Since I was solo, I only had to wait a minute, but the waiting area was filling up quite fast after 12:30. Staff are very smiling and peppy. Ordered a Katsu Cury, it was served rather quickly and was quite good! The TOHAKU bland coffee was also good but maybe too watery.

2026.⒐5 First visit since the renovation. It hasn't been open that long, yet they served food in a cracked rice bowl. I waited to be shown to a seat, but there were plenty of empty seats. The two of us were led to a two-person table at the back, and I was stunned to see an elderly couple who came in later being taken to a four-person table. The chairs and tables inside look cheap. Lightweight chairs. I thought, won't someone end up falling over eventually? As for the food itself, it isn't tasty for the price. If I'm going to be put at a cramped table at this price, I'd rather eat somewhere outside where it's tastier. The Tohaku Gozen tasted like they'd just put ready-made items on it. I wondered whether this is really okay for the restaurant of a museum that represents Japan.

The atmosphere is more modern than back in the Yurinoki days, and the food tastes better too—I think it's better than I expected. I'd be happy if they added more variety to the menu. The coffee jelly was insanely good. Generous portion, I want to come back and eat it again.

Apparently it reopened after renovation today. Until now, besides the permanent exhibition, I'd used the restaurant about once a year during special events. It was summer vacation and overlapped with the Kukai exhibition, so I figured a one-hour wait couldn't be helped, but apparently the first half of the menu is in Japanese and English and the second half in Chinese and Korean, so it's thick even though there are hardly any items. For rice dishes, there's only the supposedly recommended hakozen box set at 3800 yen or 3500 yen, or curry. The pricing is fine, and they're making an effort with noodles in the 1000-yen range, but there are only 2 kinds of pasta and Inaniwa-style udon. Not Sanuki udon. No soba. Disappointing that you order by scanning a QR code. If only people unfamiliar with smartphones went, they probably couldn't order. I'm sure they'd do it if you called them over, but if only they'd at least said, "Please order via the QR code or let a staff member know"... I wondered if they were cutting staff, but when I looked around, there were 5–6 people on the floor. They could at least take orders. Where did the omotenashi go? The taste is very ordinary. Even though it's the National Museum's restaurant, the interior doesn't feel Japanese, and the space is sterile. I'm Japanese, but it became clear I'm not their target demographic, and I won't be using it again. Extremely disappointing.

That day I went for dessert after looking around the museum. The matcha ice cream was faintly bitter with a sweet aftertaste. It was super good. The anko was great too! This is what Japanese cuisine is all about. I ordered the three-color tea. It was addictively good, each one had its own character, and they were easy to drink. When I come with friends again, I definitely want to recommend it. My favorite was the one on the far left. Of these, it was the sweetest and tasted like peach, so I could drink it forever lol The others had strong acidity, and I felt they're drinks not everyone will like. The strongest was the one in the middle. Personally I like it, but the sourness and sweetness felt like a roller coaster.