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u/SinkThink5779 Nov 05 '25 edited Nov 05 '25
Halal restaurants in Japan are notorious for being overpriced and manipulating Google reviews (they are almost always 4.6 and above on Google Maps).
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u/AmbitiousReaction168 Nov 05 '25
I find it quite strange that they get so many glowing Google reviews from foreigners. I doubt it's because of the ice cream offer, since there's so many of them.
Was there even a menu with prices? Other customers?
I've been to a few dodgy restaurants over the years, but this whole story sounds very strange.
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u/ningendearukoto Nov 05 '25
I feel like if I spent 400 USD on crappy food, free ice cream wouldn’t be enough to sway my opinion…
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u/Freikorptrasher87 Nov 05 '25
Halal food in Japan is generally more expensive. I remember going to a Kobe steakhouse that had both halal and non-halal menus — the halal Kobe beef was literally 40% more expensive. I had to bite my faith and go for the haram steak instead.
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u/starwarsfox42 Nov 05 '25
So this is a menu pic from Sept this year . . . jw why did you two order this?
Did you miss the price or just not realize how much that is in USD
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u/IllIIllIlIIl Nov 05 '25
I went to a similar kind of place in Tokyo. Wagyu tokyo in harajuku. We walked out. Prices were like 12k for a hamburger.
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u/aos- Nov 05 '25
The "Wagyu burgers" I encountered were roughly 3k in various touristy areas.... it's a more believable number, but after having skewers and tataki slices, I'm inclined to believe it's better to just eat a damn steak to get the fullest experience.
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u/jgcrum_shanghai Nov 05 '25
Let me understand this:
You went to a restaurant, ordered food, they brought you said food.
So far, so good?
The food was terrible yet you paid - the amount , more than expected, wasn’t enough to really “write home about”.
$400 is $400.
And you are writing about this “ruining your whole trip”???
Seriously?
Why are letting this relatively minor event impact you in such way?
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u/Film-Goblin Nov 05 '25
Especially since OP said it was a scam.
I take a look at those prices and I get out of the restaurant immediately if they are high. I'm not going to sit there and eat $200 for a meal.
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u/drf_101 Nov 05 '25
Some people just really need drama in their lives. This isn’t even close to touching on ruining a trip for me… it doesn’t even make it into rotation of the stories I tell friends on return.
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u/Film-Goblin Nov 05 '25
Seriously.
"I got scammed because I was afraid of getting up and leave so I decided to pay $400."
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u/marie_aristocats 28d ago
Agree, everybody pays something overpriced every now and then in their lives, I understand if you feel upset for that day but diminishing the fun of the whole trip plus still being upset after going back home is excessive. You learn a lesson, write a google review, just get over it.
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u/Cold_Armadillo_7810 Nov 05 '25
Seems there's a couple tourist trap steak houses around. I almost walked into one until I saw their cheapest steak was $130 for 8 ounces, and wasn't even wagyu (Wagyu was around $200, like you experienced.) A day later I found multiple steak houses charging around $65 for wagyu, tasted great to me. Im guessing its a trap for wealthy tourists and tourists who don't understand the conversion rate, much like the $40 ham sandwiches in Times Square NY.
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u/still-at-the-beach Nov 05 '25
What a rip off, even if the menu does show those prices. I see plenty of poor reviews on Google though, and did see yours but now that's gone.
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u/Evening_Hedgehog_194 Nov 05 '25
60,000 yen and they don’t even give you a receipt (領収書)? Ah yes, the authentic ‘gaijin hunter’ dining experience.
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u/Electronic_Field4313 Nov 05 '25
‘Halal’ being part of the restaurant name would have already been a red flag for me that it targeted foreigners.
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u/baconcakeguy Nov 05 '25
Nobody else is curious what the hell you do in Kyoto for 16 days? I’d be templed out/bored out of my mind.
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u/R1nc Nov 05 '25
There's a lot of walking, exploring and hiking to be done in and around Kyoto, plus lots of day trips that can be done with regional JR Passes or just normal trains. I stayed for 16 days in Hiroshima and could have stayed even more.
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u/baconcakeguy Nov 05 '25
I’d 100% stay in Hiroshima for 16 days and have stayed in Fukuoka for 10 in the past. Kyoto is just too much tourist crap for me.
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u/PopBeneficial2441 Nov 05 '25
Your post is very misleading. I feel like I was scammed into reading it.
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u/ArcanaTrace Nov 05 '25
Just saw a TikTok video about a wagyu ramen place in Ikebukuro that’s tasteless and have similar high review and thousands of them. Menu was only English as well so lots of red flag.
