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Restaurant raises the bar for customer service in Japan, will help you name your baby

Casey Baseel Sep 22, 2015
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In Japan, customer service tends to pretty amazing across the board, but perhaps nowhere more so than in the restaurant industry. Some restaurants may be boisterously friendly and others may be quietly courteous, but you can just about always be assured that everyone on the staff, from your server to the owner, is working hard to ensure an enjoyable dining experience.

But even by those standards, this yakiniku restaurant goes above and beyond the call of duty, with an extensive list of extra special services they’re willing to provide. Of course, courteousness is a two-way street, so the restaurant also has 10 unique requests it in turn makes to its customers.

Yakiniku, or Korean barbecue, seems like it should only entail the bare minimum of customer service. After all, customers cook the strips of meat that make up the bulk of a yakiniku meal themselves on the grill installed in the center of their table, so the majority of the restaurant employees’ work is preparing the cuts of raw meat and delivering them to the table along with any drinks the customers have ordered.

Maybe that’s why this restaurant came up with its own special ways to show it cares. Japanese Twitter user @frenemytwins was so impressed he snapped a picture of the list, so let’s take a look.

https://twitter.com/frenemytwins/status/645217702475231233

“Let our staff know if you have any problems,” the list begins, before giving 10 sample scenarios along with how the restaurant will respond.

● “I’m out of cigarettes.”
We’ll dash off to the convenience store to pick some up for you.

Actually, it’s not entirely unusual for smoker-friendly Japanese establishments to provide this service, although it’s more common in bars than restaurants.

● “My cell phone battery is about to die.”
We’ve got chargers! Sorry if we don’t have one that works with your model of phone!

● “There are certain foods I don’t like.”
Let us know when ordering.

Many yakiniku restaurant menus include combination platters that have a variety of cuts of meat. While odds are you’re going to be out of luck if you’re a vegetarian, this restaurant at least seems willing to work with you on the specific meaty contents of your order.

● “I’m really gonna drink a lot today!”
We’ll go get some ukon for you.

Ukon, or turmeric, is often used as an ingredient in Japanese nutritional supplement drinks that are said to help stave off or soothe hangovers, which is why you’ll often see salarymen pounding them down on their way home from a bar (or on their way to the office the next morning). The restaurant seems to realize that if it’s going to supply the source of the hangover, it’s only fair to help out with the aftermath as well.

● “I wish I knew how to cook yakiniku well.”
We’ll give you a through but easy-to-understand lecture.

● “I spilled something on my clothes.”
We’ll get you some stain remover right away!

● “Do you think you can call a taxi for me?”
We sure can!

● “It sure is cold/hot in here.”
We’ll get you a blanket or turn up the A.C.

● “Oh wow, it’s raining!”
Allow us to present you with a free (used) umbrella LOL.

● “It’s someone in our party’s birthday.”
Please let us know!

In exchange, though, there are 10 things the restaurant staff asks of its customers.

● Please don’t teasingly flirt with the male staff. They’ll think you’re serious, and they won’t be able to keep their mind on their work.

● Please don’t ask the female staff how old they are. If you do, we’ll charge you double for your meal.

● We try not to blast the air conditioner too much in the restaurant, but if one of our staff makes a really bad joke, please ask for a blanket.

Whereas we might call a really bad joke “corny” or “cheesy” in English, in Japanese the term is samui, literally “cold.”

● Pregnant customers are asked to inform the staff of their presence. We’ll help you think of a name for the baby.

● If your food or relationship with your boyfriend/girlfriend has grown cold, discretely inform the staff, and we’ll help to get things warmed up again.

Then you can take them up on that baby-naming offer, right?

● Sexually harassing the female staff is prohibited.

That one honestly seems like it should go without saying.

● Famous customers are asked to inform the staff of their presence. We apologize for not recognizing you. Someone will be by to ask for your autograph shortly.

● Please do not buy alcoholic beverages for the staff. They get out of hand when they drink.

● Please do not make attractive job offers to the staff. They’ll quit working for us.

● If the food tastes good, please tell the staff. We’ll keep doing our best.

Since the only thing better than a tasty meal is a tasty meal with side orders of friendly service and a sense of humor, @frenemytwins’ followers quickly responded to his tweet by asking just where this eatery is. He replied that it’s a restaurant in Toyama City called Taishogun, and while the region is most famous for its buri (yellowtail tuna), we think we’ll be having yakiniku the next time we’re in town.

Restaurant information
Taishogun / 大将軍
Address: Toyama-ken, Toyama-shi, Sakuramachi 2-4-21
富山県富山市桜町2-4-21
Open Monday-Friday 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m., 5:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday 5:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m.
Website (Tabelog)

Source: Twitter/@frenemytwins
Insert images: Wikipedia/Zink Dawg, RocketNews24