The owner of the ramen shop Toyojiro in Kyoto, Japan recently offered a bounty on two customers — one of whom left a one-star review criticising their customer service and quality of food.
While negative reviews are not uncommon for any food establishment, the owner’s reaction was far out of the ordinary.
In response to the one-star review on Google Maps, they threatened, “If you write a stupid review, I’ll find you… I’ll beat you up.”
Source: Google Maps
Following this, the owner posted a CCTV photo of the customers on the ramen shop’s Instagram page.
Source: @korekore19 on X
In the now-deleted post, they said they are offering a bounty of JPY 100,000 (S$892) for each of the reviewers for anyone who could provide their personal details, track them down, or take action against them.
On an Instagram story, the owner added that the “manhunt” would only stop once the customers returned to the restaurant, had another meal, and gave them a positive review.
Source: @korekore19 on X
“I told him I won’t forgive him otherwise — not even for the safety of his family. If he does that, he’ll be killed right away. This kid is so scared. I’ll really do it, so he’d better just come back and eat,” they wrote.
They added, “If we don’t get some kind of answers in the next few hours… the game is on.”
Toyojiro is a ‘jiro’-style ramen restaurant, known for its strict rules and aggressive and intense atmosphere, which some attribute to their dedication to their craft.
After receiving backlash on social media, with some users claiming they have also been threatened with having their names and photos leaked for failing to abide by Toyojiro’s strict rules, the restaurant owner has expressed his regret on social media.
On 21 Feb, they stated that their team had discussed the matter and acknowledged their “excessive behavior”.
“We would like to continue to reflect on our actions and move forward,” they wrote.
In a post the following day, they further added:
Our restaurant, which achieved champion status on Japan’s largest ramen site, Ramen Database, just one month after opening, deeply regrets the recent incident we have caused. However, this incident has resulted in a shameful outcome for us… We pledge to dedicate ourselves to creating a restaurant worthy of that reputation.
Source: @toyojiro.toyota on Instagram
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Featured image adapted from @toyojiro.toyota on Instagram, Anime Galaxy.
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