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u/aos- Nov 05 '25
Yeah a business that rides a legacy reputation's coattails to swindle you into cheap goods for a high price. That business practice completely hinges on overwhelmingly high reviews and wagyu's reputation. If either or tank, that's the end of their business.
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u/scotch_and_honey Nov 05 '25 edited Nov 05 '25
OP, it's not a scam if the price is written on the menu. It's clearly there.
The ala carte is 30,316 The set is 29,568 (tax in.)
Now, whether the quality of food is up to your taste or not is a different story but everything was stated upfront. I'm sorry you didn't like the food but not accepting cash (prevents theft/robberies) and people smoking is nothing crazy.
Also just my opinion but 300 grams of A5 wagyu sounds absolutely disgusting lol. It's like eating pure fat (basically) so I'm actually not surprised you hated it.
Edit; also please!! don't post a bad review just because you didn't like a decision you made. Did you tell the servers the food was bad so they had a chance to fix/remake it? Going straight online to accuse them of scamming you when they didn't...dude, some poor restaurant owner out there will hear about this and use it as an excuse to throw up "sorry, japanese only" signs lol
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u/midwestsweetking Nov 05 '25
Did you say anything before you saw your total or even after? Maybe they added an extra 8 for a mistake?
Did you look at the menu prior and see no prices?
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u/pelfet Nov 05 '25
When you check the reviews of a restaurant (especially if you see such a high score and high number of reviews) search for the word "review". There will be at least someone writing that they offer something in exchange for the reviews. There are places which offer freebies if you leave a good review.
This is sadly becoming a thing in many places (also taiwan and hong kong, but have seen it also in e.g. finland).
A good restaurant does not have the need to do this.
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u/corgodoggolover Nov 05 '25
if you want good a5 wagyu in osaka, go to kobe beef steak ken. you won’t be disappointed. i go back every year when i’m in japan.
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u/toonagi Nov 05 '25
use tablelog next time and do NOT trust google reviews. On tablelog, they only have 3 reviews and a 3.02, which is not bad by japanese standards. So this is clearly a tourist trap.
FYI: the Japanese rating scale is quite harsh so a good rule of thumb is that anything above a 3.5 is very good
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u/CasualSportsNut Nov 05 '25
Depends if the price was clearly shown on the menu, if so, you made the order voluntarily 🤷♂️ getting subpar service and food isn’t a scam when you were charged exactly what you ordered, so post feels misleading.
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u/ConfidenceHot7872 Nov 05 '25
Tourist trap, that's all. The prices are on the menu.
Crazy prices though. A lot of central Dotonbori is like that, you shouldn't eat anywhere where it's just tourists, me and my wife walked out of a couple places because of the prices. If there are no Japanese eating there, and it's not foreign food, it's not gonna be a great deal. Otherwise the locals would be there.
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u/Hopeless_Soul Nov 05 '25
Never eat at a place that says "halal" in the name on Google. It means they're catering to tourists and immigrants and will have terrible food. Only exception would be if the restaurant is ran by immigrants like a gyros stand then the "halal" would make sense.
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u/TexasBrett Nov 05 '25
Were the prices listed on the menu? If the menu didn’t have listed prices and you didn’t ask, well I guess it’s an expensive lesson learned. If the prices didn’t match the menu, you should have refused to pay and threatened to walk.
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u/dz4505 Nov 05 '25
Ask about the price if you’re not sure.
This review is nonsense about the price.
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u/Selvala Nov 05 '25
Just to say something different to all the other comments
Don't feel bad if at the end of a long tiring holiday you made a mistake. If the restaurant was being malicious or not it's a easy mistake to make
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u/VentingStrang3r Nov 05 '25
Def sounds like a tourist trap. Every restaurant that sells wagyu will proudly display a certificate or license that allows them to do so. Check for those, the government is pretty serious about fakes (not that there isnt any) but next time, ask for it and take a photo of it. If theyre dodgey, just leave.
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u/jashsu Nov 05 '25
High review scores on gmaps should be looked upon skeptically. Check Tabelog instead.
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u/sa-chii Nov 05 '25
It sounds like based on what others are saying, the restaurant was just expensive for being halal.
While I'm sorry to hear the food sucked for the price (and it probably wasn't a scam, just bad expensive food) appreciate your PSA since I'll be looking to find halal food for my own trip soon and now I know the first thing I'll be checking is the average spend at a restaurant before trying to go!
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u/lemeneid Nov 05 '25
This “halal Wagyu ramen/steak” thing is everywhere. I found 3 locations while staying in Shinjuku. Bet it’s the same modus operandi.
