"Otoshi Is the Seat Charge — Saying You Don't Want It Is Fine, But Pay for the Seat": What Japanese Drinkers Say About the Izakaya Dish You Didn't Order

What locals said (excerpted from 1255)

• Otoshi is the seat charge. Taking money purely for the seat feels off to a shop, so they put a dish in front of you instead — that's the spirit of the thing. Worst case, "I don't need it" is fine. But pay the seat charge.

  お通しは席料なんよ…席料だけ取るのはなんだからって一品出してくれる居酒屋の心意気なんよ…最悪いらないですはいいけど席料は払え

  — @bakusounyanko57 likes

• The way I heard it, otoshi grew out of the shop's own discomfort about the seat charge — you can't take someone's money without putting anything in front of them.

  お通しって席料に対する「何も出してないのにお金を取れない」って店側の好意からできた文化って聞いたけど…

  — @ko-lalu20 likes

• I used to work in izakaya. The reason it exists: if someone sits for hours on one beer and a plate of pickles, the shop is in trouble, so it's charged as insurance — a minimum guarantee on the order. Which means if you buy plenty of other things and drink properly, there are places that will happily agree to cancel the otoshi. However much you tell yourself the customer is king, making the shop take a loss is out of the question. If you don't want the otoshi, order a decent spread and drink properly. Then the shop can usually cancel it with a smile.

  居酒屋で仕事しておりました^_^ アレってなんであるかと言うと例えばビール一杯でとか 漬物の盛り合わせで何時間も席を占領されると困るので その保険の為に注文の最低保証として払うもんなんです。 だからその他のものをたっぷり買って散々飲み倒してくれれば お通しいらんと言うのをOKしてくれるところがあります。 つまり利用者がビール一杯と漬け盛りだけで何時間も席を優先されると困るって事なんすよ。 いくらこっちはお客様だぞと言っても 店側に損失出させるのは論外だと思います。 お通し要らないんだったら いろいろ料理頼んでたっぷり飲んでください。 そしたら店側も気持ちよくお通しキャンセルできる事が多いです^_^

  — @japanesetypical22335 likes

• Pretty sure you can legally refuse otoshi. If you don't want it, say you don't want it. Everyone at your table will cringe, mind.

  たしか法律でお通しを拒否できるはず。 嫌なら嫌と言えばいいと思う。まあ周りは引くと思うけど。

  — @zange-san28 likes

• There are places that let you refuse, so just ask. If they say no, let it go.

  拒否出来る所もあるから言えばいいだけ。無理なら諦めろ。

  — @yakuta482817 likes

• Say "we can cut the otoshi, but the seat charge stays the same," and pretty much every customer will accept whatever dish you bring them.

  『お通しカットしても席料は変わらず頂戴してますよ』 って言えば大抵の客はどんな一品でも受け取るよ

  — @RT-mm9zx37 likes

• I was at a chain and the table next to me had chilled tomato as the otoshi (I hate tomato), so I told the server "I can't really do tomatoes," and got "you can swap it for anything on the à la carte menu!" I thought, what a good place. Then I went back the next month and was told "we don't offer that service here." Made me appreciate that first server all over again.

  チェーン店に入った時に、他の席のお通しが冷やしトマト（トマト嫌い）で、「トマト食べれないんですよねぇ」って店員さんに伝えたら、単品メニューの中からなら変更出来ますよ！って言われてこの店いい店だなぁ。と思ってたんだけど、翌月にその店に行ったら「当店ではそのようなサービスは行っておりません」って言われた。その時の店員さんの優しさに改めて感謝した。

  — @custom-danbo-ru375 likes

• Some places are decent enough to have about three kinds ready and let you pick.

  三種類ぐらい用意してて選ばせてくれる良心的なお店もあるよね。

  — @けいこ-j5k317 likes

• Flip it around: a place that puts real effort into its otoshi is a genuinely good place.

  逆にお通しに力入れてるお店はマジでいい店だと思う

  — @old_nick-691,170 likes

• When the otoshi is seriously good, the anticipation for everything after it is off the charts.

  お通しがめっちゃ美味しい時の期待感は半端ない。

  — @kiiroikaeru301 likes

• It's about time they just said "this is a seat charge" and took the money as that.

