Had lunch at 玉笑 and felt obliged to share my experience.
Maybe I should start with the food. Ordered only おろしそば , which tasted great. I regret not ordering more side dishes, but I really wanted to finish lunch quickly.
I fully understand the “slow food”, but there is “slow” and there is “too slow”. 玉笑 is definitely too slow.
Arrived just before 11:30 and luckily there were not many people on line. Then the staff started to call in the customers, slowly. Although there was definitely space, I had two wait about 20 minutes after getting inside. Why? The 6 customers that went inside before did not start eating yet, but just had tea and finished ordering. 20 minutes to take an order and server tea?
Ordered a 天せいろ, but was told that it was “sold out”. Did not see anyone else eating, so I guess it was “sold out” before they started. Why not tell me or mark it as “not available”?
So I ordered a おろしそば and had to wait another 20 minutes to get it. Are they so understaffed that they cannot serve 6 customers at the same time? Ate it and rushed out first. (6th in, first out).
Food was definitely good, but I will not go there again. Can just imagine what happens when it is “really busy”.