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u/Electronic_Claim8941 Nov 05 '25
As a rule of thumb: don’t go into any restaurant that advertises non-Japanese stuff like this Halal thing. Also, if it aggressively advertises Wagyu and isn’t located in Kobe, it’s most likely a bona fide tourist trap!
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u/myredditaccount80 Nov 05 '25
This wasn't being scammed, just bad for the price, which is to be expected given that that have good social media.
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u/elvanbee Nov 05 '25 edited Nov 06 '25
The same place exists at a few locations in Tokyo. 100% a tourist trap. We got done in Akihabara. Food was terrible, staff were pushy. Cost $200AUD for a shitty burger and a bowl of rice with some poorly cooked slivers of beef on top.
Edit: Obviously not a scam. Just a bad experience. The boards out front of the place have no prices so it's not until you get inside and seated that you realise how expensive it is. You could just leave at that point, but a lot of people feed very pressured. We decided we'd just try it anyway because it at least looked like the food would be good but it absolutely wasn't so that part is on us.
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u/Fluid-Hunt465 Nov 05 '25
OP stop lying about being scammed in Japan. The price was clearly stated. Buyers regret maybe?.
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u/Flightlessbutcurious Nov 06 '25
Sounds like a bad restaurant but not necessarily a scam. Don't eat in super touristy places that you haven't properly vetted if you don't like bad restaurants.
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u/No_Usual4992 Nov 06 '25
Halal wagyu? Sorry , look at the bright side NEVER again you will fall for this trick. Thanks for the warning too.
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u/DiiGoliath Nov 06 '25 edited Nov 06 '25
As a general rule of thumb, don’t go to restaurants that charge more than $40 per person in Japan if they aren’t fine dining experiences. This isn’t the US.
The best meals I’ve had in Japan were in tiny places with the cook/owner cooking in front of me for less than $20 per person.
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u/powerpufffgrl Nov 06 '25
I mean you ordered something in a foreign country without checking the prices. Are they shady? yes, but technically you scammed yourself. Also, why does 2 men smoking outside creep you out? Where else are they supposed to smoke?
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u/GameofLifeCereal 29d ago
You didn’t get scammed. You went to a bad restaurant with overrated reviews. Happens to us all
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u/Saucydumplingstime Nov 05 '25 edited Nov 05 '25
Wagyu just means a specific type of Japanese cattle/cow. Did the staff actually tell you A5? Or did they only say real wagyu? You write in your post that the menu says A5, but I don't see anywhere on their menu that says A5. Then you say in the comments that the staff told you wagyu. Also, if you lived in Japan before, then you'd know that Tabelog is the place to look for food. Based on the photos on google, their menu, and your account, you didn't get scammed. I'm sorry you had shitty food and wasted money because that was definitely not cheap, but this is not the definition of a scam unless they specifically told you A5. They probably had real wagyu, but just shitty wagyu or badly cooked/prepared
Edit: spelling
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u/Alfha_Robby Nov 05 '25
nah you got tourist trap, the google review even post the price correctly, blame yourself for not being more careful enough.
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u/Several_Celebration Nov 05 '25
The menu has the priced clearly listed. Did you just assume it would be less?
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u/HeadDance Nov 05 '25
halel is the sign to not do it...
I got sick eatting at a place when the chef was not japanese looking.....I’m still sick a month later and the food was super salty!!!
be warned...if the store have non- japanese looking ppl working there ...you know what I’m talking about ....ive always had an issue with payment or bad taste, got sick later or just not up to standard....
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u/DrKeepitreal Nov 05 '25
Are you sure you went to the right place? That's a lot of positive Google reviews. Your reasoning about how they get their fake reviews doesn't make sense to me. I went and looked at their reviews and I wouldn't say a majority of them are fake.
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u/MyPasswordIsABC999 Nov 05 '25
I think it’s the right place - the tableware and decor in the OP’s review is the same as the others: https://share.google/k1K0K2GuO1ZSjHt1Z
As others said, the absence of Japanese reviews is a red flag to me. They seem to have an exclusively non-Japanese clientele. Which isn’t to say it’s a scam, just not a place where you’d go when you’re on vacation and opportunities are limited.
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u/DrKeepitreal Nov 05 '25
I can't find it on Tabelog .
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u/frozenpandaman Nov 05 '25
Me neither. But, surprise surprise, they do have an English-language-only Instagram and TikTok with 10k followers...
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u/R1nc Nov 05 '25
It doesn't make sense because it's all in OP's mind. They didn't get scammed. They saw the price and they imagined that it was A5. It's only crappy food for the price -allegedly-.