  そろそろ席料ですってそのまま金取って欲しい。

  — @毘猩々磐斎157 likes

• I like the places that spell out what costs what — seat charge, late-night rate, otoshi, all of it.

  席代とか深夜料金とかお通しとか何でいくらかって提示してあるところがいいなー

  — @がきじん146 likes

• Some izakaya stack it up on you: otoshi plus seat charge plus weekend rate plus late-night rate.

  お通し＋席料＋週末＋深夜料金で高くなる居酒屋もあるよ

  — @hokuto285695 likes

• Popcorn as the otoshi, ¥500. That one genuinely made me snap.

  お通しポップコーン500円はさすがにキレた

  — @いい-s5p93 likes

• The real problem is the shops running an opaque system in the first place. Nothing written up before you walk in about what the otoshi costs or what it even is — you could fairly call that a kind of fraud. Being handed something horrible, or something you hate, and then told it's ¥500, is infuriating. I'd rather it just said "cover charge." And I hate the places that tuck "service charge" somewhere you only notice at the till.

  そもそも、お通しとか不明瞭なシステムを採用する方にも問題があると思うけどな。 だいたい入る前にお通し代が幾らなのか、中身が何なのか書いていないのはある種の詐欺と言えるわけやし。 くっそ不味い物やキライな物出されて500円とか言われたら腹立つ。 明確にチャージ料と書かれる方がマシ。 だから、会計時にならないと目につかない様な場所にサービス料とか書いている店もキライ。

  — @名無し-m9v14 likes

• There are places without it, you know. If you really don't want to pay it, put in the effort to look them up.

  ない店あるでしょ。 どうしても払いたくないなら、それ調べるくらいの労力は使えって。

  — @Majiで追い越す9 likes

• Torikizoku is cheap and has no otoshi, which I'm grateful for.

  鳥貴族安いしお通しとかないからありがたい

  — @ふぅた-s1n8 likes

• None of the independent izakaya I go to have otoshi. It's not that I pick places without it — the places I rate just happen to be places without it.

  俺が行く個人店の居酒屋はどこもお通し無し お通し無しのお店選んでいるんじゃなく、俺にとっての良店がお通し無しだっただけ

  — @かずとたかはし7 likes

• Torikizoku↗鳥貴族

  Yakitori chain named in the comments as having no otoshi and no seat charge (8 likes: "cheap and no otoshi, which I'm grateful for"). Branches nationwide.

• Hoteichan↗ふれあい酒場 ほていちゃんTokyo

  Named in the comments as one of the chains that got rid of otoshi — a Tokyo taproom-style izakaya group that started in Ueno. "The fact that places like this are thriving tells you everything," as one commenter puts it.

Named in the source comments — hours, prices, and openings change, so check each map listing before you go.

What is otoshi at a Japanese izakaya?

A small dish that arrives at your table before you order anything, and that appears on your bill. Japanese drinkers describe it as the seat charge in edible form: "otoshi is the seat charge — taking money purely for the seat feels off to a shop, so they put a dish in front of you" (57 likes). Another commenter says the custom grew out of the shop's discomfort about charging for a seat and giving nothing back.

Can you refuse otoshi in Japan?

At some places, yes — you ask. A former izakaya worker (35 likes) explains it functions as a minimum-spend guarantee, so shops will often cancel it if you order a proper amount. A commenter with 17 likes says simply ask, and accept it if the answer is no. But expect the staff line quoted at 37 likes: "we can cut the otoshi, but the seat charge stays the same." For an allergy, say so — the most-liked comment on the video (1,176 likes) got a free drink for doing exactly that.

How much does otoshi cost?

Nothing is standard, and the comments say it has crept up: one regular puts his local average at ¥200–300 in the past and ¥500–800 now, as of the comments. One commenter was charged ¥500 for popcorn (93 likes), and 95 likes go to the warning that some izakaya stack otoshi plus seat charge plus weekend and late-night rates. Check the menu or the sign at the door before you sit down.

Which izakaya have no otoshi?

Commenters name chains that dropped it: Torikizoku (8 likes, "cheap and no otoshi") and Hoteichan, whose popularity one commenter reads as proof the system is beatable. One regular (7 likes) says the independent places he rates simply happen to have none. The bluntest advice (9 likes): places without it exist, so if you really don't want to pay it, look them up before you go out.

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