The quality of the food is top notch! Given how competitive it is among the Japanese restaurants in Düsseldorf, Soba An stands out!
Even before having my soba, I was blown away by the appetizers. We ordered six dishes, all of which worth a second round. The chefs really went above and beyond.
Despite the quality of food, I am hesitant to recommend Soba An for two reasons.
After waiting in line for 30 minutes, I was seated and immediately given a written notice saying a credit card is only accepted with EUR100+ (A local card can go with EUR50+, however, I am an international tourist w/ only Visa, Master, Amex). We were a party of two people. We did not make it to EUR100+, neither did we have enough cash. So, our dinner was ended with a furious waitress scolding me for not doing what is written on the notice while waving the notice in front of me multiple times. Eventually she allowed me to use a Visa card with an acceptable rate of markup. I had to admit I bore some responsibilities, but I do not think anyone would appreciate the way I was treated.
Worse still, before presenting the bill to us, the same waitress walked up to our table and said (I quote) "Someone told me you drank your own water. We need to charge EUR5 for drinking your own drinks." First of all, each of us ordered our own drink. Second of all, we put our water bottle on the table but we did not even open it once. Most importantly, what do you mean by "someone told you"? Was anyone spying on us? Trying to catch us open our bottle and charge us EUR5 right away? She immediately dropped the case when we said we ordered drinks and did not open the bottle at all. However I found it extremely rude, ridiculous and somewhat discriminatory.
Given what I've experienced, I'd love to give the restaurant owner some recommendations. The amazing food deserves more customers but the restaurant has to be more inclusive first.
1) Please put the credit card notice on the window, so everyone can be aware of this specific protocol before joining a line.
2) Please do not take it for granted that people bring cash. A common practice is to put an ATM in the restaurant. Most cash-only restaurants adopt that.
3) Please kindly advise customers to put away their own water bottles (not to be seen by the sensitive waitresses) and notify them of the EUR5 charge before bringing a "someone told me" charge. read more