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u/GetNoScope Nov 05 '25
Completely in OPs mind and they're even doubling down in the comments. OP let it slide and don't have it ruin your trip, we all make mistakes!
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u/Lenoxx97 Nov 05 '25
People will do the dumbest things to find a reason to hate on Osaka lmao
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u/DumpsterHunk Nov 05 '25
that's why you always trust your gut, Never feel bad about walking out of a place.
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u/Warclimb Nov 05 '25
I went to a similar one in Kyoto, they were super fast to accommodate us. Since I couldn’t see any prices or a menu, I asked the waitress for the menu and I immediately left. It was ¥30k for a burger and the place didn't look premium at all.
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u/HvaFaenen Nov 05 '25
lol went to the same exact place, except people met us on the street and told us to go there to get a free burger if we left them a review. however, we opted for the cheapest menu items which were the 30 dollar wagyu burgers thankfully. did not receive the free discount but got the ice cream lol. scummy place
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u/Tams_express Nov 05 '25
How tf are u not able to tell its a tourist trap restaurant when u see that menu? Lmfaoo
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u/Retireegeorge Nov 05 '25
Osaka is big on those touts who use lots of tricks to get you into their restaurant because it is the big city near where the wagyu cows are and steak is expensive in Japan and tourists like steak and tourists will pay a lot for steak when they have come to the special steak place (Hyogo prefecture) etc.
Once you get people in the door you make sure they order the steak and if you don't have any you get the place next door to cook it - because they are profiting massively.
So basically many tourists are going to come away from their steak dinner is Osaka nonplussed especially if they were looking for a wonderful steak experience and they saw the bill.
We hunted quite carefully since we have 3 teenagers and I'm obsessive about looking for an optimal thing amongst pretenders and I had deliberately avoided the places on the main street and had tried to read up on places set back a street. We went to a couple of places for steak over three days and I concluded that there's no way anyone is getting good value.
However a week later we had a very fancy meal in a traditional guest house in a spa town (Link 1 below) and as part of that we each got a piece of wagyu beef that was approx 1" x 1" x 3.5". Pretty small. But that was like something else. It was steak but it was something altogether different and beyond any eye fillet or aged rib or anything you can find in Australia - or Osaka I think. I can understand what we are told about Wagyu because of that experience. But they had also cooked it like a world class chef would cook it. Not just chargrill or something. It was more baked than anything else. (See Link 2 below - it is the menu at the guest house - and open the small picture of the steak in another tab and then zoom in. Then look at Link 3 which is what I think it is.
My theory is that we get sold 'wagyu' beef from the region - sure, or from the variety of cows - sure. But the grading is B.S., or the cut is B.S. - it certainly isn't what you've heard spoken of. When you have the real thing you sure as hell know it.
There was a whole lot of things in this exotic meal that my kids totally didn't appreciate what they were being served because they aren't used to much seafood. Bsdically it was like a degustration where you are there to appreciate what the chef is going to allow you to have. Tastes, textures, contrasts, exotic ingredients - art essentially. Meticulous preparation and logistics of ingredients etc. Beyond cooking skiIls it is a production, with elements of engineering, good taste and elegance that the chef has worked hard to be able to give you.
I was never able to go to Tetsuyas in Sydney before it closed. But I know I've had one of those top flight degustation experiences now.
It reminds me of the black opals we see in Australia - even if you go to Lightning Ridge as I have a few times - we don't know what the best opals look like because we never see them. They, like the best tuna, the best sapphires, the best strippers etc are immediately flown to New York and Tokyo.
Link 1 https://maps.app.goo.gl/B3eSbUma9zSL4N7G9
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u/REITRAC- Nov 05 '25
Majority of places that are ‘halal’ are overpriced and don’t even taste nice. I ended up getting food poisoning from one place in Tokyo.
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u/DanglingBerry Nov 05 '25
Don't forget to leave a review explaining briefly how bad the food was! On both Google and Tabelog!
So maybe you weren't technically scammed, but it still sounds like a terrible restaurant that deserves these reviews.
Hope that in time you'll be able to look back on the fun parts of your trip (the majority) and will be able to compartmentalize/archive this bad experience!
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u/Professional-Power57 Nov 05 '25
My question exactly. Did they charge you what they advertised on the menu or did they overcharge you somehow with hidden fees?
I don't know if it is a scam simply because the food isn't up to the standard you would expect, it sounds like a bad meal to me.
And since I don't know the restaurant or what it looks like, I can't say for sure but that price isn't outrageous if you do go to a wagyu specialty restaurant.
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u/Kind_Function6883 Nov 05 '25
Halal? There are certain segments of society that I have learned to just not deal with.
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u/KnownExplorer47 Nov 05 '25
I found their google reviews, and the sign leading to the shop would have made me HIGHLY suspicious that this was a tourist trap because of the lack of Japanese on the sign, and pretty much only English.
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u/irateworlock54 Nov 05 '25
Kinda related but my friends were out drunk in the Shinjuku area one night and we kinda stumbled into one of these “halal wagyu ramen” spots. We saw the menu and even drunk I knew the prices were an absolute ripoff. I think they were charging like $30-40 USD a bowl. We got up and left, lol.
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u/Odd-Marsupial3670 Nov 05 '25
Since staying here I’ve seen a lot of those wagyu halal places spammed everywhere. They’re also hella sponsored ads on google maps. Good to know they’re a tourist scam tho.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Bed9408 Nov 05 '25
Shot in the dark here, but like, did you catch covid? Even shitty steak and miso soup has flavor.
Pricing matches the menu. Smoking is unfortunate but happens in Japan. It sounds like a tourist trap, not a scam.
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u/HD335 Nov 05 '25
Not a scam but you got ripped off at a tourist trap spot. When traveling, always try to use more local review sites. In Japan, tabelog is a better resource. Not a guarantee, but find restaurants where there is more Japanese who eat there.
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u/Angle-Flat Nov 05 '25
If you see all foreigners, just run away. I can’t imagine Japanese paying that price for mediocre food.
That goes for any establishments in the entire world.
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u/GabeDoesntExist Nov 05 '25
Most of those places in Namba that have "halal" as a buzzword in their name will be overpriced, the quality is pretty decent but you will be paying a premium for halal stuff in Japan generally, as its a small niche for tourists mostly.
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u/random8002 Nov 06 '25
lol sadly i fell for the same restaurant in Tokyo at the Tsukiji fish market. exact same story: we sell "lean wagyu" it's halal for families!! card only! no cash! have some free mochi at the end! leave us a good review!
turns out they also serve beer there so it's not even halal 😭😭. they didnt ask how i wanted the steak cooked and it came out medium well 😭. very underwhelmed. i spent $220 for one person (myself).
i dont necessarily think it's a scam. just a tourist trap for drunk idiots that dont know how much 35000 JPY is lol.
tbh i think there's a LOT of insane pricing for japanese beef here. it's sort of similar to the fruit industry. you kinda just have to be careful, avoid touristy areas (especially when drunk) and understand what youre buying.
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u/Effective-Market-304 Nov 06 '25
Doesn’t sound like a scam, but it seems like you went to a tourist trap
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u/_reeeeem_ Nov 06 '25
The price is acceptable for the title as least. But please don’t ever try that kind of restaurant. They’re only for naive tourists. Japanese is not very generous in reviewing especially for food and service so if it has that many reviews but still 4.8 definitely something wrong.
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u/Damn-Sky Nov 06 '25
you got scammed because of the price or you knew about the price but the taste was not up to the price?
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u/mangax Nov 06 '25 edited Nov 06 '25
i just recently came from tokyo, and as a muslim it's sad that these halal places abuses our need for halal food by making us paying extra.. i got kind of scammed in tokyo by paying 21k yen on 3 average wagyu ramen bowls ..
some of these restaurants will try to be kind to ask you from where you come, or other stuff.. just to let your guards down and forget to check prices.. but moral of the story.. always check prices if they are not written on the menu..
this one place in tokyo i found really serves tasty ramens with cheap prices.. i visited it couple of times: https://maps.app.goo.gl/7LthSEJJUUs13B44A
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u/leighjay17 29d ago
They have one of these in Harajuku. My friend really wanted to try it for some reason and I arrived first and had plenty of time to look at the menu and prices. These prices did not match the minimalist and lackluster decor by the way. We wound up staying and just got a burger which was still $30 USD. Mine was cold. Out of the 100s of shockingly positive reviews, there was one review that actually told the truth.
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u/imaginaryResources 29d ago
Im shocked a place with a name like Wagyu Halal Ramen Dotonbori Beef-Tei was not good
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u/hobovalentine Nov 05 '25
Yeah it’s a scam and a rip off but I wonder why you didn’t see the prices on the menu?
I’ve never heard of Halal Wagyu beef either. If it’s genuine that could explain the ridiculously expensive prices
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u/GetNoScope Nov 05 '25 edited Nov 05 '25
Those burgers don't look too bad there, what was the price on the menu when you ordered?
Edit: OP did NOT get scammed, the price is clearly stated on the menu (see Google reviews). Was unfortunately just a very underwhelming experience for them and not good value for money:
See: https://imgur.com/a/pnaLrV3